Stitcher shutting down

[hbelkins]

I recently learned that podcast app Stitcher is shutting down at the end of August. It's owned by Sirius/XM, and I dropped my SXM subscription several years ago and see no compelling reason to sign back up.

For podcasts, I use an old iPhone 6 with no SIM card and Apple's built-in podcast player. But I also use a Motorola Android phone with no SIM card as my music player, and I have listened to a few podcasts on it via Stitcher.

What do you Android users use for podcasts, and what will you use to replace Stitcher?

[WillWeaverRVA]

I recently learned that podcast app Stitcher is shutting down at the end of August. It's owned by Sirius/XM, and I dropped my SXM subscription several years ago and see no compelling reason to sign back up.

For podcasts, I use an old iPhone 6 with no SIM card and Apple's built-in podcast player. But I also use a Motorola Android phone with no SIM card as my music player, and I have listened to a few podcasts on it via Stitcher.

What do you Android users use for podcasts, and what will you use to replace Stitcher?

When I had an Android phone I used SoundCloud for podcasts. Google also has a native podcast app called Google Podcasts (what an imaginative name).

[HighwayStar]

Dang. Seems not that many years ago it was something I heard about a lot, but I think podcasts have passed their prime as a medium so not entirely surprised.

[Scott5114]

I use a free third-party app called Podcast Addict. I only occasionally listen to podcasts, so it works well enough for my purposes that I haven't bothered to investigate alternatives.

[JREwing78]

I would argue podcasting is hitting its stride. 5 years ago it was being written off for dead, but a number of high-profile podcasts pulled people back in. I have a lot of "niche" listening interests that podcasting works brilliantly for.

I've been using Pocket Casts. The Plus subscription ($4/mo or $40/year) is useful since I spend a lot of time flipping between desktop and mobile listening, and it does a good job of keeping track where I left off. Obviously, the free version (mobile only) works just fine on Android or iOS; no reason to pay for Plus unless you want to or need it to work on the desktop.

It took a bit to figure out how to connect my (paid) podcast subscriptions from Patreon over, but once figured out works perfectly. Patreon will provide you an individual RSS feed for each podcast subscription that you can manually enter into Pocket Casts.

Google Podcasts is also a solid choice if you've already been assimilated by the Google borg in other ways. Spotify (if you're already subcribed) can do it too, but I found Spotify to be clunky with handling podcasts.

[vdeane]

I don't listen to a ton of podcasts, and I'm not an "app" person on top of that, so I just browse to the website in the browser, even on the occasion that I'm listening on my phone instead of my computer.  Works well enough for the Delta Flyers and the two TrekMovie podcasts, though I've had others where trying to get the episode to play without the browser "helpfully" blocking content to save on memory is like pulling teeth.

[Bruce]

Seconding PocketCasts. It's got a clean interface, no ads or junk, and doesn't totally mangle the metadata or show notes.

[Road Hog]

I use Podbean now and I've had good luck with it. I used to use Stitcher but they would sequentially keep playing old podcasts in spite of me clicking "no." If you're going to bed and want it still playing the next morning, then Bob's yer uncle.

[Road Hog]

Just to update, Stitcher was folded into Pandora and the old links still work for now.

[ZLoth]

I never got into podcasting, but that's more on me not giving the format a fair trial rather than any fault with the format. I do know that Pandora and Stitcher was included on my vehicle (this was pre CarPlay/Android Auto), but required that the associated app be installed on your phone, thus it was barely touched.

Isn't podcasts almost like radio programs, but they are pre-recorded and the podcast software helps download and manage new uploads?

[HighwayStar]

Isn't podcasts almost like radio programs, but they are pre-recorded and the podcast software helps download and manage new uploads?

Basically yes. The downside is that unlike radio programmes where the bar for creation was reasonably high and kept the quality above some minimum, podcasts can be created by anyone and the result is a high chaff to wheat ratio making it difficult to find anything worth listening to. Many of my early favorites went by the wayside, and there are few that I still listen too. The market became over saturated which I suspect was a contributing factor to the decline of Stitcher.

[DTComposer]

Isn't podcasts almost like radio programs, but they are pre-recorded and the podcast software helps download and manage new uploads?

Basically yes. The downside is that unlike radio programmes where the bar for creation was reasonably high and kept the quality above some minimum, podcasts can be created by anyone and the result is a high chaff to wheat ratio making it difficult to find anything worth listening to. Many of my early favorites went by the wayside, and there are few that I still listen too. The market became over saturated which I suspect was a contributing factor to the decline of Stitcher.

The upside, though, is that there are multiple podcasts for nearly any niche interest you can think of, particularly social-cultural topics (entertainment, sports, arts) and "reference book" topics (history, science and technology).

[ET21]

I use both Spotify and Pocket Casts, depends on which service the podcast uses

[HighwayStar]

Isn't podcasts almost like radio programs, but they are pre-recorded and the podcast software helps download and manage new uploads?

Basically yes. The downside is that unlike radio programmes where the bar for creation was reasonably high and kept the quality above some minimum, podcasts can be created by anyone and the result is a high chaff to wheat ratio making it difficult to find anything worth listening to. Many of my early favorites went by the wayside, and there are few that I still listen too. The market became over saturated which I suspect was a contributing factor to the decline of Stitcher.

The upside, though, is that there are multiple podcasts for nearly any niche interest you can think of, particularly social-cultural topics (entertainment, sports, arts) and "reference book" topics (history, science and technology).

That is the same argument which was made for streaming. In practice, the market is so fragmented that no one can get a large enough audience to produce quality and instead everyone shovels out low grade content to meet niche interests.

[DTComposer]

Isn't podcasts almost like radio programs, but they are pre-recorded and the podcast software helps download and manage new uploads?

Basically yes. The downside is that unlike radio programmes where the bar for creation was reasonably high and kept the quality above some minimum, podcasts can be created by anyone and the result is a high chaff to wheat ratio making it difficult to find anything worth listening to. Many of my early favorites went by the wayside, and there are few that I still listen too. The market became over saturated which I suspect was a contributing factor to the decline of Stitcher.

The upside, though, is that there are multiple podcasts for nearly any niche interest you can think of, particularly social-cultural topics (entertainment, sports, arts) and "reference book" topics (history, science and technology).

That is the same argument which was made for streaming. In practice, the market is so fragmented that no one can get a large enough audience to produce quality and instead everyone shovels out low grade content to meet niche interests.

Absolutely, there is a lot of crap out there - both talent- and technology-wise. But with little effort I've found 20-ish podcasts that I listen to on the regular that appeal to my interests - some "mainstream" interests, some not. Some of the podcasts are the ones you'd find on your "most popular" or "best of" lists, some are independently produced.

And I say this as a huge listener of AM talk radio back in the day - when KGO was airing smart, locally-produced content all day (and was the #1 station in the Bay Area - AM or FM - for over 20 years), when ESPN radio was jovial sports talk on weekends only, when my car had a Philco radio with a beefy antenna that would pull in KIRO and KOA with ease at night - long before corporate radio destroyed the format.

As far as finding quality - for a new-ish podcast I'll usually go to their fifth or sixth episode, then go maybe halfway into the episode and give them five-ten minutes. If they hold my interest then I'll add them to the list.

I use Overcast as my player, FWIW.

[cahwyguy]

I'm old school. I still use my iPod Classic.

[I've also found a way to sync my iTunes library to my Android phone using syncthing, and there I use GoneMadMusicPlayer. So my podcasts are there as well. I don't stream at all.]

In terms of podcasts: Tom and I have a podcast -- see caroutebyroute.org -- on California Highways. I'm writing the first episodes of the second season right now, and we'll start recording soon. While doing research, I found the Hyperlocal Camarillo podcast, which has some episodes on May Rindge and Route 1, and US 101 in Camarillo https://www.spreaker.com/show/hyperlocal-camarillo-podcast ; the Newport Beach podcast, which has some episodes on the Pacific Coast Freeway http://newportbeach-podcast.com/ , and there is KBPS's Freeway Exit podcast on the San Diego Freeway system https://www.kpbs.org/podcasts/freeway-exit