List of podcast clients
A podcatcher, or podcast client, is a computer program used to download various media via an RSS or XML feed.[1][2][3]
While podcatchers are most known for downloading podcasts (generally audio files in MP3 format), many are also capable of downloading video, newsfeeds, text, and pictures. Some podcatchers can also automate the transfer of received audio files to a portable media player. Although many include a directory of high-profile podcasts, they generally allow users to manually subscribe directly to a feed by providing the URL.
The core concepts had been developing since 2000, the first commercial podcast client software was developed in 2001,[4] and podcasting became popular in 2004.[5]
When Apple added podcatching to its iTunes software in June 2005, it almost immediately became the most popular client.[6]
Podcatchers
The following is a list of noteworthy podcatchers or software with podcatching capability.[nb 1]
| Title | Description | Website | License | Latest Release Date | Operating System |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amarok | Music player and podcast client | website | GPL v2 | August 16, 2015 | FreeBSD, Linux |
| AntennaPod | Podcast manager for Android | website | MIT | February 25, 2016 | Android |
| Banshee | Music player and podcast client | website | MIT | March 18, 2014 | Linux, macOS, Windows |
| Clementine | A cross-platform fork of Amarok | website | GPL | April 19, 2016 | Linux, Windows, macOS |
| doubleTwist | Android music player with podcast directory and podcast support. | website | March 2007 | Android | |
| BeyondPod | An Android podcast manager. | website | Proprietary | Android | |
| Downcast | A podcast player for iOS, Mac & Apple Watch. | website | Proprietary | iOS, macOS, watchOS | |
| Feedbooks | Social networking client with support for podcasts. | website | April 2014 | Windows | |
| Foobar2000 | Versatile audio player with separate podcatcher component | Podcatcher Component | Donationware | April 7, 2017 | Windows |
| Gpodder | Open source podcast client written in Python | website | GPL v3 [7] | 2016-12-22 | Windows, macOS, Linux/BSD |
| Hootr | A media download solution, supports podcasts, torrents & Magnet | website | Free/Donation | 23-12-2016 | Windows |
| iTunes | Music and podcaster client | website | Proprietary | March 21, 2017 | Windows, macOS |
| Juice | A cross-platform podcatcher (discontinued) | website | GPL | 2006-07-18 | Windows, macOS |
| Liferea | News aggregator for online news feeds, features podcast support | website | GPL | December 27, 2016 | Linux |
| Media Go | Similar to iTunes for Sony PlayStation Portable | website | Proprietary | Windows | |
| MediaMonkey | Media organizers with integrated podcatcher | website | Proprietary | February 26, 2017 | Windows |
| Miro | An integrated video player with podcatcher capabilities (discontinued) | website | GPL v2 | April 16, 2013 | Windows, Linux, macOS |
| MusicBee | Music player with integrated podcatcher | website | Proprietary | March 10, 2017 | Windows |
| NetNewsWire | An RSS and Atom newsreader | website | Proprietary | macOS | |
| NewsFire | A news reader and podcast client that comes with MacOS X. There is no option for independent download | website | Proprietary | macOS | |
| Overcast[8] | A free podcast client for Apple Watch, iPad, and iPhone | website | Proprietary | Apr 21, 2017 | iOS, watchOS |
| Podcast Republic | Android podcast manager. | website | Proprietary | Jan 29, 2017 | Android |
| Podwalk | A podcast client for location-specific podcasts. | website | Proprietary | Feb 01, 2017 | iOS, |
| Radio UserLand | A blogging tool and RSS newsreader | website | Proprietary | September 6, 2005 | Windows, classic Mac OS, macOS |
| Rhythmbox | Default music management application for GNOME | website | GPL v2 | September 10, 2016 | Linux |
| Spotify[9] | (Podcasts not yet available for most formats) A commercial music streaming service with podcast support | website | Proprietary | Windows, Symbian, Windows Phone, Linux, BlackBerry OS, Android, iOS, Chrome OS, macOS, Sony PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and Web | |
| Stitcher | Radio station and podcast client | website | Proprietary | Android, iOS, Web | |
| Uhura | Podcast client based on cloud | website | Donationware | Web, Android | |
| VLC [10] | Cross-platform multimedia player and framework | website | GPL v2 | 2017-02-24 | Windows, Linux, macOS |
| Winamp | Commercial audio player with free Lite option, supports podcasts | website | Proprietary | December 12, 2013 | Windows |
| Zune | Microsoft Media player officially discontinued in June 2012 | April 12, 2010 | Windows |
See also
Notes
- ^ A podcatcher is presumed noteworthy if it has received significant coverage in reliable sources that are independent of the company and satisfies the inclusion criteria for a stand-alone article.
References
- ^ Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-596-10066-7.
- ^ Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-596-10066-7.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Bryan; Goerzen, John; Stewart, Donald Bruce (15 November 2008). Real World Haskell. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 505. ISBN 978-0-596-55430-9.
The idea of a podcatcher is simple. It is given a list of URLs to process. Downloading each of these URLs results in an XML file in the RSS format. Inside this ...
- ^ Ciccarelli, Stephanie. "History of Podcasting". Voices.com. Interactive Voices, Inc. Retrieved 3 April 2015.
- ^ Macnamara, Jim (2010). The 21st Century Media (r)evolution: Emergent Communication Practices. Lang, Peter. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4331-0936-2.
- ^ Braun, Linda W. (January 2007). Listen Up!: Podcasting for Schools and Libraries. Information Today, Inc. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-57387-304-8.
- ^ "gpodder/gpodder". GitHub. Retrieved 2016-12-17.
- ^ Summers, Nick. "Meet Overcast, a new iPhone podcast app from Instapaper founder Marco Arment". The Next Web. The Next Web. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ^ "Say hello to the most entertaining Spotify ever". Retrieved 2015-05-21.
- ^ "VLC subscribe to podcasts". 13 June 2015.
External links
- Comprehensive list of podcatchers at podcastingnews.com - Archived page retrieved from Wayback Machine.
- Podcatchermatrix.org compares the features of a number of podcast clients.
- Podcast Client Feature Comparison Matrix as a Google Docs Spreadsheet.