Castro Podcast Player Overview
What is Castro Podcast Player?
Castro is a podcast player that allows users to manage and track multiple podcasts at once. It offers a unique queue system that allows users to drag and drop episodes they want to listen to and skip the rest. The app also offers carplay compatibility, chapter support, trim silence, and other features that enhance the listening experience. Castro Plus is an optional paid subscription that unlocks advanced features such as trim silence, enhance voices, sideloading, and custom settings per-podcast.
Features
- Unique queue system for managing and tracking multiple podcasts
- Carplay compatibility for seamless listening while driving
- Chapter support for easy navigation within episodes
- Trim silence feature to accelerate silent parts and get through more episodes faster
- Enhance voices feature to improve the listening experience in loud environments
- Sideloading feature to import audio files directly from iCloud Drive
- Mono-mix feature to mix stereo podcasts to mono for easier listening
- Custom settings per-podcast, including episode limit, trim silence, enhance voices, mono mix, skip intros, and playback speed
- Dark mode and sleep timer for night time listening
- Apple Watch app for controlling playback and selecting episodes from the queue
- Episode notifications with a summary of the episode to help users decide if it interests them
- Castro Plus subscription for advanced features and customization options
- Privacy Policy & Terms of Use available on the Castro website.
Official Screenshots
Product Details and Description of
Castro is a beautiful, full-featured podcast player that makes it easy to track and manage lots of podcasts at the same time. Only listen to the episodes you want and easily skip the rest, queue up hours of podcasts at a time and enjoy a seamless listening experience with carplay compatibility, chapter support, trim silence and much, much more! HOW IT WORKS 1. New episodes land in the NEW tab. Read their descriptions, add episodes you like to your QUEUE, and clear the rest. 2. Press play to listen to episodes from your QUEUE in order. Queued episodes are downloaded automatically. 3. Re-order your QUEUE to plan your next few hours of listening at any time. Browse your LIBRARY to review the back catalogue, quickly access starred shows, and see your listening history. Subscribing to a podcast is no longer a commitment to listen to every episode. You don’t have to manage a huge list of subscriptions or choose a few shows and miss the rest. WHY OUR USERS LOVE CASTRO • Drag and drop podcasts to plan your listening with Castro’s unique queue • An elegant dark mode and thoughtfully designed sleep timer offer the best in night time podcast listening. • CarPlay support makes it easy to pick up where you left off while driving. • Apple Watch app to control playback and select another episode from your queue. • Episode notifications include a summary of the episode to help you decide if it interests you. Play, queue or clear the episode directly from the notification without opening the app. CASTRO PLUS Castro Plus is an optional paid subscription available for $18.99/year (includes a one-week trial). Plus unlocks a range of advanced features: • Trim Silence — With this option on, the app will analyze audio as it plays to detect silent parts and accelerate those parts. Get through more episodes faster. • Enhance Voices improves the listening experience for many podcasts and makes it easier to hear in loud environments. Under the hood, Enhance Voices applies a dynamic compressor to increase volume just where it’s needed. • Sideloading: Import audio files directly, just by dropping them in iCloud Drive • Mono-Mix — Mixes a stereo podcast to mono, which makes it easier to hear podcasts that pan some guests on left/right channels. • Chapter Support: Artwork, Skipping & Pre-selection. • Custom settings per-podcast: Episode Limit, Trim Silence, Enhance Voices, Mono Mix, Skip Intros, Playback Speed. WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING “Castro 3 is an incredible app.” — The Sweet Setup “Castro 3 is everything Castro already was, but better.” — MacStories Castro 3 Is a Great Modern Podcast App” — Beautiful Pixels “Unlike other podcatchers, Castro's primary virtue is its simplicity and ease of use. The app combines sleek visual design with crystal clear audio.” — Tom’s Guide CASTRO PLUS SUBSCRIPTION TERMS Castro Plus costs $18.99 per year. Prices are in US dollars and may vary in countries other than the US. Castro Plus is charged to your iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. It will renew on the day before the current subscription period ends. You can cancel auto-renewal any time from the Castro settings screen. You can switch between the two subscription periods after you pick one, but your trial period will end immediately if you do, so it's best to wait till your free week is over before changing. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. Your account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Any unused portion of a free trial period, if offered, will be forfeited when the user purchases a subscription to that publication, where applicable. Privacy Policy & Terms of Use: https://castro.fm/privacy-policy
Top Reviews
By mmccroskey
Clean, Simple, Fantastic, ONE complaint
I’m a picky guy, and to me this is the perfect podcast player. First of all, the mental model of an inbox is exactly what I was looking for. Simple to understand, and keeps you from being overwhelmed if you follow a lot of podcasts. Also, since you’re less likely to be overwhelmed, you end up following more podcasts, and getting exposed to great content you would not otherwise have listens to. The UI is gorgeous and is perfected down to the last detail. I happily pay The subscription for this app, and you should do the same. Now, the one complaint. If I am trying to start a series of podcasts before going on a long road trip and I have poor connectivity, the user experience is very confusing. I’ll move a bunch of stuff into the playlist queue, but because the connectivity is poor, many things will start and then stop downloading and I’ll get spammed by a flurry of could not download alerts. This behavior surprises me, because as far as I can tell, my settings are such that these podcasts should already be downloaded. Other than this complaint, the app is great!
By Double nope
Excellent save for one issue
Excellent podcast player. There is one issue that bugs me personally though and that is if network conditions are spotty, the podcast dings out and then gives a red notification in the app stating as much. I work outside and have to wear gloves while driving machinery so although the network might be spotty it comes back right away. However the episode I was listening to does not attempt to reconnect and even if I select it again it still does not play. I have to quit the app restart it and then when I select the episode I was listening to it starts from the beginning which is annoying if I am a long ways into an already long podcast. This isn’t something I can just stop working for and deal with. It’s not much more than an inconvenience any other time, but it’s forcing me to try other apps that don’t have this issue, and since I really love the work put into Castro and enjoy its many other advantages. Please fix it. I’m happy to give it top rating regardless but sure am counting on you to read this and fix it.
By Sweetgurlyah
Makes Podcasts Better
I love this app. The best thing about it is I can organize individual episodes in the queue by whether I want to watch them soon or later. Its great for long drives where I can fit in multiple episodes. I also love how episodes can easily be dragged into different places on the list or into the inbox, and that episodes are marked if I have already listened to them. The option to favorite episodes is also very useful. I love all the features. My only issue is that I can't look up episodes individually. Its difficult when trying to find episodes on a specific topic or look in podcasts I'm not subscribed to for new content. I have to go to apple podcasts and look them up before I can scroll to find them in Castro. That's my only problem with the app, but possible new features that would be helpful are related podcast/episode suggestions and social features.
