Overcast is a superb iPhone podcast player, best known for Smart Speed, which shortens silences, and Voice Boost, which evens out the volume. It plays the ads inside episodes, though, and it only runs on Apple devices. Castria skips those ads automatically, free, and also runs on Android and the web.
At a glance
| Overcast | Castria | |
|---|---|---|
| Skips ads inside episodes | No | Yes, automatically, free |
| Ads in the app itself | Free version shows banner ads for other podcasts | None |
| Paid plan | Overcast Premium (yearly) removes the banners | Optional Premium subscription |
| Platforms | iPhone, iPad, Mac (Apple silicon), Apple Watch, CarPlay | iPhone, iPad, Android, web; Apple Watch and CarPlay with Premium |
| Android | No | Yes |
| Silence trimming | Smart Speed | Trim silences, on downloaded episodes |
| Voice boost | Voice Boost | No |
| Transcripts | Yes | Yes, searchable, free |
| Episode summaries and topics | — | Yes, free |
| Smart playlists | Yes | Yes, with Premium |
| Import your shows (OPML) | Yes | Yes |
Where Overcast is better
- The audio tools. Smart Speed and Voice Boost are the best of their kind. Castria can trim silences on downloaded episodes, but it has nothing like Voice Boost.
- Apple everywhere. A Mac app and a strong Apple Watch app.
- A long-running indie app. One developer has built and cared for Overcast since 2014.
Where Castria is better
- It skips the ads. Castria scans each episode, finds the ad breaks and sponsor reads, and skips them as you listen. In Overcast you fast-forward by hand, or untick chapters when the publisher has marked them.
- Android and the web. One account, synced across iPhone, iPad, Android and any browser.
- Summaries and topics. Each episode gets a short summary and a list of tappable topics, so you can tell what's in it before you press play.
- No ads in the app. Castria's free plan has no banners.
Use both?
Some people will want both: Overcast's Voice Boost and Castria's ad-skipping. They're different fixes for different problems. If the ads bother you more than uneven volume, Castria is the one to try first.
Switching from Overcast
Export your shows from Overcast as an OPML file (on overcast.fm, under your account), then import it into Castria. Your whole list comes over in one step.
Questions
Does Overcast skip ads? No. Its paid plan removes the app's own banner ads, but the ads inside episodes still play. You can skip them by hand, or untick chapters if the show marks its ads as chapters, which few do.
Is Overcast on Android? No. Overcast is only on Apple devices. Castria runs on iPhone, Android and the web.