Switching from Pocket Casts to AntennaPod

Daniel Jonsson

Daniel Jonsson

— 1 min read

I have used Pocket Casts since September 24, 2016. I originally started to use the app on Android because I wanted a podcast app that worked with Android Auto. I also paid for premium when they still offered premium as a one-time fee.

My Pocket Casts stats are:

  • Listened for: 266 days 1 hour
  • Time saved by:
    • Skipping: 2 days 18 hours
    • Variable Speed: 3 days 4 hours
    • Trim Silence: 17 days 15 hours
    • Auto Skipping: 1 hour 5 mins
    • Total: 23 days 15 hours

Until last week, I had actually missed that Pocket Casts was acquired by Automattic in 2021 and made open-source in 2022. However, according to a Reddit user, Pocket Casts isn't on F-droid because "it uses Google Play Services, analytics, and other libraries that are not allowed in binaries distributed to F-Droid": https://www.reddit.com/r/pocketcasts/comments/1krdig7/why_is_the_app_not_on_fdroid/.

Nowadays I don't have any need for Android Auto, and I also prefer to use apps that can be found in F-droid. Therefore, I'm now switching to AntennaPod for my podcast listening. I don't need syncing between devices at the moment, but it has integration with gPodder, which is nice. The app feels modern and polished, and so far I enjoy using it.

I like using apps from F-droid for a couple of reasons:

  • They are free from Google Play Services, which means that they can easily be installed on custom ROMs without GApps installed. I'm currently using a regular Google Pixel phone with Google's Android though, but it makes it easier to migrate in the future if I need/want to go to GrapheneOS or LineageOS.
  • It feels good to use and support apps from the underdog's ecosystem. If nobody was using F-droid and the apps distributed there, there would probably be little interest to continue to maintain them. Therefore, the more people who participate in the ecosystem – the better.

I have used Pocket Casts for a long time now, but it feels fun to try something different. Pocket Casts has just worked and I haven't had a reason to switch before. However, I feel that AntennaPod better aligns with my values.

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