Podverse

Podverse is the answer to "how much of modern podcasting can you actually build without owning any of it?" The team ships one of the most complete Podcasting 2.0 players anywhere, and everything they build is open source under AGPLv3, a strong copyleft licence that keeps forks and derivatives open too.

Origins

Podverse was co-founded by Mitch Downey around 2017, and Mitch has now been working on it for close to a decade. It grew up alongside Podcasting 2.0 as a movement, and the two histories are hard to separate. Every time the Podcast Index or a new namespace tag added a capability, Podverse implemented it early and helped stress-test it. Mitch is a regular fixture on the Podcasting 2.0 podcast run by Adam Curry and Dave Jones, and Podverse is one of the reference clients other developers point at when they want to see what a spec should look like when a real listener uses it.

What makes it distinctive

Podverse implements about as much of the modern podcasting spec as any app you can install. Transcripts, chapters, live streams, cross-app comments (via podcast:socialInteract), and value-for-value payments (streaming sats to hosts and contributors as you listen) all work here without needing a separate wallet or browser extension. Playlists and clips are cross-device and shareable by URL, and the app supports the podcast:person tag so guest bios come along with the episode.

Everything is optional. You don't need a Podverse account or a Bitcoin wallet to use it as a normal RSS podcast player. The Podcasting 2.0 features are off unless you turn them on.

Where you get it

iOS App Store, Google Play, F-Droid, Linux (via distribution packages), and podverse.fm on the web, all from the same account, which is optional and free. Premium (~$18/yr) covers cross-device sync and a longer clip history, and funds the project. There's also a bounties programme for community developers, which is how a lot of the spec support has landed over the years.

Current stance

Actively developed by a small team, part of the Podcasting 2.0 core group, and the app to pick if you want to see how far open podcasting can be taken without giving anything up to get there. If you want Podverse's ethos in a smaller-scope Android package, look at AntennaPod. If you want the value-for-value story from a Lightning-native starting point, look at Fountain.