Create a Podcast App for Android, Mac, Windows

Whether it is a thriller, a documentary, a rom-com, a dance-music sequence, or a spy-flick, podcasts let you explore all these limited series in a single gulp; Create a Podcast App now!

The term “Podcast” merges the idea of “Play on demand” and “Broadcast”, referring to audio and video content in episodic formats that can be streamed or downloaded digitally. While making a podcast, a user creates an audio or video file. Other people can then download this file, to watch or listen to on their computers, phones, or MP3 player.

There are many podcast applications available on iOS (MAC), Android, and Windows platforms, but the podcasting market centers on a few niche contenders like Apple Podcasts. Every year media groups like Statista, Triton Digital, and Edison Research conduct their researches and surveys to measure trends, understand listener behaviour, and track podcast growth globally. The next most popular podcast applications after Apple Podcasts are iCatcher, Podcast Addict, Overcast with only 7%.

Why are some Podcast Apps more popular?

The reason why some podcast applications dominate the mobile podcast market are: First – These are free for listeners as these come pre-installed on iPhones and iPads. These offer a simple and consistent user experience with other Apple iOS apps.

Apple (iOS) is high in usage and user ratings. The resultant popularity data is considered by the producers as a proxy for the industry as a whole. High ratings drive discovery, which increases audience, which leads to higher ad revenue and more discovery – a virtuous cycle. Third-party podcast apps aren’t of much value to podcasters. Smaller podcast producers on Android are as well worthy of attention, even though they hold a smaller portion of the target audience. Although Android devices come with Google Play Music, which has podcast functionality but hardly qualifies as a go-to default podcast player for Android. Current popularity index goes like: Spotify > Apple Podcasts > Google Podcasts > Castbox > Google Podcasts > Web Browser > Podcast Addict > Overcast > Apple iTunes

Several third-party Podcast Apps vie for popularity – Podcast Addict, Stitcher, RadioPublic, Pocket Casts, Podcast Republic, Beyond Pod, Castbox, TuneIn, Spotify, SoundCloud.

Other factors that affect the popularity of Podcast apps are the price (paid or free), registration for premium versions, subscription services, downloads, RSS feeds, PC’s to one-touch streaming on mobile devices.

Google is an upcoming major force in podcasting with a growing listenership at about 10% annually. Podcast apps can as well have certain limitations. It doesn’t handle interrupted internet connections quite well and it also does not offer control over downloads.

Other apps by Google for Podcasts offer some features that other apps don’t. They work with Google assistant. They feature “pick up where you left off functionality” that works across devices, including Google Home smart speakers. They use AI techniques to drive podcast recommendations.

How is the appetite for podcasts worldwide? (Over last few years)

Podcasting advertisement revenue rose 19% ($842) million last year (2020), driven by 37% in 2021 Q4, and is expected to cross $2 billion by 2023, as per Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) and consulting firm.

Further, over 55% of people in the U.S. listen to podcasts. Over 155 million people listen to a podcast every week. Around 24% of the US population (68 million) listen to multiple podcasts per week. Podcast listeners watch an average of seven different shows per week. Currently, over 7 lac active podcasts and 29 million podcast episodes are available. The popular age group for podcast listeners is 25-44 years, which makes up 49% of total listeners. And Spotify is now the world’s most popular podcast app, closely followed by the Apple Podcast app. People’s instinct is there for a reason, it’s a gauge.

Popular Apps for Listening To Podcasts in the United States (2019-2020)

Where Podcasts are most popular?

Popular Podcast Platforms in the U.S. (%)

Americans have plenty of options to listen to podcasts. This survey from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism states that Spotify is the most widely used podcast app currently (Q4 2021). Many high-profile podcasts have signed exclusive agreements with certain platforms, forcing many listeners to switch between apps for different podcasts.

Podcasts Rising in Prominence

Best Podcast Apps List

• Apple Podcasts (Selection: over 1 million shows, Price: free, $1 and up for individual show subscription, Devices: iPhones and iPads with iOS 10.0 or later, Exclusive Podcasts: yes)
• Google Podcasts (Selection: Not specified, Price: free, devices: Web browser, iOS devices, and Android devices)
• Spotify (Selection: 2.2 million podcasts, Price: free (with ads), $10 a month (ad-free), Devices: Web browser, IOS, Android, Media Players, Smart TV’s, Gaming Consoles, and more)
• Audible (Selection: 1,00,00 podcasts, Price: Free, $8 a month (Audible Plus catalogue), $15 a month (Audible Premium Plus), Devices: Web player, iOS, Android, Windows 10 tablets, Fire Tablets, and more, Exclusive Podcasts: yes)
• Stitcher (Selection: Over 260,000 podcasts, Price: Free (with ads), $5 a month/$35 a year (ad-free), Devices: Web player, iOS devices, Android devices, and more, Exclusives podcasts: Yes)
• TuneIn Radio (Selection: Over four million podcasts, Price: Free (with ads), $10 one-time payment (no visual ads/less audio ads), $10 a month (mostly ad-free), Devices: Web player, iOS, Android, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Samsung smart TVs, Roku, Chromecast, Fire TV, and more, Exclusive podcasts: No)
• Other Podcast Apps: Podcasts, Spotify, Mimir, Mame Cast, Downcast, BarCasts, Pocket Casts, Google Podcasts, Laughable, Himalaya, Cast box, Procast, Stitcher, TuneIn Radio, and Luminary etc.

Podcast App Features

• Podcast applications must be user-friendly and display subscribed podcast directories or episodes in a tile format.
• It should feature an easy tutorial for help.
• App users must be able to see the episodes and various download options.
• These must be available on different platforms.
• Such apps must have a playlist feature to help users to sort and categorize their downloaded content.
• Podcast apps should support video podcast functionality and auto-download functionality.
• It should help in saving storage space by automatically cleaning up downloaded episodes.
• These should come with useful playback features – forward and back buttons, configurable time intervals, etc.
• Monetization can be via in-app purchases.
• It lets you discover podcasts, Customize your listening experience, and lets you listen wherever you are.
• Subscribe and listen
• Explore show and episode recommendations
• Browse popular and trending shows in comedy, news, sports, and more categories.
• Listen to faster playback speeds
• Skip over silences
• Queue up episodes for a seamless listening experience
• Easily track your downloads, listening history, and subscriptions
• Listen on multiple devices – laptop, phone, smart speaker – without losing your place
• Auto-download shows to listen offline and on the go
• Discover podcasts using Google Assistant and Google Search

Type of Podcast Genres followed by App Development Companies

• Comedy
• News
• True crime
• Sport
• Health/fitness
• Religion/faith
• Politics
• Self-help/productivity
• Investigative journalism
• Finances
• Scripted comedy
• Game show
• Pop culture
• Scripted drama

Why should you record a podcast?

Podcast recording makes it to your audience faster than any other social networking medium. It helps interested communities hear about your business, catch up on your industry, and get helpful devices. Creating Podcasts is economical, easy and the outcome is highly impressive.

What instruments (tools) do you need to record an audio podcast?

Making and presenting a podcast should be seamless. It does require a systematic effort (without spending a fortune). You need a basic few things to get started:

• A good quality microphone
• A computer
• An audio recording/editing software
• MP3 encoding software
• A hosting service to broadcast your podcasts
• A web publishing service such as Google’s Blogger

How can you create a podcast?

• Plan your podcast.
• Get a blog and domain.
• Create a theme for your podcast.
• Write a script.
• Set up your recording equipment.
• Record your podcast.
• Edit, mix and export your episode.
• Upload your episode to your hosting provider.
• Create your podcast episode and show notes.
• Give a title to your podcast.
• Number each episode.
• Add a short description for the episode.
• Add a hyperlink to the MP3 file for this episode.
• Add tags to help search engines identify the contents of your podcast episode.
• ‘Burn’ your podcast feed.
• Upload your podcast to iTunes and other podcast sites to maximize your coverage and reach.

How can you create a podcast app? (With Technology Stack)

1. Define the scope of the project – Choose language, features, and monetization
2. Make it flexible to support other languages
3. Select a programming approach and agree on a development approach
4. Use open-source content management systems and cloud services platforms like Mobile Backend as a Service (MBaaS) to expedite the project.
5. Imbibe application programming interface (APIs) and Software development Kits (SDKs) to implement core features.
6. Align a development team of UI/UX designers, developers, Test engineers
7. Acquire a project management tool and include Scrum techniques, Sprints, Daily stand-up meetings, Sprint review meetings, Sprint retrospective meetings
8. Sign-up for an MBaaS platform – it offers cloud infrastructure, persistent storage, eliminates time-consuming tasks of building and managing the mobile backend. It also makes it easier to integrate 3rd party APIs and subsequently scale up your mobile app.
9. Make use of AWS Amplify, Amazon Lightsail on the virtual private server (VPS) for easy hosting.
10. Find a suitable WordPress theme like Megaphone – Audio podcast WordPress theme (It is a fully responsive theme with excellent layouts, templates, and excellent documentation).
11. Find an API solution for searching podcasts – Listen API from Listen Notes (Podcast search engine)
12. Procure an eCommerce API solution like BigCommerce API
13. Find a payment gateway API solution like Stripe with a robust API/SDK solution
14. Get a bulk SMS API solution like Twilio
15. Get a mobile device lab on the cloud for test automation
16. Design the website and the mobile app UI – The design team should follow the WordPress theme documentation to design the website, follow the WordPress theme documentation to design the website, consult the Human Interface Guidelines to design the user interface, and follow Material Design guidelines to design the Android app user interface.
17. Develop the Android App – Integrate SDK’s/API’s from Stripe, BigCommerce, Twilio. Use espresso and the experitest mobile device lab to test the app. Publish the app to Google Play.
18. Develop the iOS App – Code the app using Objective-C and XCode as your IDE. Integrate the above-mentioned SDK’s/API’s in your app. Verify the app using XCTest and the Experitest mobile device lab. Submit the app to App Store.
19. Your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is ready!

What is the cost to create a podcast app?

The cost to develop an MVP in podcast app development comes around USD 20K – 35K.

Frequently Ask Questions

Is the podcast industry growing?

Monthly US podcast listeners increased exponentially in 2021, and industry experts have predicted continued growth in 2022.

What percentage of the population listens to podcasts (globally)?

Approximately 57% of US consumers listen to podcasts, and this percentage is persistently increasing.

How many podcasts are there in 2021 (globally)?

There are over 23, 94, 926 valid podcasts, over 59 million episodes, and thousands more added each month.

What is the most popular podcast this year?

The Joe Rogan experience is the most popular podcast instead of monthly podcast listeners (as measured from Q3 2020-Q2 2021).

In Conclusion

Just like documentaries, music streaming has overtaken buying CDs, DVDs, or online music mediums, digital streaming services like Netflix have replaced physical rental stores, gradually replacing television, they are on their way to replacing traditional radio shows. We are in the midst of an internet-centric generation where even games can be played without owning gaming hardware. So if you are looking for an app to stream podcasts on the Android/iOS/Windows platform, tune in to our experts. Also, we create multi-purpose apps that are exclusively dedicated to podcasts up to apps that allow recording your podcasts, and more for these platforms.

Please share your suggestions at [email protected]

Images Credits: statista.com, apple.com, devteam.space, iab.com