There sort of is a kludge, and it’s been enough to get me on to Overcast instead of Castro. The ‘kludginess’ comes from 1) not having control over where in the Queue an episode lands (top vs. bottom), and from needing 3 taps per episode rather than a swipe (I don’t find this an issue at all after I got used to it in ~1 day, I’m very quick)
Have an All Episodes (you can rename it to Inbox if you want) smart playlist that contains all new episodes from all shows
Have a “Queue” non-smart playlist that only contains specific episodes (none to start)
Open your All Episodes playlist and process episodes (swipe to delete, or tap episode → three dot menu → “Move to Queue”
This is only recently possible (in the last year) because Marco added “Move to playlist” in addition to the previous “Add to playlist” option, so you can add to Queue and remove from All Episodes in one step.
“Move to playlist” was a big deal for me, for reasons similar to those you describe.
I use the Queue for episodes I want to be sure to listen to sooner rather than later—like the latest MPU each week, and an All Episodes queue for everything else. Sometimes I add a third playlist, called “Playlist,” which I use when the Queue gets too long.
Overcast will also let you pin podcasts to the top of the list, and I use that if I’m catching up on every episode of a podcast backlist. Right now I’m using that feature for a limited-series podcast about Laura Ingalls Wilder and two limited series by two podcasts by Jamie Loftus, one about the spiritualism movement and the other about the comic strip Cathy. (Yes, Cathy. Loftus is one of those podcasters who can make any subject fascinating.)
Overall, I’m finding Overcast’s method of organizing podcasts close to ideal for me.
The inbox and triage functionality of Castro clicks with me so well, it’s hard to pass it up. When they dropped development for a year or two I tried Pocket Casts and Overcast, but neither hit the spot for me. They both worked, but sometimes a piece of software just clicks with your brain like a square peg in a square hole and you’re hooked.
I wound up using Apple Podcasts for a while because it worked so well with my HomePods. I could pick up a podcast on those, and then continue it again in the car.
If you like listening through a full backlog of shows, and treat them like TV shows, Pocket Cast or Overcast are great.
If you’re in it for news and want to stay on the latest episodes and maybe skip some, Castro is great.
If you need HomePod or cross platform functionality, Apple Podcasts are great.
I love the idea, but the transcriptions have been spotty at best, and I don’t care about the group functionality. I want to capture the information to readwise, but I’m almost better offensively pausing, and then paraphrasing into a notes app, either by typing or dictation.
I’ve tried them all, I think, and always end up back with Overcast. It’s the sound quality and reliability and once you have found out how much power there is in smart playlists, you wonder why you ever spent hours swiping through a queue.
It’s fun for sending friends absurd outline summaries of their podcast episodes! I’ve used it to search a podcast when I’m out and don’t have a chance to transcribe it, too. The wait is usually 5-10 minutes.
Snipd is exactly what I mean by podcasts focusing on AI at the expense of the features that (I think) really benefit heavy or time-crunched listeners.
It doesn’t have a built-in queuing system, but you can implement one using the smart playlist functionality, and, as a kludge, it is less kludgy (fewer taps) than the attempt to do the same in Overcast.
Pocketcasts: just works. Has its minor issues but the crossplatform support is unparalleled. (I was formerly with Castro and Overcast)
Snipd: My secondary app but it really shines in clipping and sharing parts of podcasts and has a very interesting community to boot. Worth checking out I think though they are still a young company so caveat emptor.
After years of using Castro, I just switched to PocketCast. I really like it! The fitlering options combined with folders are excellent for organizing content. CarPlay works well unlike Castro.
However, I purchased PocketCast a long time ago and don’t have to pay the premium subscription. I would re-evalaute my options if I had to pay $50/year for a podcast app
Longtime fan and Lifetime member of PocketCast but I don’t have CarPlay in my older vehicle (just use Bluetooth in the car which does pause for Waze alerts). Also listen on the Sonos speaker in my office.
I swear this is the one app I change constantly but always end up back to the same app. Overcast is just so fast and optimized for hardcore podcast listeners. I have around 50 shows I listen to weekly with an average of 4 to 6 hours everyday while working. The speed to which I can blow through podcasts on Overcast is second to none.
My favorite small detail is Overcast always has the latest episodes of shows much faster than every other app I’ve tried. My favorite sports show ends everyday at noon and they put up the show on online by 12:15. Overcast has it immediately while Pocketcasts can take hours and even Apple’s podcasts app doesn’t always have it until after 1pm. Just love that detail by Marco which he’s talked about on APT in the past at how he makes it work so fast. Also Pocketcasts has missed entire episodes of a couple of my daily shows before and it was very frustrating. I have a lifetime membership to Pocketcasts and would love to make it work as I like what Automattic is doing in the open web space. Pocketcasts just isn’t there yet for me.
I recently tried Apple Podcasts on the new Beta for a few weeks and it’s getting better. If they could implement smart speed it might be worth a longer look. My biggest issue is that it takes way too many inputs to get to an episode on Apple’s app where Overcast opens right where I want it and I click play immediately. When you listen off and on throughout the day, that’s invaluable. Either way I’ll keep trying other apps from time to time looking for the slightest edge to consume as much podcasts content as possible. For now Overcast is the winner for me.
I have been a paying Castro customer for about five years. I sent several emails and bug reports over the past two years. I have not heard back not once. CarPlay is vey buggy and the app crasehs from time to time.
Since switching to Pocket Cast, I have been really enoying organizing Podcasts into folders. Finally a good way to separate Audio Drama from Personal Development from Tech Podcasts.