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Fast Company
35 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
5 excellent free podcast apps for iOS and Android
I'm going to go out on a limb and assume you've been on the internet before. If so, you've likely stumbled upon a podcast or two. There are almost 5 million of them out there, after all. The problem isn't finding a podcast, though—it's finding the best way to listen in. While Apple and Spotify have made a big push into the space, and their apps are perfectly serviceable, they're not always the best fit for power users or people who just want a clean, no-nonsense experience. The good news? There are other options, and you don't have to pay a dime to access them. Here are five fantastic, and completely free, podcast apps for iOS and Android. Pocket Casts: Cross-platform king If you ask a podcast aficionado for a recommendation, there's a good chance they'll say Pocket Casts. And for good reason. It's got a clean, intuitive interface that makes managing your subscriptions a breeze. The free version offers all the essentials you need, including variable speed controls, silence trimming, and a volume-boost feature to level out inconsistent audio. Better yet, it syncs your listening progress across iOS, Android, and the web, which is a big deal if you like to jump between your phone and your computer. There is also a premium version, Pocket Casts Plus, which costs $40 per year. With it, you get some power-user features like folders to organize your shows, a shuffle feature for your 'Up Next' queue, bookmarks, access to a variety of themes and app icons, and some cloud storage for your own audio files. Overcast: iOS app makes podcasts sound better If you're looking for something that's equal parts simple and fully featured, Overcast is a must-try. Developed by Marco Arment, this iOS app includes features such as 'Smart Speed,' which shortens silences dynamically without distorting the audio, and 'Voice Boost,' which normalizes and enhances volume across all your shows. The free version has some light, unobtrusive ads, but if you want to get rid of the ads and support the developer, a premium subscription costs just $15 per year. With that subscription, you also get the ability to upload audio files to your own private feed. Podcast Addict: Android powerhouse For Android users, Podcast Addict is an absolute beast. It's a feature-rich, highly customizable app that gives you an almost overwhelming amount of control over your listening experience. You can manage podcasts, audiobooks, live radio, YouTube channels, and RSS news feeds all in one place. While its interface can be a bit busy, it's a great choice if you're a tinkerer who likes to fine-tune every detail. For the sheer number of features you get for free, it's tough to beat. The premium version, which removes all ads, starts at 99 cents per month and grants you access to some extra customization options like different app themes, a custom opening screen, and a playlist widget. Castbox: Smart recommendations If you're looking for your next podcast obsession, Castbox is a great place to start. Its AI -powered recommendation engine does a surprisingly good job of serving up new shows based on your listening history. It's a solid, all-around player with a large library, and it also includes some nifty features like in-audio search, which lets you find specific keywords within an episode. It's available on both iOS and Android and provides a smooth, modern experience. Castbox Premium starts at 99 cents per month and gets rid of all the visual ads and video ads that play when you launch the app. It also gives you unlimited subscriptions (the free version limits you to 100 channels), a personalized homepage, and advanced playback settings that can be customized for each individual podcast. AntennaPod: Android's minimalist, open-source choice If you're looking for a no-frills, ad-free experience, AntennaPod is a fantastic option for Android users. It's a lightweight app with a clean interface that focuses on the core task of listening to podcasts. There aren't a ton of fancy discovery tools, but if you already know what you want to listen to and just need a simple, reliable way to manage and play your episodes, AntennaPod gets the job done. AntennaPod is unique on this list because it's a completely free and open-source project, which means it doesn't have a paid version or any in-app purchases. The early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, September 5, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today.
Business of Fashion
04-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business of Fashion
Rachel Scott on the Sensuality of Craft
Listen to and follow the 'BoF Podcast': Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast Background: Rachel Scott, founder of Diotima, has built a reputation for bringing a nuanced portrayal of Caribbean culture to the global fashion stage. Drawing on her Jamaican heritage and global experience, Scott seeks to foreground overlooked craft traditions and champion a narrative that moves beyond exoticised tropes. 'Craft doesn't have an aesthetic. Craft is technique and execution,' Scott says. 'There are endless possibilities, and on a conceptual level, I think that craft is the most intimate form of fashion. Because it is made by hand, there is this energy exchange. So I kept thinking about intimacy, sensuality and desire. This week on The BoF Podcast, Rachel Scott sits down with BoF founder and CEO Imran Amed to discuss how she is redefining craft and advocating for a more inclusive design industry. Key Insights: Scott credits her global outlook to extensive travels during her childhood. 'When I was younger, [my mother] was adamant not to take us to Europe because that was easy. So she would take us to Asia… and South America. I already had this grounding of a global perspective,' she explained. Her extensive travels through Asia and South America particularly influenced her to view fashion as a form of communication: 'I started thinking about clothes as language, especially because I was seeing these different perspectives and these different approaches to dressing.' Scott seeks to foreground informal, yet globally shared, knowledge of embroidery and craft techniques. 'I remember seeing techniques in India that I had seen in Jamaica… there is this global knowledge, but only one place gets valued,' she says. This recognition inspired her mission to challenge the traditional valuation of craftsmanship. 'It's almost like an oral tradition that exists that I wanted to find a way to elevate and present to the world,' she adds. For Scott, craft is inherently sensual and intimate. 'Because it is made by hand, there is this energy exchange,' she says. This philosophy underpins her creative approach, focusing on tactile and emotional connections: 'I would receive the production of the crochet… I would open the box and feel this energy. There is spirit and there is something imparted from the person making it to the person wearing it.' Scott's advice to aspiring fashion designers is to challenge traditional expectations and timelines. 'Fashion is really crazy… someone really small is judged on the same level as someone from a conglomerate,' she explained, encouraging designers to embrace their unique journeys. 'You don't have to abide by these notions of when you should do something, how you should do it… wait until you're ready and find your way.' Additional Resources: The Business of Beauty Global Forum: Hailey Bieber Is Just Getting Started
Business of Fashion
02-07-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
Fashion Tech Boom 2.0
Listen to and follow 'The Debrief': Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast Background: After years of disillusionment with fashion tech, investors are once again excited about its potential, but with a very different mindset to the hype-fuelled boom of the last decade. From AI-powered personal styling apps to virtual try-on tools and personalised search engines, a wave of start-ups is gaining traction – and big backing – by offering real technological solutions to long-standing fashion industry problems. In this episode, senior e-commerce correspondent Malique Morris joins The Debrief to explore how fashion tech is finally growing up, and which companies are leading this more grounded, results-driven wave of innovation. Key Insights: In the previous fashion tech boom, investors were heavily investing in e-commerce startups with little true innovation. 'DTC brands … positioned themselves as tech companies because they sold goods online, but there was nothing really revolutionary about them listing products on a website. And I don't know how investors didn't cop to that,' says Morris. Today's backers are more discerning, favouring startups with clear technical roadmaps and founders who can evolve their product in meaningful ways. Investor interest in fashion tech reignited thanks to the rise of generative AI. As Morris explains, venture capital had been sitting on the sidelines during a broader funding freeze, but AI's real-world applications reignited excitement. 'Startups like Daydream are building a platform for personalised search using AI tools from companies like OpenAI and Google, and they want to be the ChatGPT for fashion and be disruptive in the way that ChatGPT has changed how we use the internet,' says Morris. 'What was once a dream is now closer to being tangible and investors want to be the first ones in on that.' Today's investors are looking beyond flashy pitches and prioritising founders with real technical know-how. 'Something that is really separating the people who are just trying to raise money and not breaking through from those who are, are having some sort of technical experience, technical expertise,' says Morris. With the complexity of AI and other advanced tools, investors want to back teams that can build efficiently and with minimal lift. 'They want to back founders who know what they're doing,' he adds. While new fashion tech apps offer highly personalised experiences, their complexity may limit mainstream appeal. The question of scale is still unanswered: 'There may be a billion people out there who want to do that… There may only be a million. We don't know that just yet.' Additional Resources:
Business of Fashion
01-07-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
The Jewellery Boom, Explained
Listen to and follow 'The Debrief': Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Overcast Background: As major luxury brands struggle to maintain momentum amid an industry-wide slowdown, one category is bucking the trend: jewellery. While demand for handbags and apparel softens, fine jewellery sales continue to rise, driven by consumer desire for lasting value, emotional resonance and self-expression. Simone Stern Carbone and Joan Kennedy join The Debrief to discuss how independent jewellers are thriving with creativity and personality, the rising popularity of novelty pieces, and why jewellery is uniquely positioned to attract buyers in today's luxury market. Key Insights: Despite slowing luxury sales, jewellery sales have continued to boom. As Stern Carbone notes, consumers perceive luxury jewellery as an inherently safer investment. She says, 'Instinctively, a lot of people associate jewellery – especially if it's got gold, gemstones or diamonds – with something you would dish out more money for more readily than for a handbag potentially made out of nylon.' While big jewellery brands are growing, smaller competitors are booming as they foster deep customer relationships and maintain flexible, manageable supply chains. Stern-Carbone highlights, 'Jewellery is so personal. When you have a very distinct aesthetic, you really connect with your customers long term, potentially for life. This is a really personal relationship that smaller brands can capitalise on.' Kennedy emphasises that modern jewellery marketing resonates by being accessible and relatable. 'One designer I spoke to puts her charm necklaces next to candy necklaces, so that feels fun,' she says. 'A lot of these designers are doing things that are very lo-fi. It's like a picture of a wrist on Instagram. And then they reply to DMs, like, 'Hey, show me that bracelet with something else.' So the way that they present it is also really relevant to shoppers, versus the very high-gloss and traditional style of high jewellery.' Novelty jewellery began gaining popularity post-Covid. 'People were buying camp jewellery, but they were paying $50 for a funky, colourful ring. And then more recently, people are like, okay, let's bring in the value piece of this,' says Kennedy. Novelty jewellery has surged as consumers seek personal expression in response to uniform dressing and quiet luxury trends. Kennedy continues, 'You're leaning into things that are uniform dressing, so how do we spice that up? Let's go for more novelty in jewellery.' Additional Resources:
Business of Fashion
20-05-2025
- Business
- Business of Fashion
How Fashion Brands Build Community in 2025
Listen to and follow 'The Debrief': Apple Podcasts|Spotify|Overcast Background: As inflation bites and politics polarise, the fashion industry in 2025 is facing unprecedented pressure to hold onto its customers. Brands are looking to community as a deeper and more emotional form of engagement. But building true community takes more than buzzwords. In this episode, BoF correspondent Lei Takanashi joins hosts Sheena Butler-Young and Brian Baskin to unpack his case study on what it really means to cultivate community in fashion and how brands are navigating the pitfalls. Key Insights: In a time when consumers are thinking hard about every purchase, community offers a sense of connection and meaning that goes beyond the product itself. 'When I'm shopping today, I'm thinking more about what eggs I'm going to buy this week than the latest release from a brand,' says Takanashi. 'What really now drives me to make a purchase is like, what does this brand represent? What are its values? How has it improved my life beyond just something I wear?' Different communities serve different purposes, each demanding a unique approach. Takanashi outlines three community types: activity-based, personality-driven and values-driven. Activity-based communities are rooted in shared interests or habits, such as running, where engagement happens naturally through events or clubs. Personality-driven communities hinge on a founder's charisma and relatability: 'People have to see that founder story and kind of see themselves in their shoes.' Values-driven communities connect through shared beliefs and causes, but those values must be dynamic. 'Your definition of a value can't be rigid,' says Takanashi. 'You have to adapt to how consumers perceive these things.' As brands grow, scaling community takes local focus to remain authentic. 'As long as you stay committed to a localised approach and understand that it's not one size fits all,' Takanashi says, pointing to Arc'teryx and Supreme as examples of brands that scale through local relevance and hiring. In addition to staying local, real-world interaction matters and brands shouldn't rely solely on digital engagement. 'You should really be there in person at pop-ups, shake hands with people, talk to the customer... Every brand I spoke about in this case study made some effort to show up in real life.' Additional Resources:
