Castro Podcast Player Hack 2023.11 + Redeem Codes
Manage and plan your listening
Developer: Tiny Podcast Company Ltd.
Category: News
Price: Free
Version: 2023.11
ID: co.supertop.Castro-2
Screenshots
Description
Castro is a beautiful, full-featured podcast player that makes it easy to track and manage lots of podcasts at the same time. Only listen to the episodes you want and easily skip the rest, queue up hours of podcasts at a time and enjoy a seamless listening experience with carplay compatibility, chapter support, trim silence and much, much more!
HOW IT WORKS
1. New episodes land in the NEW tab. Read their descriptions, add episodes you like to your QUEUE, and clear the rest.
2. Press play to listen to episodes from your QUEUE in order. Queued episodes are downloaded automatically.
3. Re-order your QUEUE to plan your next few hours of listening at any time. Browse your LIBRARY to review the back catalogue, quickly access starred shows, and see your listening history.
Subscribing to a podcast is no longer a commitment to listen to every episode. You don’t have to manage a huge list of subscriptions or choose a few shows and miss the rest.
WHY OUR USERS LOVE CASTRO
• Drag and drop podcasts to plan your listening with Castro’s unique queue
• An elegant dark mode and thoughtfully designed sleep timer offer the best in night time podcast listening.
• CarPlay support makes it easy to pick up where you left off while driving.
• Apple Watch app to control playback and select another episode from your queue.
• Episode notifications include a summary of the episode to help you decide if it interests you. Play, queue or clear the episode directly from the notification without opening the app.
CASTRO PLUS
Castro Plus is an optional paid subscription available for $18.99/year (includes a one-week trial). Plus unlocks a range of advanced features:
• Trim Silence — With this option on, the app will analyze audio as it plays to detect silent parts and accelerate those parts. Get through more episodes faster.
• Enhance Voices improves the listening experience for many podcasts and makes it easier to hear in loud environments. Under the hood, Enhance Voices applies a dynamic compressor to increase volume just where it’s needed.
• Sideloading: Import audio files directly, just by dropping them in iCloud Drive
• Mono-Mix — Mixes a stereo podcast to mono, which makes it easier to hear podcasts that pan some guests on left/right channels.
• Chapter Support: Artwork, Skipping & Pre-selection.
• Custom settings per-podcast: Episode Limit, Trim Silence, Enhance Voices, Mono Mix, Skip Intros, Playback Speed.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Castro 3 is an incredible app.”
— The Sweet Setup
“Castro 3 is everything Castro already was, but better.”
— MacStories
Castro 3 Is a Great Modern Podcast App”
— Beautiful Pixels
“Unlike other podcatchers, Castro's primary virtue is its simplicity and ease of use. The app combines sleek visual design with crystal clear audio.”
— Tom’s Guide
CASTRO PLUS SUBSCRIPTION TERMS
Castro Plus costs $18.99 per year. Prices are in US dollars and may vary in countries other than the US.
Castro Plus is charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. It will renew on the day before the current subscription period ends. You can cancel auto-renewal any time from the Castro settings screen.
You can switch between the two subscription periods after you pick one, but your trial period will end immediately if you do, so it's best to wait till your free week is over before changing.
Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable.
Privacy Policy & Terms of Use: https://castro.fm/privacy-policy
HOW IT WORKS
1. New episodes land in the NEW tab. Read their descriptions, add episodes you like to your QUEUE, and clear the rest.
2. Press play to listen to episodes from your QUEUE in order. Queued episodes are downloaded automatically.
3. Re-order your QUEUE to plan your next few hours of listening at any time. Browse your LIBRARY to review the back catalogue, quickly access starred shows, and see your listening history.
Subscribing to a podcast is no longer a commitment to listen to every episode. You don’t have to manage a huge list of subscriptions or choose a few shows and miss the rest.
WHY OUR USERS LOVE CASTRO
• Drag and drop podcasts to plan your listening with Castro’s unique queue
• An elegant dark mode and thoughtfully designed sleep timer offer the best in night time podcast listening.
• CarPlay support makes it easy to pick up where you left off while driving.
• Apple Watch app to control playback and select another episode from your queue.
• Episode notifications include a summary of the episode to help you decide if it interests you. Play, queue or clear the episode directly from the notification without opening the app.
CASTRO PLUS
Castro Plus is an optional paid subscription available for $18.99/year (includes a one-week trial). Plus unlocks a range of advanced features:
• Trim Silence — With this option on, the app will analyze audio as it plays to detect silent parts and accelerate those parts. Get through more episodes faster.
• Enhance Voices improves the listening experience for many podcasts and makes it easier to hear in loud environments. Under the hood, Enhance Voices applies a dynamic compressor to increase volume just where it’s needed.
• Sideloading: Import audio files directly, just by dropping them in iCloud Drive
• Mono-Mix — Mixes a stereo podcast to mono, which makes it easier to hear podcasts that pan some guests on left/right channels.
• Chapter Support: Artwork, Skipping & Pre-selection.
• Custom settings per-podcast: Episode Limit, Trim Silence, Enhance Voices, Mono Mix, Skip Intros, Playback Speed.
WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING
“Castro 3 is an incredible app.”
— The Sweet Setup
“Castro 3 is everything Castro already was, but better.”
— MacStories
Castro 3 Is a Great Modern Podcast App”
— Beautiful Pixels
“Unlike other podcatchers, Castro's primary virtue is its simplicity and ease of use. The app combines sleek visual design with crystal clear audio.”
— Tom’s Guide
CASTRO PLUS SUBSCRIPTION TERMS
Castro Plus costs $18.99 per year. Prices are in US dollars and may vary in countries other than the US.
Castro Plus is charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. It will renew on the day before the current subscription period ends. You can cancel auto-renewal any time from the Castro settings screen.
You can switch between the two subscription periods after you pick one, but your trial period will end immediately if you do, so it's best to wait till your free week is over before changing.
Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable.
Privacy Policy & Terms of Use: https://castro.fm/privacy-policy
Version history
2023.11
2023-07-23
New things have come to light!
- You can now create a new folder right from the Folders tab, whee!
- Switched the position of the delete and folder buttons in the Queue because muscle memory.
- Bug fix: fixed the Continuous Play behavior when you play episodes in a folder.
- You can now create a new folder right from the Folders tab, whee!
- Switched the position of the delete and folder buttons in the Queue because muscle memory.
- Bug fix: fixed the Continuous Play behavior when you play episodes in a folder.
2023.10
2023-07-04
Happy 4th of July to all our American friends! *cue the dazzling fireworks and majestic screeches of the bald eagle*
In this update, we're unleashing Folders, a nifty way to wrangle your episodes into iOS-style (you guessed it) folders without disrupting your main queue.
After adding new episodes from your Inbox to the Queue, you can now wield your organizational prowess and stash them in different folders with names tailored to your fancy. This means you can finally tackle that epic binge of all 26 podcast episodes about World War II that have been piling up in your queue.
Our folders feature acts as a steadfast filter, akin to the power of our existing Categories and Shows filters. It shall stand unwavering, preserving the sacred order of your queue. Don't believe us? Give it a whirl!
To cap it all off, behold a timeless quote from the 1996 cinematic masterpiece Independence Day (we shall not acknowledge any lesser sequels): "We will not go quietly into the night! We will not vanish without a fight! We're going to live on! We're going to survive! Today, we celebrate our Independence Day!"
2023.9
2023-06-21
“Bug fix:
Cheers! All Adam Carolla fans and Swedish listeners who reached out to us, we hear ya.
The issue affecting the shows under "Podcast One" and "Sveriges Radio" is now fixed!
A new feature is also coming up in our next update. Stay tuned!”
Cheers! All Adam Carolla fans and Swedish listeners who reached out to us, we hear ya.
The issue affecting the shows under "Podcast One" and "Sveriges Radio" is now fixed!
A new feature is also coming up in our next update. Stay tuned!”
2023.8
2023-05-27
Bug fixes and performance enhancements (it ain’t much but it’s honest work):
- Sluggish navigation bar issue now resolved,
- Resolution to duplicating Podcasts under certain categories, and
- Resolution to the weird state where the app kind of freezes when subscribing to Podcasts from search(It was kinda rare though).
Added “Follow us on Twitter” link in Settings
New features and updates will be announced on Twitter (we’re actively working on cool stuff now so please stay tuned). Say hi to us there!
- Sluggish navigation bar issue now resolved,
- Resolution to duplicating Podcasts under certain categories, and
- Resolution to the weird state where the app kind of freezes when subscribing to Podcasts from search(It was kinda rare though).
Added “Follow us on Twitter” link in Settings
New features and updates will be announced on Twitter (we’re actively working on cool stuff now so please stay tuned). Say hi to us there!
2023.7
2023-05-01
Performance enhancements and Bug Fixes are as follows:
- Resolution to the blocking issue, where we got stuck at Search UI and there was no way to go back to Queue,
- Category name in the navigation bar, just like every other screen,
- Resolution to episode action buttons being overlapped by the Category/Podcast floating action buttons,
- A little bit of UI modification to declutter the Episode Canonical state icon, also reduced the Description length to just 2 lines,
- Resolution to the Drag and drop of the first episode in the queue resulting in bizarre position interchanges, and
- Resolution to the inconsistent Episode count on the Category grid and Category detail Screen.
- Resolution to the blocking issue, where we got stuck at Search UI and there was no way to go back to Queue,
- Category name in the navigation bar, just like every other screen,
- Resolution to episode action buttons being overlapped by the Category/Podcast floating action buttons,
- A little bit of UI modification to declutter the Episode Canonical state icon, also reduced the Description length to just 2 lines,
- Resolution to the Drag and drop of the first episode in the queue resulting in bizarre position interchanges, and
- Resolution to the inconsistent Episode count on the Category grid and Category detail Screen.
2023.6
2023-04-11
Resolution to a crash that happened while toggling the Queue filter from show to hide to reveal the whole Queue.
Resolution to the Queue Filter button not tappable anymore.
- More information around Clearing Inbox and Queue:
* Inbox and Queue can be cleared by long pressing the Queue and Inbox Tabs.
Resolution to the Queue Filter button not tappable anymore.
- More information around Clearing Inbox and Queue:
* Inbox and Queue can be cleared by long pressing the Queue and Inbox Tabs.
2023.5
2023-04-09
Fixes for the crashes when we tap on selected tab(Inbox/Queue) when the Queue/Inbox is empty,
Fixes the distortion of UI in Show/Category screens on Inbox and Queue, and
Increased the tap area for Delete mode in Inbox/Category grid screens.
Fixes the distortion of UI in Show/Category screens on Inbox and Queue, and
Increased the tap area for Delete mode in Inbox/Category grid screens.
2023.4
2023-04-07
New Features:
- Long press on Show/Category views of Queue and Inbox to activate Delete mode, to delete individual Show/Category episodes.
- Long press Tab(Queue/Inbox) to remove all episodes from Queue/Inbox respectively.
Bug Fixes:
- Got rid of the annoying Clear Inbox green button,
- Resolved the glitches in Animation while interacting with episodes, in Queue, Inbox, Library, and Podcast Details screen,
- Resolved the Export Logs not working issue,
- Resolved the issue where User stays on the Episode details screen after we remove it from Queue/Inbox, now app takes you back to previous screen.
- Resolved top episode in Queue starts at weird scroll position issue,
- Resolved the Inbox navigation not scrolling when app starts on Inbox itself,
- Resolved the sharing podcast via iMessage app issue, and
- Resolved Show/Category reordering issues.
Other minor UI and performance enhancements.
- Long press on Show/Category views of Queue and Inbox to activate Delete mode, to delete individual Show/Category episodes.
- Long press Tab(Queue/Inbox) to remove all episodes from Queue/Inbox respectively.
Bug Fixes:
- Got rid of the annoying Clear Inbox green button,
- Resolved the glitches in Animation while interacting with episodes, in Queue, Inbox, Library, and Podcast Details screen,
- Resolved the Export Logs not working issue,
- Resolved the issue where User stays on the Episode details screen after we remove it from Queue/Inbox, now app takes you back to previous screen.
- Resolved top episode in Queue starts at weird scroll position issue,
- Resolved the Inbox navigation not scrolling when app starts on Inbox itself,
- Resolved the sharing podcast via iMessage app issue, and
- Resolved Show/Category reordering issues.
Other minor UI and performance enhancements.
2023.3
2023-03-17
Added accessibility for Inbox and Queue,
Fixed pull to refresh for podcast episode listing,
Fixed grid item cell arrangement for plus devices,
Fixed duplicate shows and categories issues,
Minor UI Fixes.
Fixed pull to refresh for podcast episode listing,
Fixed grid item cell arrangement for plus devices,
Fixed duplicate shows and categories issues,
Minor UI Fixes.
2023.2
2023-03-13
Resolution to a crash being faced by some of our users, when they visit the Show or Category pages either in the Queue or in the Inbox sections of the app.
2023.1
2023-03-06
Castro has been revamped
Queue:
The Redesigned Queue now features 3 tabs of episode classification.
Episodes: This section of the Queue hosts all of the episodes added to the Queue
Shows: This section displays the grid of all of the episodes, whose episodes are present in the app, tapping any of the episodes here takes us to a new podcast details screen, as described down below.
Categories: This section shows all of the Categories, whose episodes belong to the Queue. Tapping any of the Categories takes us to a new Category details screen, as described down below.
Queue Filtering:
We can now filter the queued episodes based on a Podcast or a Category, from their respective tabs as explained above. Such as if we go to a Podcast and select the Play all Queued episode button we add a filter for that Podcast, same for the Category.
Once we activate any filter, the Queue is configured as if the filtered episodes are the only ones added to the queue. It will start playing those episodes only.
A new filtered version of the Queue will be introduced to us, a button, an indication for the active filter, and all the episodes satisfying the active filter.
We can toggle between the filtered and the non-filtered state, by simply tapping the filter button; we can even get rid of the filter altogether, by tapping and holding over the filter button.
The player will continue playing the current playing episode, until the end. And after that, the filtered episodes start playing next in line. Vice-versa for the full Queue.
Once all the filtered episodes complete playing, the filter gets removed and normal queued episodes start playing.
Inbox:
Similar to the Queue, the new Inbox screen now hosts 4 tabs
Top Picks: The latest Episodes of the Podcast the user needs to have listened to. Episodes start showing up here when you have listened to enough episodes in the app. Pretty much similar behavior from the previous version.
All: All the episodes of newly subscribed podcasts, and newly released episodes of the subscribed podcasts. Pretty much similar behavior from the previous version.
Shows and Categories: Similar to the Queue section.
Library:
The redesigned Library has 4 different segments.
Search: We can search subscribed Podcasts here.
Starred:
Further, it shows a screen with 3 different categories
All: List of all the episodes which we have marked as starred
Shows: All the Podcasts, whose episodes are in the list of Starred. It will also show the badge count of episodes.
Category: All the podcast categories, whose episodes are marked as starred. It will also show the badge count of all podcasts of related categories.
History:
Similar to the Starred feature, we move to the next screen by tapping this tab
All: List of all the episodes that user have listened to
Shows: All the Podcasts, whose episodes are in History. It will also show the badge count of episodes.
Category: All the podcast categories, whose episodes are added to the History. It will also show the badge count of all podcasts of related categories.
Sideloads: List of all sideload episodes.
List of all Subscribed Podcasts
Theme: The appearance section of the App’s settings now has a new look
Display Mode: Can be used to switch between Light and Dark mode.
Automatic: Automatically uses the device settings.
Accent Color: Castro now supports changing the Accent color, which we can use to kinda personalize the App as per our choices
Podcast(Show) Details Screen:
Now we can see the information related to the Podcast here
It now has several dynamic tabs that list all of its episodes, these can be seen as filters and help get to know the actual role of the Podcast in our Castro App.
This screen pops up extra options at the bottom, based on the source of origin for this screen which helps us perform actions over the episodes in context.
Category Details Screen: Similar to the Show Details screen, this screen hosts similar information related to the selected Category.
Queue:
The Redesigned Queue now features 3 tabs of episode classification.
Episodes: This section of the Queue hosts all of the episodes added to the Queue
Shows: This section displays the grid of all of the episodes, whose episodes are present in the app, tapping any of the episodes here takes us to a new podcast details screen, as described down below.
Categories: This section shows all of the Categories, whose episodes belong to the Queue. Tapping any of the Categories takes us to a new Category details screen, as described down below.
Queue Filtering:
We can now filter the queued episodes based on a Podcast or a Category, from their respective tabs as explained above. Such as if we go to a Podcast and select the Play all Queued episode button we add a filter for that Podcast, same for the Category.
Once we activate any filter, the Queue is configured as if the filtered episodes are the only ones added to the queue. It will start playing those episodes only.
A new filtered version of the Queue will be introduced to us, a button, an indication for the active filter, and all the episodes satisfying the active filter.
We can toggle between the filtered and the non-filtered state, by simply tapping the filter button; we can even get rid of the filter altogether, by tapping and holding over the filter button.
The player will continue playing the current playing episode, until the end. And after that, the filtered episodes start playing next in line. Vice-versa for the full Queue.
Once all the filtered episodes complete playing, the filter gets removed and normal queued episodes start playing.
Inbox:
Similar to the Queue, the new Inbox screen now hosts 4 tabs
Top Picks: The latest Episodes of the Podcast the user needs to have listened to. Episodes start showing up here when you have listened to enough episodes in the app. Pretty much similar behavior from the previous version.
All: All the episodes of newly subscribed podcasts, and newly released episodes of the subscribed podcasts. Pretty much similar behavior from the previous version.
Shows and Categories: Similar to the Queue section.
Library:
The redesigned Library has 4 different segments.
Search: We can search subscribed Podcasts here.
Starred:
Further, it shows a screen with 3 different categories
All: List of all the episodes which we have marked as starred
Shows: All the Podcasts, whose episodes are in the list of Starred. It will also show the badge count of episodes.
Category: All the podcast categories, whose episodes are marked as starred. It will also show the badge count of all podcasts of related categories.
History:
Similar to the Starred feature, we move to the next screen by tapping this tab
All: List of all the episodes that user have listened to
Shows: All the Podcasts, whose episodes are in History. It will also show the badge count of episodes.
Category: All the podcast categories, whose episodes are added to the History. It will also show the badge count of all podcasts of related categories.
Sideloads: List of all sideload episodes.
List of all Subscribed Podcasts
Theme: The appearance section of the App’s settings now has a new look
Display Mode: Can be used to switch between Light and Dark mode.
Automatic: Automatically uses the device settings.
Accent Color: Castro now supports changing the Accent color, which we can use to kinda personalize the App as per our choices
Podcast(Show) Details Screen:
Now we can see the information related to the Podcast here
It now has several dynamic tabs that list all of its episodes, these can be seen as filters and help get to know the actual role of the Podcast in our Castro App.
This screen pops up extra options at the bottom, based on the source of origin for this screen which helps us perform actions over the episodes in context.
Category Details Screen: Similar to the Show Details screen, this screen hosts similar information related to the selected Category.
2022.1
2022-02-01
- Fixes issue where wrong podcast artwork could show in episode lists
- Fixes issue where artwork would flash between different podcasts in episode lists
- Fixes issue where playing/pausing could cause episode artwork to flash
- Fixes issue where reordering episodes in the queue could cause artworks to flash
- Fixes issue where play suggestion in the iOS Now Playing widget on the Lock Screen and Control Centre were missing artwork
- Speeds up YouTube downloads when using the Sideload to Castro extension
- Fixes issue where artwork would flash between different podcasts in episode lists
- Fixes issue where playing/pausing could cause episode artwork to flash
- Fixes issue where reordering episodes in the queue could cause artworks to flash
- Fixes issue where play suggestion in the iOS Now Playing widget on the Lock Screen and Control Centre were missing artwork
- Speeds up YouTube downloads when using the Sideload to Castro extension
2021.8
2021-12-07
Introduces a more efficient image caching system to address an issue where Castro could sometimes take up far too much disk space even when no episodes were downloaded.
2021.7
2021-08-12
2021.7
- Fix for crash when dragging and dropping episodes from Library to Inbox, apologies that this slipped through in the last update
2021.6 FIXES
- Gets YouTube working with the Sideload extension again
- Fixes an issue where episodes could stay download even after manually clearing from the queue if they’d been previously played and then requeued
- Fixes “pocasts” typo in Promoted Content Settings
- Episodes that are cleared from your Queue by the Episode Limit feature now respect the “Delete Episodes” setting in Downloads instead of always having their download immediately deleted
- Same goes for episodes that you manually move from Queue to Inbox
- Fixes issue where an episode could get pushed to the top of History after being on the top of the Queue even if you didn’t play it any further
- Improved error messages when something goes wrong with feed URLs pasted into the search bar in Discover
- Fix for showing the incorrect error message when trying to preview a podcast in Discover that doesn’t load correctly
- Fix for crash when dragging and dropping episodes from Library to Inbox, apologies that this slipped through in the last update
2021.6 FIXES
- Gets YouTube working with the Sideload extension again
- Fixes an issue where episodes could stay download even after manually clearing from the queue if they’d been previously played and then requeued
- Fixes “pocasts” typo in Promoted Content Settings
- Episodes that are cleared from your Queue by the Episode Limit feature now respect the “Delete Episodes” setting in Downloads instead of always having their download immediately deleted
- Same goes for episodes that you manually move from Queue to Inbox
- Fixes issue where an episode could get pushed to the top of History after being on the top of the Queue even if you didn’t play it any further
- Improved error messages when something goes wrong with feed URLs pasted into the search bar in Discover
- Fix for showing the incorrect error message when trying to preview a podcast in Discover that doesn’t load correctly
2021.6
2021-08-08
QUICK FIX RELEASE
- Gets YouTube working with the Sideload extension again
- Fixes an issue where episodes could stay download even after manually clearing from the queue if they’d been previously played and then requeued
- Fixes “pocasts” typo in Promoted Content Settings
- Episodes that are cleared from your Queue by the Episode Limit feature now respect the “Delete Episodes” setting in Downloads instead of always having their download immediately deleted
- Same goes for episodes that you manually move from Queue to Inbox
- Fixes issue where an episode could get pushed to the top of History after being on the top of the Queue even if you didn’t play it any further
- Improved error messages when something goes wrong with feed URLs pasted into the search bar in Discover
- Fix for showing the incorrect error message when trying to preview a podcast in Discover that doesn’t load correctly
- Gets YouTube working with the Sideload extension again
- Fixes an issue where episodes could stay download even after manually clearing from the queue if they’d been previously played and then requeued
- Fixes “pocasts” typo in Promoted Content Settings
- Episodes that are cleared from your Queue by the Episode Limit feature now respect the “Delete Episodes” setting in Downloads instead of always having their download immediately deleted
- Same goes for episodes that you manually move from Queue to Inbox
- Fixes issue where an episode could get pushed to the top of History after being on the top of the Queue even if you didn’t play it any further
- Improved error messages when something goes wrong with feed URLs pasted into the search bar in Discover
- Fix for showing the incorrect error message when trying to preview a podcast in Discover that doesn’t load correctly
2021.5
2021-06-24
DOWNLOAD STARRED EPISODES
There’s a new option in Download settings to keep Starred episodes downloaded on your device. Whether there’s episodes you keep coming back to or others you want to keep around for later without clogging up your Queue, this feature means you can have access to them instantly.
OTHER CHANGES
- Episodes you manually clear from the Queue get deleted immediately rather than sticking around for 1-7 days like episodes that have left the Queue because you played through to the end.
- Custom artwork loaded from YouTube channels now shows in the widgets and on the Lock Screen and Control Centre, as well as where it previously did on episode lists and the Now Playing screen in the app.
FIXES
- Sideloading from YouTube had broken again, this fixes it.
- Deselecting chapters could previously lead to a crash, not any more.
- Toggling download settings on an Apple Silicon Mac could previously lead to a crash, that’s fixed too.
- Episodes published with *.mpga file extensions won’t fail to download any more.
- Clearing old listened episodes shouldn’t slow down launch time any more.
There’s a new option in Download settings to keep Starred episodes downloaded on your device. Whether there’s episodes you keep coming back to or others you want to keep around for later without clogging up your Queue, this feature means you can have access to them instantly.
OTHER CHANGES
- Episodes you manually clear from the Queue get deleted immediately rather than sticking around for 1-7 days like episodes that have left the Queue because you played through to the end.
- Custom artwork loaded from YouTube channels now shows in the widgets and on the Lock Screen and Control Centre, as well as where it previously did on episode lists and the Now Playing screen in the app.
FIXES
- Sideloading from YouTube had broken again, this fixes it.
- Deselecting chapters could previously lead to a crash, not any more.
- Toggling download settings on an Apple Silicon Mac could previously lead to a crash, that’s fixed too.
- Episodes published with *.mpga file extensions won’t fail to download any more.
- Clearing old listened episodes shouldn’t slow down launch time any more.
2021.4
2021-06-06
SIDELOADS
- Fixes an issue that was preventing Sideloads from YouTube through the share extension from working
- Sideloads from YouTube now show the channel artwork in episode lists and on the player screen in Castro instead of the default Sideloads icon
PROMOTED CONTENT
- The player screen now has a banner at the bottom promoting podcasts from our advertisers
- Castro Plus subscribers can hide it and it will be hidden by default
BUG FIXES
- Fixes an issue with refresh that could prevent new episodes from showing until after multiple attempts
- Fixes an issue that could prevent new episodes from appearing until after a restore from backup
- Fixes an issue that could prevent pull to refresh in a podcast from getting the latest episode
- Fixes an issue where unwarranted error messages could show after pulling to refresh on Queue or Library tabs
- Fixes an issue that could cause episodes that you're finished with to be left with a few seconds or minutes left in your Library instead of reset to the beginning in case you want to relisten
OTHER
- Adds an option to Reset Castro in User Data settings if you want to just start fresh
- Refinements to the player screen transition with a smoother parallax effect and progressive fading of content
- Fixes an issue that was preventing Sideloads from YouTube through the share extension from working
- Sideloads from YouTube now show the channel artwork in episode lists and on the player screen in Castro instead of the default Sideloads icon
PROMOTED CONTENT
- The player screen now has a banner at the bottom promoting podcasts from our advertisers
- Castro Plus subscribers can hide it and it will be hidden by default
BUG FIXES
- Fixes an issue with refresh that could prevent new episodes from showing until after multiple attempts
- Fixes an issue that could prevent new episodes from appearing until after a restore from backup
- Fixes an issue that could prevent pull to refresh in a podcast from getting the latest episode
- Fixes an issue where unwarranted error messages could show after pulling to refresh on Queue or Library tabs
- Fixes an issue that could cause episodes that you're finished with to be left with a few seconds or minutes left in your Library instead of reset to the beginning in case you want to relisten
OTHER
- Adds an option to Reset Castro in User Data settings if you want to just start fresh
- Refinements to the player screen transition with a smoother parallax effect and progressive fading of content
2021.3
2021-04-14
NOTIFICATION IMPROVEMENTS
- Apologies for an issue where some users stopped receiving notifications. This update resolves an issue we had server-side where push notification tokens were getting inadvertently cleared. On startup the app will send your push token to our serversagain if we don’t have it so that push notifications can be sent reliably again.
- The Push Notifications screen has an option to send a test notification to verify that we are able to send notifications from our server to your device
- The Push Notifications screen will display in the footer the timestamp of when you last received a new episode push notification (if you’ve received one since installing the update)
LOCK SCREEN/CONTROL CENTER
- This build fixes an issue where playback didn’t start as expected after tapping podcast artwork in the Now Playing suggestions on the Lock Screen and in Control Center
- We fixed a potential issue where the play/pause state on the Lock Screen/Notification Center could be out of sync with the app and require multiple taps to play/pause
- This should also improve the reliability of controlling playback from CarPlay
- Please contact us through the support screen and send logs if you continue to encounter playback issues
WHAT ELSE
- The Support section in Settings includes an option to “Copy Anonymous Account Identifier” which can be helpful when contacting support with issues
- Added logging to diagnose a potential issue where episodes aren’t getting auto-queued as expected. Please contact us if new episodes aren’t showing up in your Queue as expected
- Apologies for an issue where some users stopped receiving notifications. This update resolves an issue we had server-side where push notification tokens were getting inadvertently cleared. On startup the app will send your push token to our serversagain if we don’t have it so that push notifications can be sent reliably again.
- The Push Notifications screen has an option to send a test notification to verify that we are able to send notifications from our server to your device
- The Push Notifications screen will display in the footer the timestamp of when you last received a new episode push notification (if you’ve received one since installing the update)
LOCK SCREEN/CONTROL CENTER
- This build fixes an issue where playback didn’t start as expected after tapping podcast artwork in the Now Playing suggestions on the Lock Screen and in Control Center
- We fixed a potential issue where the play/pause state on the Lock Screen/Notification Center could be out of sync with the app and require multiple taps to play/pause
- This should also improve the reliability of controlling playback from CarPlay
- Please contact us through the support screen and send logs if you continue to encounter playback issues
WHAT ELSE
- The Support section in Settings includes an option to “Copy Anonymous Account Identifier” which can be helpful when contacting support with issues
- Added logging to diagnose a potential issue where episodes aren’t getting auto-queued as expected. Please contact us if new episodes aren’t showing up in your Queue as expected
2021.2
2021-03-25
- Suggestions from Castro will now show in the Now Playing widget on the Lock Screen and in Control Center when no other media is playing
- Improvements to Siri support for upcoming OS update
- After pushing on Show Notes from the Now Playing screen (by swiping right on the big artwork) you can now perform episode actions on that screen and push on the podcast screen by tapping the mini-artwork in the navigation bar
- Improvements to Siri support for upcoming OS update
- After pushing on Show Notes from the Now Playing screen (by swiping right on the big artwork) you can now perform episode actions on that screen and push on the podcast screen by tapping the mini-artwork in the navigation bar
2021.1
2021-02-08
BUG FIX RELEASE
- Fixes issues where playback would be jumpy on certain podcast episodes, specifically those with sample rate lower of 32kHz or lower
- Fixes issue where app could get stuck in a state of showing error messages on every refresh
- Improves reliability of podcast redirects getting picked up properly
- Improves reliability of restoring from backup
- Fixes a crash that could happen when restoring from backup
- Fixes the selection highlight colour when selecting text in show notes
- Fixes an issue where attempting to install a shortcut from the Shortcuts Gallery or import from Apple Podcasts would present an error
- Fixes issues where playback would be jumpy on certain podcast episodes, specifically those with sample rate lower of 32kHz or lower
- Fixes issue where app could get stuck in a state of showing error messages on every refresh
- Improves reliability of podcast redirects getting picked up properly
- Improves reliability of restoring from backup
- Fixes a crash that could happen when restoring from backup
- Fixes the selection highlight colour when selecting text in show notes
- Fixes an issue where attempting to install a shortcut from the Shortcuts Gallery or import from Apple Podcasts would present an error
2020.16
2020-12-20
PLAYERS GONNA PLAY?
This version of Castro should be much faster and more reliable at resuming playback after interruptions like phone calls, alarms, timers, Siri, etc. I also fixed a bug that could get the play/pause buttons stuck in the wrong state and requiring multiple taps.
I’m hesitant to declare Mission Accomplished but fingers crossed it should be much better. Please let us know if you still run into any issues related to this.
NEW WIDGET CONFIGURATION
You can choose between displaying episode summaries or durations and dates in medium and large widgets. Tap and hold on a widget and choose “Edit Widget” (or “Edit Castro” if it’s in a stack) to adjust this setting.
CASTRO PLUS FAMILY PLAN
We now have a dedicated Family Plan where 2-6 members of a family can share a Castro Plus subscription among them using Family Sharing on iOS 14 for a small premium over the cost of a regular annual plan.
NEW APP ICON OPTIONS
New “Blueprint” icon options for Castro Plus subscribers… and another bonus set for subscribers to the Launched podcast.
VOICEOVER IMPROVEMENTS
- Buttons for categories are now read correctly in Discover.
- Unsubscribe is now included as an action on podcast cells in Library.
- On the categories list the percentage match is read out as part of each category instead of as a separate element.
- Podcast summaries are now read out for the highlighted podcast in Discover search results, charts, and curated lists.
- Promoted shows in Inbox and Discover can now be opened and subscribed to.
- Episode summary explicitly mentions if it is downloaded to your device.
- Episode titles are read before podcast names in Inbox and Queue.
- Includes actions to move to next or last in the Queue.
- Adds new actions to quickly move an episode one spot up or down the Queue.
- Inbox tab is now labelled correctly instead of as “New Tab”.
- Podcast name is omitted from episode cell summaries if you’ve explicitly filtered to that podcast in Inbox or navigated to it in Library.
CUSTOM ARTWORK
Castro Plus is no longer required for showing custom episode and chapter artwork on the Now Playing screen.
OOPS
Fixed an issue where private feeds like Dithering would fail to open when using Castro’s URL scheme for opening RSS Feeds.
This version of Castro should be much faster and more reliable at resuming playback after interruptions like phone calls, alarms, timers, Siri, etc. I also fixed a bug that could get the play/pause buttons stuck in the wrong state and requiring multiple taps.
I’m hesitant to declare Mission Accomplished but fingers crossed it should be much better. Please let us know if you still run into any issues related to this.
NEW WIDGET CONFIGURATION
You can choose between displaying episode summaries or durations and dates in medium and large widgets. Tap and hold on a widget and choose “Edit Widget” (or “Edit Castro” if it’s in a stack) to adjust this setting.
CASTRO PLUS FAMILY PLAN
We now have a dedicated Family Plan where 2-6 members of a family can share a Castro Plus subscription among them using Family Sharing on iOS 14 for a small premium over the cost of a regular annual plan.
NEW APP ICON OPTIONS
New “Blueprint” icon options for Castro Plus subscribers… and another bonus set for subscribers to the Launched podcast.
VOICEOVER IMPROVEMENTS
- Buttons for categories are now read correctly in Discover.
- Unsubscribe is now included as an action on podcast cells in Library.
- On the categories list the percentage match is read out as part of each category instead of as a separate element.
- Podcast summaries are now read out for the highlighted podcast in Discover search results, charts, and curated lists.
- Promoted shows in Inbox and Discover can now be opened and subscribed to.
- Episode summary explicitly mentions if it is downloaded to your device.
- Episode titles are read before podcast names in Inbox and Queue.
- Includes actions to move to next or last in the Queue.
- Adds new actions to quickly move an episode one spot up or down the Queue.
- Inbox tab is now labelled correctly instead of as “New Tab”.
- Podcast name is omitted from episode cell summaries if you’ve explicitly filtered to that podcast in Inbox or navigated to it in Library.
CUSTOM ARTWORK
Castro Plus is no longer required for showing custom episode and chapter artwork on the Now Playing screen.
OOPS
Fixed an issue where private feeds like Dithering would fail to open when using Castro’s URL scheme for opening RSS Feeds.
2020.15
2020-11-25
WIDGETS IMPROVEMENTS
- In medium and large widgets you can now choose whether tapping an episode plays it immediately or just jumps to the episode details screen. Tap and hold on a widget and choose “Edit Widget” (or “Edit Castro” if it’s in a stack) to adjust this setting.
- Layout fix for text wrapping issue in small and medium widgets if you have a large system font size.
DELAYED EPISODE DELETION
Episodes now aren’t deleted until 24 hours after they leave the queue instead of immediately. You can revert to the old behaviour or extend this to 7 days in settings.
- In medium and large widgets you can now choose whether tapping an episode plays it immediately or just jumps to the episode details screen. Tap and hold on a widget and choose “Edit Widget” (or “Edit Castro” if it’s in a stack) to adjust this setting.
- Layout fix for text wrapping issue in small and medium widgets if you have a large system font size.
DELAYED EPISODE DELETION
Episodes now aren’t deleted until 24 hours after they leave the queue instead of immediately. You can revert to the old behaviour or extend this to 7 days in settings.
2020.14
2020-11-15
2020.14
- Fixes a bug that could cause Castro widgets to disappear from your homescreen.
- Private feeds are now marked properly as so and sharing is disabled on them.
2020.13
Widgets!
You can now add small, medium and large Queue widgets to your home screen. You'll get a short-list of episodes at the top of the Queue, as well as stats displaying total episode count as well as duration. There are both light and dark mode options which change automatically with your system setting.
Ghost Icons
We've added a set of white icons for Castro Plus users! Enjoy!
Secret stuff!
There is some good stuff coming, and we've hidden it in this build for when ... some things happen.
Per-episode speed settings persistence
If you have per-podcast speed settings for a particular show but you want to over-ride that setting, we used to let you do that, but if the app quit the over-ride would go away. No more! We'll remember what settings you adjusted for an episode even if you've quit Castro and relaunched.
- Fixes a bug that could cause Castro widgets to disappear from your homescreen.
- Private feeds are now marked properly as so and sharing is disabled on them.
2020.13
Widgets!
You can now add small, medium and large Queue widgets to your home screen. You'll get a short-list of episodes at the top of the Queue, as well as stats displaying total episode count as well as duration. There are both light and dark mode options which change automatically with your system setting.
Ghost Icons
We've added a set of white icons for Castro Plus users! Enjoy!
Secret stuff!
There is some good stuff coming, and we've hidden it in this build for when ... some things happen.
Per-episode speed settings persistence
If you have per-podcast speed settings for a particular show but you want to over-ride that setting, we used to let you do that, but if the app quit the over-ride would go away. No more! We'll remember what settings you adjusted for an episode even if you've quit Castro and relaunched.
2020.13
2020-11-12
Widgets!
You can now add small, medium and large Queue widgets to your home screen. You'll get a short-list of episodes at the top of the Queue, as well as stats displaying total episode count as well as duration. There are both light and dark mode options which change automatically with your system setting.
Ghost Icons
We've added a set of white icons for Castro Plus users! Enjoy!
Secret stuff!
There is some good stuff coming, and we've hidden it in this build for when ... some things happen.
Per-episode speed settings persistence
If you have per-podcast speed settings for a particular show but you want to over-ride that setting, we used to let you do that, but if the app quit the over-ride would go away. No more! We'll remember what settings you adjusted for an episode even if you've quit Castro and relaunched.
You can now add small, medium and large Queue widgets to your home screen. You'll get a short-list of episodes at the top of the Queue, as well as stats displaying total episode count as well as duration. There are both light and dark mode options which change automatically with your system setting.
Ghost Icons
We've added a set of white icons for Castro Plus users! Enjoy!
Secret stuff!
There is some good stuff coming, and we've hidden it in this build for when ... some things happen.
Per-episode speed settings persistence
If you have per-podcast speed settings for a particular show but you want to over-ride that setting, we used to let you do that, but if the app quit the over-ride would go away. No more! We'll remember what settings you adjusted for an episode even if you've quit Castro and relaunched.
2020.12
2020-10-05
QUICK BUG FIXES
Fixes a crash that could happen when performing actions on new episode notifications. Also fixes another issue that could prevent actions taken on new episode notifications from sticking (e.g. you might clear an episode from a notification only to see it pop back into Inbox later).
NEW SHARE MENU
On iOS 14 sharing from the Now Playing screen now uses a pop-out menus instead of an action sheet. Pro-tip: tap and hold on the share button then move your touch to the appropriate share option before releasing to bring up the share sheet in one smooth gesture.
TAP AND HOLD TO SEARCH
Noticed that the Twitter app does this and it seemed smart so: tap and hold on the Discover tab icon to jump to the tab and immediately into search. The same works on the Library tab for filtering your subscriptions.
IN OTHER NEWS
We've had a hell of a last few weeks with a medical emergency and a car accident that destroyed a laptop (separate incidents). Everyone is fine now, but... it's been a bit wild over here. Widgets are coming, just a bit delayed.
Fixes a crash that could happen when performing actions on new episode notifications. Also fixes another issue that could prevent actions taken on new episode notifications from sticking (e.g. you might clear an episode from a notification only to see it pop back into Inbox later).
NEW SHARE MENU
On iOS 14 sharing from the Now Playing screen now uses a pop-out menus instead of an action sheet. Pro-tip: tap and hold on the share button then move your touch to the appropriate share option before releasing to bring up the share sheet in one smooth gesture.
TAP AND HOLD TO SEARCH
Noticed that the Twitter app does this and it seemed smart so: tap and hold on the Discover tab icon to jump to the tab and immediately into search. The same works on the Library tab for filtering your subscriptions.
IN OTHER NEWS
We've had a hell of a last few weeks with a medical emergency and a car accident that destroyed a laptop (separate incidents). Everyone is fine now, but... it's been a bit wild over here. Widgets are coming, just a bit delayed.
Cheat Codes for In-App Purchases
| Item | Price | iPhone/iPad | Android |
|---|---|---|---|
| Castro Plus Annual (Annual access to advanced player features) |
Free |
AC475719526✱✱✱✱✱ | 9A96365✱✱✱✱✱ |
| Castro Plus Monthly (Annual access to advanced player features) |
Free |
AC971234713✱✱✱✱✱ | A644C05✱✱✱✱✱ |
| Castro Plus Quarterly (Quarterly access to all of Castro's features) |
Free |
AC659570312✱✱✱✱✱ | F12DD8E✱✱✱✱✱ |
| Early Supporter Special (Annual access to advanced player features) |
Free |
AC722899596✱✱✱✱✱ | AA0DF24✱✱✱✱✱ |
| Castro Plus Family Plan (Annual access to advanced player features) |
Free |
AC331497491✱✱✱✱✱ | 07DB924✱✱✱✱✱ |
| Early Supporter Family Plan (Annual access to advanced player features) |
Free |
AC721770814✱✱✱✱✱ | 237FE6D✱✱✱✱✱ |
Ways to hack Castro Podcast Player
- Redeem codes (Get the Redeem codes)
Download hacked APK
Download Castro Podcast Player MOD APK
Request a Hack
Ratings
4.6 out of 5
8 403 Ratings
Reviews
ChadAHall,
I love this app
I love everything about this app. The design—I love how compact the episodes are in the queue. So many other podcast apps are bloated design-wise, where you can only see 3 or so episodes at a time. I hate that. I don’t want to be inundated with info. I just wanna see the titles. I love the drag and drop (in particular the ability to move multiple items at once.) The inbox is brilliant. There some podcasts with multiple formats of which I only like one. This allows me to archive the others without having them dumped in my queue and downloaded. But my hands down favorite features are the archive & history. There are some podcasts that I don’t listen to on a regular basis but like to check in on every so often. This allows me to follow them so that I don’t forget about them but to go find an episode when I want to. And of course history. I’m usually on the go when listening and don’t have time to note episodes I really enjoy. With the history I can do back and see what I heard. Sometimes the impact of an episode doesn’t hit for a week or more. With history I can still go find them. Simple but essential. And the dates they were listened to on is saved as well! —just an impressive level of care. Fingers crossed for smart speed/silence skipping, a speed between 2x & 3x and custom playback settings for individual shows — nobody should listen to Song Exploder at 2x.
mmccroskey,
Clean, Simple, Fantastic, ONE complaint
I’m a picky guy, and to me this is the perfect podcast player. First of all, the mental model of an inbox is exactly what I was looking for. Simple to understand, and keeps you from being overwhelmed if you follow a lot of podcasts. Also, since you’re less likely to be overwhelmed, you end up following more podcasts, and getting exposed to great content you would not otherwise have listens to. The UI is gorgeous and is perfected down to the last detail. I happily pay The subscription for this app, and you should do the same.
Now, the one complaint. If I am trying to start a series of podcasts before going on a long road trip and I have poor connectivity, the user experience is very confusing. I’ll move a bunch of stuff into the playlist queue, but because the connectivity is poor, many things will start and then stop downloading and I’ll get spammed by a flurry of could not download alerts. This behavior surprises me, because as far as I can tell, my settings are such that these podcasts should already be downloaded. Other than this complaint, the app is great!
Now, the one complaint. If I am trying to start a series of podcasts before going on a long road trip and I have poor connectivity, the user experience is very confusing. I’ll move a bunch of stuff into the playlist queue, but because the connectivity is poor, many things will start and then stop downloading and I’ll get spammed by a flurry of could not download alerts. This behavior surprises me, because as far as I can tell, my settings are such that these podcasts should already be downloaded. Other than this complaint, the app is great!
Wastelander1369,
Used to be my favorite podcast player until...
This used to be my favorite podcast player, after using apple’s podcast app for the longest time. I even purchased the app back when it cost money to own and use, not sure if its free now or not. I loved the clean, hassle free functionality of the app and it was the only podcast player on my phone for the longest time. This was definitely a 5 star app back when they didn't require you to pay for a subscription in order to use all the functions of the app. Now, I understand that everything is moving to the subscription thing because every service tries to continue making money someway but I just opened the app today, went to the inbox and noticed that they added promoted adds at the bottom, which by the way totally ruins the clean look of the app but I also went into the options to see if this was something I accidentally turned on, but come to find out, its a new feature which can not be turned off without a subscription. This would be totally fine if this was a free app, but mined you, I purchased the app already and I have a problem with app creators who limit your functionality even after you purchased their product. So, because of this, the app has dropped down to a one until this is fixed. By the way, all functionality should be available for those that have already payed for the app. Your customers shouldn't have to pay twice!
Double nope,
Excellent save for one issue
Excellent podcast player. There is one issue that bugs me personally though and that is if network conditions are spotty, the podcast dings out and then gives a red notification in the app stating as much. I work outside and have to wear gloves while driving machinery so although the network might be spotty it comes back right away. However the episode I was listening to does not attempt to reconnect and even if I select it again it still does not play. I have to quit the app restart it and then when I select the episode I was listening to it starts from the beginning which is annoying if I am a long ways into an already long podcast. This isn’t something I can just stop working for and deal with. It’s not much more than an inconvenience any other time, but it’s forcing me to try other apps that don’t have this issue, and since I really love the work put into Castro and enjoy its many other advantages. Please fix it. I’m happy to give it top rating regardless but sure am counting on you to read this and fix it.
Sorry but had no o cancel the subscription as the issue of stopping the podcast stream for anything but the clearest signal has not been addressed at all. Moved on to other players that can keep streaming should the connection weaken. Don’t understand why this was so difficult to do but maybe in the future somewhere down the road it will be.
Sorry but had no o cancel the subscription as the issue of stopping the podcast stream for anything but the clearest signal has not been addressed at all. Moved on to other players that can keep streaming should the connection weaken. Don’t understand why this was so difficult to do but maybe in the future somewhere down the road it will be.
Sixseveneight,
It gets worse and worse with every update
It’s bad enough when yet another developer jumps on the absurd subscription bandwagon and decides to screw the users who had paid for the app by restricting all new features to ones who subscribe while also creating an equally restricted experience for the previous purchasers and the free users. It is another story to now shove an intrusive advertisement on the top of the podcast queue for the same users who shelled out money for the privilege of not being bombarded with advertising. That is the literally in the top 3 priority list of any customer that ponders whether to buy or not buy any app.
The developer may respond by saying it’s just a little banner at the top or by making promises to limit himself to just this one ad. If there is one truth that experience with all manner of businesses which force ads on their customers shows it is this: don’t believe them. They are now in the selling of ads business which means one ad is not going to suffice. More and more intrusions will come over time. As insulting as it is to shove ads to purchasers of the app is—any future user of this app that chooses to not subscribe should be aware that the experience of using this app has and will continue to worsen over time. If you don’t want to pay for another outrageous subscription for something you can get for free elsewhere with none or most of the features that are restricted here then you should skip downloading this app.
The developer may respond by saying it’s just a little banner at the top or by making promises to limit himself to just this one ad. If there is one truth that experience with all manner of businesses which force ads on their customers shows it is this: don’t believe them. They are now in the selling of ads business which means one ad is not going to suffice. More and more intrusions will come over time. As insulting as it is to shove ads to purchasers of the app is—any future user of this app that chooses to not subscribe should be aware that the experience of using this app has and will continue to worsen over time. If you don’t want to pay for another outrageous subscription for something you can get for free elsewhere with none or most of the features that are restricted here then you should skip downloading this app.
Thomas_Ella,
Still no trim silences?
UPDATE: Lowering my review to two stars. The fact that there's still not trim silences is kind of unbelievable. It feels at this point like the developers are just folding their arms and pouting and putting their feet down because they're tired of the requests, but I've listened to their podcasts and I know they understand that this is easily the biggest, most requested missing feature. It just baffles me that they would rather dedicate so much development time to other features than just buckle down and add this one that is absolutely standard in today's podcast player market. Not to mention they still don't save playback settings per podcast or support chapter markers. What? It's a wonderful, unique app in a lot of ways, but it's missing crucial features that hold it back. It's kind of heartbreaking.
ORIGINAL: I want to love Castro, but to me, trim silences should be considered a standard feature in a modern podcast app. I've tried to get into Castro so many times now because they add such cool stuff with their big updates and the general hook of treating podcasts like an email inbox, but it's been months and trim silences, a long-requested feature, is still nowhere to be seen. (As well, I want Castro to remember playback speed settings for each podcast.) So yet again, back to boring old Overcast for me.
ORIGINAL: I want to love Castro, but to me, trim silences should be considered a standard feature in a modern podcast app. I've tried to get into Castro so many times now because they add such cool stuff with their big updates and the general hook of treating podcasts like an email inbox, but it's been months and trim silences, a long-requested feature, is still nowhere to be seen. (As well, I want Castro to remember playback speed settings for each podcast.) So yet again, back to boring old Overcast for me.
msinert,
Buggy with CarPlay
A nice app overall. UI beats Overcast every time, especially the inbox and queue functionality. It’s a really pleasant app to use and the look at, compared to Overcast, which I used for a long time and to me always felt homemade, rather than professionally developed, at least on the front end. I find The inbox is almost always current. I like the streaming of podcasts, which saves space on my phone. I often airplay to my HomePod, which works great, or Bluetooth to a device. My one complaint: it doesn’t always play nice with CarPlay. Sometimes the library won’t scroll past the first screen. Sometimes the app freezes on the screen on my car, but works fine using the phone. I’ll need to start a podcast from the phone and CarPlay takes a while to catch up, sometimes 8-10 minutes into a podcast. Sometimes both CarPlay and the phone freeze. I need to unplug and reply to get it going. Sometimes I need to force-quit Castro. Once in a while I need to actually restart my iPhone. Kinda annoying. I never had these issues with Overcast and CarPlay. I have these issues in both of my vehicles, an Audi and a Toyota, so I don’t think it’s the manufacturer’s CarPlay implementation, but I’m not a tech guy so who knows. It’d be great if the Castro folks could take a look at this bug. Thanks!
dr.when,
SO Close
This app is ALMOST perfect. I was looking for a long time for a good podcast player after losing my patience with Apple’s. This is by far the best I’ve found (so much so that I subscribed to the paid version) but it’s missing a few things to make it perfect. For one, it would be super nice to be able to sort or reverse the oder of episodes both in your inbox and on the show pages themselves. So many shows are serialized and it’s a pain to have to scroll all the way to the bottom, especially when there are a lot of episodes.
Also, while I like the queue feature, I would love to be able to just click play on my inbox or on a specific show and it runs through all my episodes there, without having to add them individually to the queue. I know you can set it up to have new episodes automatically added to your queue, so this feature would mainly be helpful when you want to just plow through an entire show at once.
Finally, it would be super convenient to add all episodes from a show to your inbox at once, so you don’t have to drag each episode over individually.
Overall, it’s a slick, easy to use app!
Also, while I like the queue feature, I would love to be able to just click play on my inbox or on a specific show and it runs through all my episodes there, without having to add them individually to the queue. I know you can set it up to have new episodes automatically added to your queue, so this feature would mainly be helpful when you want to just plow through an entire show at once.
Finally, it would be super convenient to add all episodes from a show to your inbox at once, so you don’t have to drag each episode over individually.
Overall, it’s a slick, easy to use app!
Kairofan98,
Support
My favorite podcast app. This is my go to app for podcasts.....for now. This app gives you a logical new way to organize your podcasts which is a breath of fresh air when it seems like podcast apps just try to out feature their competition while all being similar in their interfaces. This one focuses on organization which is both simple and smart.
Why knock off 2 stars? App support seems to be lacking. Clicking feedback link in the app sends an email to the devs. The catch? No acknowledgement and no fix. One of the 6 podcasts I subscribe to doesn't display entire episode history and only shows 6 total episodes out of 30+ that I can listen to. Apple podcasts and my second fav podcast app 'pocket casts' both display the entire episode history. Feedback sent and issue still exists.
As much as I hate to say it if I have to go another app to hear one of my podcasts that doesn't work in this app I will drop Castro for the simple reasoning that if a paid app cannot provide me the content that free podcasting app built into iOS can, it's time to move onto something better. Just not practical to have multiple apps that have the simple function of playing a sound file.
Why knock off 2 stars? App support seems to be lacking. Clicking feedback link in the app sends an email to the devs. The catch? No acknowledgement and no fix. One of the 6 podcasts I subscribe to doesn't display entire episode history and only shows 6 total episodes out of 30+ that I can listen to. Apple podcasts and my second fav podcast app 'pocket casts' both display the entire episode history. Feedback sent and issue still exists.
As much as I hate to say it if I have to go another app to hear one of my podcasts that doesn't work in this app I will drop Castro for the simple reasoning that if a paid app cannot provide me the content that free podcasting app built into iOS can, it's time to move onto something better. Just not practical to have multiple apps that have the simple function of playing a sound file.
lylamaisto,
Declining quality and spreading extremist content
Well this used to be my favorite Podcast app but I suppose after almost 3 years of daily use I’ll be looking elsewhere. As others have noted, the quality and functionality have both severely declined in recent months; not all podcast feeds are updating properly where they do update seamlessly on other apps, and so if your favorite podcast is available “wherever podcasts are found” you still may not see it on Castro. Episodes that only partially download will mark themselves as “complete” when you finish them, so 5 minutes into your episode your app tells you that you’re done listening and you can’t replay it.
But far worse, they automatically subscribed me to Matt Walsh and Megyn Kelly. This far right propaganda - unapologetically fascist in the case of Matt Walsh - is so unconscionably offensive to me as a trans woman. this is where I go to listen to podcasts about protecting myself in the world from people exactly like Matt Walsh and now the app wants to shove this crap down my throat. Absolutely not. Have a fun weepy slide down the shower wall this evening devs and product managers, you are spreading content that is going to get someone killed. From the bottom of my heart, I hope this app crashes and burns now. Shame on you
But far worse, they automatically subscribed me to Matt Walsh and Megyn Kelly. This far right propaganda - unapologetically fascist in the case of Matt Walsh - is so unconscionably offensive to me as a trans woman. this is where I go to listen to podcasts about protecting myself in the world from people exactly like Matt Walsh and now the app wants to shove this crap down my throat. Absolutely not. Have a fun weepy slide down the shower wall this evening devs and product managers, you are spreading content that is going to get someone killed. From the bottom of my heart, I hope this app crashes and burns now. Shame on you
