Podcast app pocket casts makes its web player free

Pocket squaresTHE Podcast application acquired by Automattic in 2021Now makes its web player free. The company affirms that this decision offers an alternative to closed ecosystems of large platforms, where the content focused on algorithms is priority and the podcasts are kept behind the payment walls.

The podcasts have been built on open technology – the standard and decentralized standard RSS, which was designed to make free online audio as well as on other content, such as news and blog articles – available for anyone on the web. From Tuesday, Pocket Casts will honor the open nature of podcasts by making its free web player to use.

This means that anyone can visit the Pocket Casts website and broadcast any episode he wishes, without having to pay for subscription fees or even to create an account.

However, if users want to personalize their experience, they can create a free account to unlock features such as reading reading on web, mobile and desktop devices; Manage their queues; And save their subscriptions and other preferences.

Meanwhile, the Pocket Casts Plus Subscription will offer features that give users additional control over their listening experience, including access to tools and features such as files, Smart Shuffle, Sigpers, Portable and Cloud support, themes and additional icons, etc.

The company also notes that the discovery fueled by AI is not part of its offer.

Instead of providing users with podcast suggestions focused on algorithms, Pocket Casts wants users to decide on what they want to listen to. This message could appeal to people who think that Spotify has become too arrogant with its own recommendations, which makes users difficult to follow the programs they really wanted to follow.

Free streaming management on the web could also help the company challenge Apple podcasts, who deployed web streaming in August 2024.

Free streaming also arrives at Mac and Windows Applications of Pocket Casts, as part of this update.