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 | |
| 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[7] | simple, open source podcast client written in Python | website | GPL 3 | December 22, 2016 | Windows, Linux, macOS and others |
| iTunes | Music and podcaster client | website | Proprietary | March 21, 2017 | Windows, macOS |
| Juice | A cross-platform podcatcher (discontinued) | website | GPL | July 18, 2006 | 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 for 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 | April 21, 2017 | iOS, watchOS |
| RadioPublic | Free podcast app for iPhone, Android and web | website | Proprietary | October 13, 2017; | Android, iOS, Web |
| Pocket Casts | Podcast app for Android, iPhone, iPod and Apple Watch; and as a webclient.[9] | website | Proprietary | September 14, 2017 | Android, iOS, WatchOS, Web |
| Podparadise | A podcast client for listening and subscribing to podcasts online | website | October 1, 2016 | iOS, Windows, Linux, | |
| PodSilo by MollieSoft | A podcast client for subscribing to RSS feeds. Download episodes manually or on a time schedule. Manages disk space used by the downloaded episodes. | website | July 12, 2017 | Windows | |
| Podwalk | A podcast client for location-specific podcasts. | website | Proprietary | February 1, 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[10] | (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 | |
| VLC [11] | Cross-platform multimedia player and framework | website | GPL v2 | February 24, 2017 | 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 | Proprietary | 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.
- ^ cybernetnews.com. "gPodder – A Full Featured Podcast Client for Linux". cybernetnews.com. Retrieved 2017-11-16.
- ^ Summers, Nick. "Meet Overcast, a new iPhone podcast app from Instapaper founder Marco Arment". The Next Web. The Next Web. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
- ^ "All your podcasts, right here in the browser". play.pocketcasts.com. Shifty Jelly. Retrieved 9 October 2017.
- ^ "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.