‘Podcasts’ is a new podcast app for Linux

A new app makes it easy to follow, fave and listen to your favourite podcasts on the Linux desktop.

It’s called ‘Podcasts’ and — no prizes for guessing — it’s a podcast client for the Linux desktop, designed for the GNOME desktop specifically.

Podcasts lets you subscribe to shows, browse through them, and listen to the latest episodes all from inside the app, with no external MP3 or OGG downloads necessary.

Podcast Players In General

Podcasts are a hugely popular form of “infotainment” these days, with almost any and every niche you can think of catered for with a show or a segment.

Power-listeners often turn to mobile apps like Podcatcher, AntennaPod, or the iOS Podcasts to fetch, play and manage their subscriptions.

But what about on the desktop?

Admittedly it’s not to listen to podcasts from your desktop, regardless of whether you’re on Windows, macOS, ChromeOS or Linux, because any semi-decent music player can double up as a podcast player (so long as you feed it a compatible audio file first).

But if you like to keep your podcast library separate from your music library, or find it difficult to keep up with multiple shows at a time, then an app dedicated to the format is certainly the way to go.

We looked at Cumulonimbus (since renamed Cpod) last year and, while cross-platform, feature packed, and very nice to look at, it is an Electron-based app — a fact that put many readers off.

No such qualms here: ‘Podcasts’ is a native GTK app built with regular Linux technologies, and designed for the GNOME desktop.

Ahh.

‘Podcasts’ is a GNOME Podcast Client

Podcasts has a simple, straightforward UI inspired by the (oft forgotten) GNOME Music app. The “Shows” tab presents a immersive cover-art gallery for browsing your subscribed feeds by show title.

Selecting a specific show brings up an episode list with download links, show description, and runtimes. From here you can mark episodes as ‘watched’.

The app also makes it easy to see the latest episodes from your favourite podcasts ordered in a list by date (see the opening screenshot) through the “New” tab. This chronological listing is particularly helpful if you subscribe to podcasts that lack a dedicated release schedule, favouring a more anarchic and unpredictable “when it’s ready” approach.

The omnipresent play bar (courtesy of GNOME Music) stays with you, allowing you to browse around and view other podcasts without stopping the one you’re listening to.

Naturally you’ll need to add feeds to it before you be able to see or play anything. But as its compatible with the iTunes podcast directory (just copy/paste iTunes link of the show you want into the ‘add’ dialog box) you can tune in and follow some of the most popular podcasts on the planet.

Try the Podcasts client on Ubuntu

Is this the best podcast app for Ubuntu? I’ll let someone more familiar with the format make that claim! But for my dip-in/dip-out needs, this will suffice nicely.

You can install the Podcasts app on Ubuntu (as well as any major Linux distro, including Fedora, Arch or Linux Mint) thanks to distro-agnostic Flatpak and the centralised Flathub app store:

Install GNOME Podcasts from Flathub

Podcasts is still finding its feet and may lack certain features or have a few rough edges. If you try it do try to keep that in mind.

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