App for playing mp3 podcast files?

Software
1

Can anyone recommend a good app to play mp3 podcast files that I downloaded to my iPhone? I know Overcast does that with the premium feature but I don’t have that

2

Downcast is my podcatcher of choice and offers some tips on how to do what you are asking. But I’ve never had to. I’ve always been able to find an RSS link for manual import for the few times that Downcast could not search, find, and import one on its own.

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3

With Overcast you also have to upload via a “desktop” browser, not on the iPhone.

Sorry, I don’t have another recommendation

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4

Shouldn’t this work with iTunes?

5

That’s how I do it, for podcasts and audio books. At $10/year, Overcast premium has always been worth it to me for just this feature.

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6

I believe Castro will sideload in the free version via its iCloud folder. I would just pay Overcast the $10, though, since you use it.

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7

Uploading to Overcast premium is great…but two other workflows:

  1. If the file is already online—hufferduffer
  2. If you’ve only got a local file, use a dropbox folder and the free version of JustCast. The free version is limited to three files in the dropbox folder—but you can keep deleting what you’ve listened to and adding the next file.

Both of these options create a publicly accessible RSS feed—so don’t use them for anything confidential (I can’t comment on the privacy/security of Overcasts upload folder).

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8

The app Bound does this beautifully – you can load mp3 files (and many other formats) from Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, the Files app maybe others.

It has CarPlay support, a sleep timer and a bunch of other features, but I just use it to listen to files I own.

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9

I just use VLC to play downloaded audio files.

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10

Yeah that was the old way to do it right. I’m sure it still works with the Mac and then to the iPhone. But I haven’t done that in years

11

Thanks everyone. I’m gonna bite bullet and do Overcast which I have used since the beginning. Having everything I want to listen to in one app is something that’s worth paying a few coffees for and supporting my favourite podcast app

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12

While I see you have made a choice, I wanted to throw out one more random option. I’ve used GoodReader to play MP3 files. You can grab the files from any folder in Files…OneDrive, iCloud, Dropbox…or a home server and save the files to your phone. It worked fairly well and even shows album art if the file has it.

Best wishes.

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