Podcast Addict Android Review

Podcast Addict is a popular app on Android to add various podcast recordings and keep up with new releases.

The app is regularly updated with new features and is ad supported in its free version with a premium version available which drops the ads.

Main Interface

The main interface on a smart phone hides the menu access in the top left next to the app logo. To the right is a refresh updating logo which will initiate a check to see if any podcasts subscribed to have new programs to download. An eye icon next to this can toggle seen podcasts on and off so they are hidden. To the right right is the + icon which can initiate a search process.

Below the main toolbar, the subscribed podcasts are broken down into their respective categories. It is possible to tap this option and filter the podcasts to only show the ones that fall into a certain category. This will be useful for people who subscriber to scores of podcasts but not really for people who only have a few in their list.

Each podcast displays the official artwork, the number of podcasts available and has its own tiny option to change individual settings for that podcast from the main screen.

If any podcast has been partly played and paused last time then it will be shown at the bottom of the screen with the option to continue playing it.

Main menu

A main menu can be activated from the left of the icon logo at the top of the screen or by swipe from the left edge across to the right.

The menu includes a count of how many episodes have been received over the past 7 days, how many have been downloaded, what episodes were marked as favorites (where they may not be deleted in a purge), what podcasts have partially been played so you can find several of those not just the most recent one, and more. There is also a Settings icon at the bottom.

Playback

The playback screen displayed everything you need to control the playing of your podcasts.

Settings

The settings are also extremely good. The level of fine control over what is okay to download and what is not is excellent. It is possible to specify that 3G and 3G LTE connections may not download new episodes, but Wi-Fi connections can but only those approved. This can help where someone is using a 4G LTE MiFi device that is cellular so costly on bandwidth but the smart phone connects to it via Wi-Fi and so thinks it is a broadband connection.

Updates can be configured to only download the most recent few episodes, grab the oldest ones first, and other specific controls.

Downloads can be set to auto delete after they have been listened to unless they are set as a favorite using the Star symbol on the playback screen during listening.

Search Function

The search function lets the user check for podcasts by name via iTunes but also across the web in other ways. There are times when a podcast will not show up with one kind of search but it does on another so it is worth trying out more than one if you're having trouble finding what you're looking for.

Widget

The widget with Podcast Addict lets the user see the current podcast artwork and control playback. It is useful to add it to the home screen to avoid needing to open the app every time. There is also a notification that can help to pause and resume playback from the notification tray which is very handy.

Verdict

When it comes to subscribing and listening to podcasts, it is difficult to recommend an app better than Podcast Addict on Android. There is clearly a great deal of though that has gone into what features to offer in order to give the user control over bandwidth use, playback and media storage. This is essential as whilst individual podcasts are smaller, they add up fast on the bandwidth and storage requirements.