Pocket Casts 7

ZOMG. It’s here. Release day is here! We couldn’t be prouder, happier or more thrilled to share all the details of Version 7 with you today. It’s a funny thing to work on a big update for so long, you see the app change, you see it grow, you see it evolve but you have to keep it all under wraps! Well not anymore, let the reveal commence!

So what’s new? One of the first things you’ll notice is that you can now browse podcast series and play episodes in a natural and seamless way. No more needing to subscribe before you can see the content. Open our brand-new Discover section, find something you like and just hit play!

What if you’re looking for that one elusive guest or topic in the podcast? Do you have to scroll through hundreds of episodes to find it? Of course not! Version 7 has you covered there as well. You can now search through a podcast series to find the exact episode you’re after.

Now you’re set. You’ve found shows you love. You’ve queued up episodes to listen to using the Up Next feature, but you’ve left the bus and you’re at work. Your pesky boss doesn’t want to see your headphones plugged into your phone, so you fire up the new web version on your work PC. You look down at the player, and look at that, your Up Next list is now synced! Ditto when you get home and want to chill out with your tablet. Your Up Next list is now synced across all the devices on which you can sign into Pocket Casts (iOS, Android, Web, Mac, PC).

Weeks later you’ve discovered so many amazing new episodes that you want to share them with your friends. But what did you listen to last Wednesday? Good news: Version 7 introduces Listening History. All your episodes in the order you played them in, and there’s that episode you fell in love with on Wednesday. Two taps later you’ve shared it with everyone. They’ll soon be tired of hearing about how amazing podcasts are and what good taste you have, but hey, we’re not relationship counsellors and they’re clearly misguided, so on we go!

We’ve also made significant improvements to help you manage your lists of podcasts. Version 7 introduces a powerful new Archive feature that allows you to archive an episode without changing its play status, so you can archive to your heart’s content and still easily determine if you’ve played an episode.

Those are just five of the improvements in Version 7, and there’s so much more. A new streamlined interface makes more features accessible at the tap of a finger. Cumbersome side navigation is replaced with a tab bar, tailored for big phones where reaching the top is sometimes a monumental effort. Settings previously hidden behind menus are now far easier to find and use. Refined Light, Dark and a new Extra Dark theme are there so you can tailor the app to your mood. We’ve also added season and episode numbering support to help you see exactly where you are in a show. There are many more platform-specific enhancements too: AirPlay 2, playback effects while streaming, and Siri Shortcuts on the iOS side. Mac and PC support on the desktop side. The Android app has been updated based on our work with Google on new Material Design guidelines. We’ve also spent a lot of time on the server components that power Pocket Casts which will enable some even more interesting things in the future.

Version 7 is available now on the following platforms: