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 Update Windows macOS Linux Web iOS Android Windows Phone Chrome OS BlackBerry OS PS3 PS4 Symbian Classic Mac OS watchOS FreeBSD
Amarok Music player and podcast client website GPL v2 2015 FreeBSD, Linux
AntennaPod Podcast manager for Android website MIT 2016 Android
Banshee Music player and podcast client website MIT 2014 Linux, macOS, Windows
Castbox A Podcast client website iOS & Android
Clementine A cross-platform fork of Amarok website GPL 2016 Linux, Windows, macOS
doubleTwist Android music player with podcast directory and podcast support. website 2007 Android
Feedbooks Social networking client with support for podcasts. website 2014 Windows
Foobar2000 Versatile audio player with separate podcatcher component Podcatcher Component Donationware 2017 Windows
gPodder (fr)[7] simple, open source podcast client written in Python website GPL 3 2016 Windows, Linux, macOS and others
iTunes Music and podcaster client website Proprietary 2017 Windows, macOS
iVoox Podcaster client and hosting platform for podcasts website Proprietary iOS & Android
Juice A cross-platform podcatcher (discontinued) website GPL 2006 Windows, macOS
Liferea News aggregator for online news feeds, features podcast support website GPL 2016 Linux
Media Go Similar to iTunes for Sony PlayStation Portable website Proprietary Windows
MediaMonkey Media organizers with integrated podcatcher website Proprietary 2017 Windows
Miro An integrated video player with podcatcher capabilities (discontinued) website GPL v2 2013 Windows, Linux, macOS
MusicBee Music player with integrated podcatcher website Proprietary 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 2017 iOS, watchOS
RadioPublic Free podcast app for iPhone, Android and web website Proprietary 2017 Android, iOS, Web
Pocket Casts Podcast app for Android, iPhone, iPod and Apple Watch; and as a webclient.[9] website Proprietary 2017 Android, iOS, WatchOS, Web
Podcast Addict Manage all your audio & video Podcasts as well as your YouTube & Twitch channels, Audiobooks and News feeds from your Android device website Proprietary 2013 Android
Podit A good free and intuitive podcast player for Windows 10 website Proprietary 2017 Windows 10
Podparadise A podcast client for listening and subscribing to podcasts online website 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 2017 Windows
Podwalk A podcast client for location-specific podcasts. website Proprietary 2017 iOS
Radio UserLand A blogging tool and RSS newsreader website Proprietary 2005 Windows, classic Mac OS, macOS
Rhythmbox Default music management application for GNOME website GPL v2 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 2017 Windows, Linux, macOS
Winamp Commercial audio player with free Lite option, supports podcasts website Proprietary 2013 Windows
Zune Microsoft Media player officially discontinued in June 2012 Proprietary 2010 Windows

See also

Notes

  1. 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

  1. Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 7. ISBN 978-0-596-10066-7. 
  2. Herrington, Jack D. (2005). Podcasting Hacks. O'Reilly Media, Inc. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-596-10066-7. 
  3. 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 ... 
  4. Ciccarelli, Stephanie. "History of Podcasting". Voices.com. Interactive Voices, Inc. Retrieved 3 April 2015. 
  5. Macnamara, Jim (2010). The 21st Century Media (r)evolution: Emergent Communication Practices. Lang, Peter. p. 50. ISBN 978-1-4331-0936-2. 
  6. Braun, Linda W. (January 2007). Listen Up!: Podcasting for Schools and Libraries. Information Today, Inc. p. 6. ISBN 978-1-57387-304-8. 
  7. cybernetnews.com. "gPodder – A Full Featured Podcast Client for Linux". cybernetnews.com. Retrieved 2017-11-16. 
  8. Summers, Nick. "Meet Overcast, a new iPhone podcast app from Instapaper founder Marco Arment". The Next Web. The Next Web. Retrieved 24 February 2016. 
  9. "All your podcasts, right here in the browser". play.pocketcasts.com. Shifty Jelly. Retrieved 9 October 2017. 
  10. "Say hello to the most entertaining Spotify ever". Retrieved 2015-05-21. 
  11. "VLC subscribe to podcasts". 13 June 2015. 

External links