Podcast apps have been missing something obvious for years. You can queue episodes one by one, sure. But building actual playlists? That’s been surprisingly rare.
Pocket Casts just fixed that. The popular podcast app now lets users create custom playlists that sequence episodes across different shows. So you can finally organize your podcast library like you’ve been doing with music since the iPod era.
Why This Matters More Than It Sounds
Think about your typical podcast routine. You probably subscribe to dozens of shows. New episodes drop constantly. But you don’t necessarily want to listen in chronological order.
Maybe you want all your news podcasts in the morning. Interview shows during your commute. Comedy for evening walks. Previously, you’d manually queue each episode or let auto-play shuffle through whatever downloaded first.
Now you can set it and forget it. Build a morning news playlist once. Add your favorite shows. Done. The app handles the rest.
Plus, this works great for learning projects. Studying a specific topic? Create a playlist of relevant episodes from different podcasts. No more hunting through your subscriptions each time.
Smart Playlists Do the Heavy Lifting
Pocket Casts offers two playlist modes. Manual works exactly how you’d expect. Drag episodes in. Arrange them. Hit play.
But Smart Playlists actually build themselves based on rules you set. Sort by release date, episode duration, or specific shows. The app automatically adds new episodes that match your criteria.
This replaces the old filters feature, which served a similar purpose but with less flexibility. Smart Playlists can do everything filters did, plus more granular organization.
For instance, you could create a “Quick Hits” playlist that only includes episodes under 20 minutes. Or a “Deep Dives” collection with everything over an hour. The app updates these automatically as new episodes arrive.
Road Trips Just Got Better
Long drives become infinitely more tolerable with proper podcast queuing. Nobody wants to fumble with their phone at 70 mph to find the next episode.
Set up a road trip playlist beforehand. Load it with enough content for the journey. Then just let it play. The episodes flow naturally from one to the next without manual intervention.
Same principle applies to flights, workouts, or any situation where you’d rather not constantly manage playback. Build your queue ahead of time. Focus on whatever else you’re doing.
Catching Up to Basic Features
Here’s the thing that bugs me. Playlists aren’t revolutionary. Music apps have had them for decades. So have video streaming services.
But podcast apps lagged behind for years. Pocket Casts users apparently requested this feature constantly. Yet it took until now to implement.
Why the delay? Probably because podcast apps started as simple RSS readers. They delivered episodes chronologically and called it a day. But as podcasting exploded and libraries grew massive, that chronological approach stopped making sense.
Better late than never, though. And Pocket Casts deserves credit for actually listening to user feedback. Many apps ignore feature requests indefinitely.
Free Tier Expands Access
This playlist update isn’t the only recent Pocket Casts news. The service also launched a free tier that includes web player and desktop app access.
Previously, those features required a paid subscription. Now they’re available to everyone. The free version has some limitations, but core functionality works without payment.
That’s increasingly rare in the podcast app space. Most services either charge upfront or lock essential features behind paywalls. Pocket Casts moving toward more free features stands out.
Still Room for Improvement
Playlists solve one organization problem. But podcast discovery remains messy across the industry.
Finding new shows still requires browsing charts, reading recommendations, or stumbling across mentions. There’s no sophisticated recommendation algorithm like Spotify has for music.
Plus, episode search across apps remains terrible. Try finding that specific interview you heard three months ago without remembering the show name. Good luck.
So yes, playlists help. They organize what you already know you want to hear. But the broader challenge of managing an ever-expanding podcast universe hasn’t been solved yet.
For now, though, being able to queue up your favorite Conan O’Brien episodes for a long drive? That’s a solid win.
Comments (0)