Contact Podbean Podcast App Player Support

*I used this app as a listener only* tldr: not user friendly/unintuitive app that works for listening… sometimes. The app overall is not convenient/easy to use. It’s not intuitive, you have to find and figure out the weird ways to use it and get what you want from the podcast app. It’s particularly annoying that you have to make your own podcast page, when you have no intention of creating a podcast, just to listen or become a patron. The patron program is especially aggravating. Signing up isn’t easy and canceling is impossible. I shouldn’t be surprised since the app has never been user friendly. The basic point of the podcast, listening, is inconsistent too. At times an episode just won’t play or won’t save your place mid episode. I’ve also noticed that there will be parts of my podcasts that are soundless… I thought it was an issue with the upload or creator but then I realized it was happening during several different podcasts. When I listened to the episodes on a different app, there was no break/silence and I was hearing parts of the episode I missed before. I was using this app because my favorite podcast was hosted here and used Podbean for their patron program. I am SO excited they are moving to a different app with an easier/better patron program and host site so I don’t have to use this app again.

Glitchy- If I press pause or hit the back button more than once or twice during a podcast, it will stop playing. Won’t go back, won’t go forward, won’t play. I’ve closed and reopened the app. Tried starting a different podcast, then gone back to the one that stopped- no change. The only way it will start again is to close the app for several days (ridiculous) or if I delete and reload the app. Due to this issue I would never use it, but a favorite podcast has bonus content only on Podbean so I listen only to that podcast on the app. Difficult to navigate- I’ve probably got about 30 podcasts saved on my Podcast app. My list of shows and episodes comes up immediately and is easy to navigate and toggle through. Using Podbean is like “50 First Dates”- I’m greeted with a generic home screen with no mention of my listening history and recommendations that clearly aren’t relevant. I have to search for the ONE show I listen to every. single. time. Once you finally get to the show you want, you have to go into a menu to have your episode list refresh- otherwise you’d never know that another episode had been released. Glitchy, not intuitive, cumbersome.

I originally posted 5 stars after switching to Podbean. I did love several of the features of this app that I didn’t have with others, and it never crashed. It also downloaded episodes quickly (I didn’t have mine set to auto download, just chose the individual episodes I wanted), and the downloads deleted immediately after they finished playing space and time. HOWEVER, I just deleted the app. Podcasts I listened to daily would disappear from my feed. I would have to search for them again to follow and listen. I thought it was me at first, maybe an accident with my touch screen. But then it did again, more than once, it happened with more than one show. I reached out to customer service, but the response was completely useless. Even if they didn’t/don’t have a fix or answer at the moment, the response could have been handled better. I would have preferred them not to answer at all than what I received. I was too annoyed at that point to keep trying. Promptly deleted.