Time to get out of Google Podcasts for anyone that is still using the service.

  • dustyData@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    For anyone getting this news here. On Android, one of the best replacements is AntennaPod.

    • FrederikNJS@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Podcast Addict is not quite as streamlined, but has many more features.

      My favorite feature is the “Automatic Rewind” combined with “Incremental rewind”. It adds a rewind everytime you pause and resume an episode that increases the longer the podcast has been paused. It means that if I briefly pause, for example to respond to. Some one in real life talking to me, then it will automatically rewind 5 seconds when I start the podcast again, so I can hear the sentence I was in the middle of in full. But if I leave a podcast alone for a week, then it will rewind 1 minute so I can get fully back into the context of what I was listening to.

      • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
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        1 year ago

        I have used this for years now. It’s really great. I have it set to skip the first 7 minutes of only certain podcasts because they usually have 7 - 8 minutes of ads. I also have it skip silences, which speeds up listening more than I first thought it would.

        • deweydecibel@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Podcast Addict is exactly the kind of app I wish were in vogue again. Rather than dropping features and hiding options in a race to be “streamlined”, it’s a properly designed piece of software in the classic sense: its a tool first and foremost. It prioritizes usability first, aesthetics second, and gives you all the buttons and levers to make it your own.

          Like, it’s the kind of app where if you’re using it and think “eh I don’t like this one thing”, if you look in the settings, there’s probably a way to turn it off. God damn what I wouldn’t give for this to be common place design philosophy again.

          Dev is really cool and responsive, too.

          • FrederikNJS@lemm.ee
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            1 year ago

            This is exactly why I run Linux on all my computers, and run as much open-source software as I can, build my own home server, and set up my own home-automation. It does have a time cost, over convenience, but being able to tailor everything to my needs and wants is a wonderful feeling.

            But yes, it would be wonderful if this was a more common mentality in software in general. Especially on mobile devices.

            • Aniki 🌱🌿@lemm.ee
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              1 year ago

              That time cost is spent optimizing, learning, and growing as an engineer. I wasn’t always a full time, highly paid system engineer. It started at home, and I marketed those skills.

      • gen/Eric@iusearchlinux.fyi
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        1 year ago

        Another vote for Podcast Addict. It works with Android Auto in my car :⁠-⁠)

        Now to listen to all these shows I have downloaded…

      • Blóðbók@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        What you describe is also a feature of AntennaPod.

        Edit: AntennaPod is also open source.

      • n2burns@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        I have a lifetime membership with PocketCasts, but I don’t know if I’d chose it today with the subscription. A few months ago, they shipped a buggy version and I temporarily switched to AntennaPod and was considering staying.

    • no banana@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I love Pocket Casts. Sadly I have a hard time recommending it to new people since they switched to subscription model payment. The reason I love it is because of what it was, not what it is. I’m grandfathered into the "pay once, own forever"and if I wasn’t I would probably be using something else these days. I’m still gonna throw it in as a recommendation though, because it’s damn good and people should make up their own minds in whether it is worth the payment.

      • machinin@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I use the free tier and it is very good. Does everything I need. I won’t pay for a subscription for a podcast app, so it’s shame I can’t buy it to show my appreciation.

        In any case, the free tier is really good.

        • poppy@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          I pay $10/year for my podcast app (Overcast). Considering it does everything I want it to do that a lot of other apps don’t (or didn’t, years ago when I started with Overcast), and I use it 8+ hours a day it seems reasonable.

      • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
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        1 year ago

        I don’t mind their subscription model. All the subscription features – cloud storage, folders, desktop app, extra themes – really feel like bonus features that aren’t essential.

        • no banana@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I guess. I don’t know what I would do without the desktop app and the cloud storage though. I just log in somewhere and everything is synced up and working.

          • breakfastmtn@lemmy.ca
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            1 year ago

            It depends on your usage, for sure. For me, I’m more on the side of not seeing much there that’s valuable enough to subscribe to, though I’d probably pay a few bucks for the app just to support them. I think that if you’re happy with Google Podcasts, though, you’ll be happy with Pocket Casts without a subscription. It’s not like you have to pay for basic functionality, like downloading or queuing episodes, which is the evil version of the subscription model.

      • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I really like this app, not so much paying a subscription. But I wanted access on both my phone and my PC and that was the only way to get it.

            • no banana@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              I have pocket casts set up the way I want it and, as I previously said, own the full featured product for life without extra costs. I just don’t see a reason to.

              • danielfgom@lemmy.world
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                1 year ago

                That’s fine. I was just saying if you wanted to recommend any other options to your friends who ask you, Podcast Republic on Android is a solid choice to consider. That’s all.

    • atocci@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Also a big fan of AntennaPod, I switched to it back when Google first announced they were axing Podcasts and thought I’d have a lot less time to abandon ship than I ended up with.

      • cannache@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        To be fair perhaps they want to make it possible to download the podcast unencrypted in MP3

      • FrederikNJS@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        Completely fair, it it however worth mentioning that you can disable this data collection in settings.

    • IronRain@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m a big fan of Podcast Republic. Great dev, feature-rich, and a much improved UI from when I first started using it.

      • xbit00@lemmynsfw.com
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        1 year ago

        Podcast Republic is my choice as well. It’s the only Podcast app that I could find that let’s you choose your download folder. I like to play my podcasts with the same app I listen to books with, so I need to download the podcasts to a publicly accessible folder.

    • CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I feel like podcasts and their apps is what TV and movies should be.

      Users pick the app they want to use. They optionally pay a fee or not. The app has any and all TV, Movies, music, etc. they want. In the back end, media rights holders have a pre-defined revenue split agreement.

      It’s like federated media.

    • Argongas@kbin.social
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      1 year ago

      Thanks for the recommendation. I was wondering what else to try as I sure as hell don’t want to use YouTube and it doesn’t seem like you can have a separate podcast playlist in Spotify.

  • _number8_@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    fuck it, do gmail next, force me to find a proper provider

    who exactly thinks it’s good that things are this ephemeral? what’s the point of even using and enjoying and getting invested in something when they constantly pull this shit?

      • kratoz29@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        In other words, Google won’t kill what they can use to harvest your data.

    • silentknyght@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I mean, before Gmail, I had a new email address every 2-3 years. I’ve had Gmail for what, almost 20 years? That’s not what I’d define as “ephemeral.”

    • dinckel@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Finding an alternative is the easy part. You can get yourself a domain on Namecheap, and get an email attached to it for pennies.

      Issue is that a lot of services out there don’t consider alternative email providers as valid. Some as a protective measure against spam, some because… fuck knows why, honestly

    • pete_the_cat@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I was looking for you “OMG GOOGLE IS KILLING EVERYTHING!” people. They don’t have infinite money, stuff costs money to run and if it isn’t as popular as their other services obviously they’d shut it down. People use their products for free (monetarily) for years and then bitch and complain when something gets shut down, never having paid a cent.

      • kworpy@lemm.ee
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        4 months ago

        People use their products for free (monetarily) for years and then bitch and complain when something gets shut down, never having paid a cent.

        Click on the link before commenting, and where did I give a shit about google shutting their stuff down?

  • callouscomic@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    Every single thing I use gets changed, ruined, shut down, canceled, moved, merged. It never ends.

    Wound up giving up and using Google podcast BECAUSE other ones I used kept getting shut down.

    • Victor@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Pocket Casts has been reliable for me for years. I don’t even use their pro features, but I pay anyway because it’s so cheap. Highly recommended.

      • mriormro@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        I will never shut up about pocket casts. Their multi-device sync is wonderful. I can pick up where I left off on any episode from any of their apps. They’ve even got a pretty decent UWP app that I use on my Windows installs. They also have rock solid Chromecast support.

        I loved it so much I bought the lifetime pass a long time ago. At any rate, I can’t recommend pocket casts enough!

      • pazzeda@sopuli.xyz
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        1 year ago

        Another great app for podcasts I can recommend is Podcast Addict. Free and it’s full of great features.

        • Victor@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          To clarify, Pocket Casts is also free. 👍 I just recommend supporting them because the pro price is so cheap.

      • kirk782@discuss.tchncs.de
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        1 year ago

        Cheap? Unless someone snagged Pocketcasts when it was still a one off payment app, it is NOT cheap. Heck, I can pay for YouTube Premium, Spotify Premium and still have money left for one more streaming service to plug into before I hit what Pocketcasts wants me to pay. The app is good but it is the very antithesis of cheap.

        • Victor@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          Wow, that’s odd.

          I’m paying 119 SEK/year for the Plus tier, which is the result of a price raise some time ago as well. But I see now that it’s 533 SEK/year all of a sudden for new customers.

          Still, that’s not too expensive, honestly. If you need the features, it’s pretty good.

          I don’t, so I won’t pay that amount of my account is put on that price point…

  • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    1 year ago

    FFS Google’s killing another app I use all the time

    At this rate I half expect Google Play books to be dead before 2025

    • grayman@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      YouTube Podcasts coming to the YouTube Music app delivered to you by the Google Play game delivery app!

      • raptore39@lemm.ee
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        1 year ago

        I’ve tried to listen to some podcasts on YouTube music. It really doesn’t work well compared to Pocket Casts. They need to separate the music and podcasts more clearly and make managing podcast playlists more intuitive

        • grayman@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          My favorite part of YT Music is how it’s a terrible interface for YT videos. Second favorite part is the total mixing of music playlists and video playlists.

      • cannache@slrpnk.net
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        1 year ago

        Sounds smart might give it a go, but why not simply download epub direct from an ebooks retailer?

        • raptore39@lemm.ee
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          1 year ago

          My understanding is it is a file linked to your account that links to the epub file. It lets you and only you download your copy of the epub file you purchased.

      • Gormadt@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        1 year ago

        I’ll have to check this out for sure as I primarily listen to audiobooks rather than reading physical books or reading ebooks

        They’re just so much more convenient with my shitty work schedule

  • MashedTech@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    That’s why I never used it, because I knew it will happen. Better to use some other solution. I wish there was a third party option to google chromecast and all the home devices that works as well.

      • Shyfer@ttrpg.network
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        1 year ago

        I hate that all the TCL TVs this year changed from Roku and Google this year to just Google. Give me some variety and competition. Also, I like their simpler out-of-the-box interface better with less ads and such, even though the Google TV interface is more customizable.

          • SuzyQ@sh.itjust.works
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            1 year ago

            Yes they do. Usually one big ad on the side of the screen. And they may if you use certain screen savers. I think the city scapes one puts ads in it. Note: all the ads I mention are static images without sound.

          • MonkeMischief@lemmy.today
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            1 year ago

            Hoo BOY does Roku have ads! When I installed PiHole on my network and used it as my local DNS, the TOP blocked domain was “scribe.roku.com”. It was calling home like 5000 times a day. We were thinking every single remote push maybe.

            Blocking those domains made the entire interface speed up drastically, and got rid of the giant box ads on the side as well. (It’s just a big empty frame now lol).

            Rokus are nice and cheap if you can mitigate their rampant data harvesting.

      • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        What are you using for control? I wouldn’t mind scrapping my Roku for something a little more robust but using a mouse and keyboard on my home television seems kind of …awful.

        • Patches@sh.itjust.works
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          1 year ago

          A Trackball is a lot better than a mouse.

          That said, I haven’t found anything beats both.

          They make mini keyboard/trackball things but they’re all such low quality crap.

        • Stegget@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I picked up a Logitech K400, it’s working well enough for now. I’m still evaluating the best use cases and access methods for everything but it’s good enough for when I need to just toss a browser up on my screen. Much more convenient than going to my PC in another room to cast a tab; I got tired of getting off the couch just b/c a stream needs to be refreshed.

          • linearchaos@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            Thanks for the response

            Yeah, I have one of those at work on a central presentation machine. It does ok

            Maybe my problem is more getting away from windows and moving to kodi or something. Trying to run a regular desktop GUI from across the room is just an uncomfortable thing.

            • Stegget@lemmy.world
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              1 year ago

              FWIW I’m dealing with that issue, too. You can size things up and make it work okay but it’s not an amazing experience. I’m also looking at an alternative UI since the vast majority of what I want it for is browser based. I’m exploring some flavors of linux, but I have yet to encounter something that gives me the TV-like interface with PC functionality behind the scenes.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    10 Google: We’re so rich! Let’s make a product!

    20 Google: kills product

    30 goto 10

  • clearleaf@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Another service that I didn’t know google even offered until they announced it was dying. There are so many sources that podcast apps can pull from that we don’t need half as many as we have.

    • Goony@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I actually really enjoy it. It’s my go to no frills podcast app that isn’t paired with music or other extra stuff

    • mohammed_alibi@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Podcasts are just mp3s (or whatever other audio format like ogg). Authors/pod casters should just host them on their site and be done with it. Why let some other company take a lion share of your ad profit. We need less centralized services and more distributed services. Use lemmy or mastodon to promote them. :)

      • slumberlust@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There is value in aggregate discoverabilty via these sites. They also post to all of them not just one. Podcast advertising is dying across the board.

  • FinishingDutch@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I use it, I like it and it works with zero issues. It also easily works with my Google Home speaker. So of course it gets shut down. Because obviously. Sigh.

    That said, Pocket Casts on iOS is also quite decent.

    • evatronic@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      Pocket Casts has both an Android and iOS version. If you pay for their “subscription” their web app also works, though I’ve never used it I’ve heard good things.

    • slumberlust@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Odd, I use the same on mobile and max hub and find they only sync on way. If I listen to one on the hub I have to manually remember where I left off.

    • lemmyvore@feddit.nl
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      I don’t think they have any qualms about shutting down YouTube but I think they’re afraid of the backlash. It’s such a unique treasure trove of cultural significance that is not out of the question for the US government to step in and tell them to put at least some of it in the Library of Congress or to work with other organizations to preserve it. And they’d rather let it run than be bothered.

      I’ve heard a theory that says that Google isn’t interested in any of their products for the product’s sake. They’re all data-gathering experiments. Once they’re done mining that particular kind of data they shutter the project. If they ever need to revisit that category later, they make another similar product.

      It would certainly explain why they shut down certain projects in the face of commercial success, or why they keep revisiting the messenger app over and over in different ways.

      It would also explain their inept attempts at monetizing YouTube. Keeping an experiment alive past it’s expiration date is unfamiliar to them so they have no idea what to do with it.

      • theherk@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        YouTube is the app around which both Google Play Music and now Podcasts are shutting down, so I doubt YouTube will go away. I won’t be surprised, however, if other apps are incorporated in like Play Movies and Play Books even.

        Shitting down YouTube would be like shuttering Gmail or even Search. Seems unlikely.

      • Dr. Moose@lemmy.world
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        Google shutting down youtube would be such a huge confidence loss that I don’t think they would ever recover. It’ll never happen unless things change drastically.

        • lemmyvore@feddit.nl
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          1 year ago

          Thru could decide to incorporate it separately (which would be ironic considering it started out separate and they forced it into Google), and then let it find its own way.

    • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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      YouTube is too big and dominates too much of certain spaces for streaming. Shutting it down would be stupid. If Google no longer wanted it, it would make WAY more sense to sell. Someone would pay billions for that.

      Edit: also, YouTube made $8billion in ad sales last quarter. YouTube ain’t going anywhere right now.

      • selokichtli@lemmy.ml
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        Well, to be more clear, I was trying to say that YouTube could end as a business for Google. I’m not sure if YouTube is doing well right now, financially, and these whole ad management looks like a desperate move.

        • Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          YouTube has recently been exceeding street expectations and made $8billion in ad sales last quarter alone. Even when revenue took a 2% dip a while back, that business is still a damn cash cow.

          • selokichtli@lemmy.ml
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            Yeah, I still doubt it long-term. It’s become truly annoying to watch YouTube videos without workarounds/Premium these days. Their membership is also more expensive as time goes by. I guess, as long as it is a monopoly, they may keep pushing this. Maybe it’s just me, but feels tired.