🎙️podcast app settings that actually change your life on a 3hr commute

quietly optimized every setting over years. this is the cheat sheet i wish someone gave me

Never miss an update

This list changes over time. Get a short email when it does.

At most one short email a week. Unfollow in one click.

Smart Speed (Overcast)

shortens the silences in an episode without you noticing. this feature is basically why overcast exists

Voice Boost (Overcast)

normalizes and boosts the voices. huge on a phone speaker in a loud kitchen

Trim Silence (Pocket Casts)

same idea as smart speed but you pick a level: mild, medium, mad max. mad max is aggressive, start on mild

Volume Boost (Pocket Casts)

Variable playback speed

1.2-1.5x is the sweet spot before hosts start sounding like chipmunks. dan carlin does not survive 1.5x, don't try it

Sleep timer with shake-to-extend

most used feature in my entire life, i think

Chapters

only works if the show actually tagged them. lets you skip the ads without even thinking about it

Up Next queue vs Playlists

auto-download vs stream on demand

auto-download everything if you commute somewhere with bad signal, obviously, but i had to learn that obviously

per-podcast playback overrides

some shows need their own speed setting instead of your global default. hardcore history gets its own row

silence threshold customization

mono audio output

for the one-earbud-in situations, dishes, walking the dog, whatever

custom skip forward/back interval

default is 30/15 and i changed mine to 45/15 the day i figured out where that setting lived

starred episodes vs playlists

Or start a list of your own. Free, it takes a minute.

Related lists