Castro vs YourPods

Castro is a podcast player for Apple devices, centered on a queue for adding, reordering, and automatically playing episodes. Queued episodes download over Wi-Fi, and users can listen offline, read episode transcripts, and sync across devices. Playback speeds are adjustable from 0.8x to 3x; Trim Silence can shorten total listening time by 10–20% without changing audio quality. Other listening tools include private feeds, podcast chapters, episode sharing, and per-podcast settings for auto-queue, audio filters, playback speed, and intro skipping. Users can import their own audio by adding files to iCloud Drive. Castro has a CarPlay app, while Apple Watch users can control playback and browse the queue. The listed platforms are iOS, iPadOS, macOS, and Apple Watch. The free plan is available, and Castro Plus adds advanced playback, sideloading, Night Mode, custom icons, and more. Listed subscriptions include $3.99 per month, $9.99 per month billed quarterly, $24.99 per year, and family subscriptions at $39.99 per year. Castro directs questions to [email protected].

YourPods is a podcast player built in Swift and SwiftUI, with offline downloads, episode transcripts, and private feed support. Playback controls include silence trimming, variable speed, smart skip, sleep timers, and per-podcast Listening Profiles. AutoPilot can add new episodes to Up Next, move priority episodes to the top, and apply those profiles. The app supports iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple Watch, CarPlay, Android, Windows, Linux, and modern web browsers, with Siri and Shortcuts and Handoff in the Apple ecosystem. Sync options include Nextcloud gPodder Sync, NextPod, RePod, custom gpodder.net server addresses, and other compatible servers. The maker says the app has no analytics, ads, or data harvesting. Vault Mode keeps subscriptions, queue, and listening history on-device; P3 removes 39 tracking prefixes across 25 analytics services before playback or downloads. YourPods Sync stores account and listening data on US infrastructure, transmitted over HTTPS/TLS. Sync users can export JSON data or delete accounts through the account portal. The app is listed at $4.99 a month as a one-time purchase; YourPods Pro costs $30 a year after trial. Its optional media proxy is limited to 25 episodes per calendar month.