Take control of your playlist with the six best podcast apps for Android and iOS

Radio is a dying format — well, at least in the traditional manner. These days, most of us prefer listen to podcasts or other streaming media. There are thousands of amazing podcasts available on-demand. All you need is a smartphone, a pair of headphones, and good podcast app.

There are plenty of solid podcast app offerings on the market. Here are our picks for the best podcast apps available for iOS and Android.

Overcast (Free — iOS)

Overcast is one of our top picks because it offers a beautifully minimal user experience along with very powerful features. While the app is only available in the App Store, there are great versions for your iPhone, iPad, and even Apple Watch. Overcast offers all of the features you’d expect, like new episode notifications and offline listening, but the advanced features is where the app really shines. Voice Boost, a feature that corrects low and high voices, is a godsend for podcasts that are poorly produced. Overcast also offers a Smart Speed feature that removes dead air from your podcasts, a nice touch when you’re trying to fit in an entire podcast on your morning commute.

Download now from:

App Store

Spotify (Free — iOS and Android)

As the most popular streaming music service, it’s surprising it took Spotify so long to jump on the podcast bandwagon. Spotify has a beautiful user interface that is incredibly simple to use. With apps for Windows and Mac, it’s also easy to continue listening to your podcast at work. If you like obscure podcasts, however, Spotify may not be the best option. Spotify carefully curates the podcasts on its platform, meaning you may not be able to find less-popular ones.

Download now from:

Google Play Store App Store

Pocket Casts ($4 — iOS and Android)

Another popular app is Pocket Casts, which sets itself apart with a modern interface that looks as great as it functions. The app supports both light and dark themes, too, and offers settings that let you control your download preferences — a welcome feature if you don’t have unlimited data. You can also build a playback podcast, trim the silences between podcasts, and carry out a host of other actions.

Another neat feature in Pocket Casts is that you can sign in using any Android device, which helps you access your podcasts quickly if you use multiple devices. The developers behind the app also routinely release bug fixes and updates, so you can expect more great features as time goes on. At $4, the price is steep, but worth it if you love podcasts.

Download now from:

App Store Google Play

Podcasts (Free — iOS)

Apple’s podcast app, the aptly titled Podcasts, is surprisingly good. The app has a minimal design that’s easy to navigate. Automatic updates and update notifications are available, as well as an option for offline listening. Finding new podcasts is also very easy in the app; you can explore different podcasts from several different criteria and even find featured selections curated by the Apple team. While the app has come a long way since it was originally introduced in 2012, some users are not happy with the latest updates in iOS 11.

Download now from:

App Store

Podcast Addict (Free — Android only)

Podcast Addict has a pretty nice feature set, especially for a free app. It offers support for Sonos speakers, so if you like to listen to podcasts around the house, this may be the perfect app for you. Video podcasts are also supported on Podcast Addict.

The trade-off for these features is that the interface is a little cluttered and outdated. You’ll still be able to tweak download preferences and other settings like with other apps, however, and the app offers support for internet radio stations, allowing you to listen to awesome stations like KEXP and Radio Free Brooklyn, no matter where you live.

Download now from:

Google Play

SoundCloud (Free — iOS and Android)

SoundCloud has become quite the podcast app over the past few years, and many content creators now choose to upload their podcasts directly to SoundCloud on top of other platforms. The main downside is that it will take some time for you to find all the podcasts you want to listen to, but once you do, everything will work nicely and smoothly. The app features a handsome interface, too, and allows you to “favorite” tracks you’d like to listen to at a later time.

SoundCloud is largely about streaming rather than downloading, however, so if you’re looking for something that you can use offline, there might be a better option on the app market.

Download now from:

App Store Google Play Store

Update: Removed BeyondPod and DoggCatcher and added Podcasts and Overcast.

Editors’ Recommendations

• The 100 best Android apps turn your phone into a jack-of-all-trades
• Music junkie? Here are the 25 best music apps for consuming and creating tunes
• Run your way to better health with the 10 best running apps
• The 20 best news apps that are fast and fluid on your iPhone or Android
• Pick the best fantasy football app and win your league this season

Amid cryptocurrency frenzy, South Korea bans anonymous accounts

The South Korean government enacted regulations which will require all cryptocurrency accounts to be associated with real identities. The move comes amid the investment frenzy we’ve seen in the past few months, and the South Korean government hopes the new regulations will stem speculative trading which has recently taken off in South Korea. Naturally, the value of bitcoin dropped 12 percent once this news hit, and ethereum followed suit, falling 6 percent, according to Engadget.

“Cryptocurrency speculation has been irrationally overheated in Korea. The government can’t let this abnormal situation of speculation go on any longer,” the South Korean government said in a statement, as reported by The New York Times.

TechCrunch has a slightly different take, suggesting that the move to ban anonymous cryptocurrency accounts will have the fortunate side-effect of making it harder for North Korea to infiltrate the South’s crypto markets. TechCrunch previously reported that the Kim Jong Un regime may be using cryptocurrency trading as a side business for the Kim family. The new regulations banning anonymous accounts should make it harder for the North to turn a profit on cryptocurrency trading.

The new regulations are tricky for a number of reasons, not least of which because they will do away with one of the alluring features cryptocurrencies offer: Anonymity. The South Korean government is also worried that putting regulations on cryptocurrencies could have the effect of legitimizing them in the eyes of everyday people, who have recently been swept up in the cryptocurrency craze.

“It’s really tricky for the government,” said S.G. Lee, chairman of the Korean Fintech Industry Association. “They are worried about giving a wrong perception to the people.”

According to The New York Times, the new regulations are a warning shot for the overheated crypto market and investors who are making a killing off of the rampant speculation. The South Korean government hopes to cool things down by making it clear to investors that they will, if necessary, crack down hard on cryptocurrencies.

All of this comes in the wake of several high-profile instances of cryptocurrency exchanges going under after losing millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies to malicious hackers. TechCrunch reports South Korean crypto exchange YouBit folded just last week after losing $35 million.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Bitcoin suffers another setback as South Korea bans ICOs
• North Korea suspected of stealing millions in bitcoin from South Korean exchange
• Go ahead, pass laws. Governments can’t kill bitcoin, even if they try
• The best bitcoin wallets
• How to sell bitcoin

Why your gaming laptop’s GPU doesn’t matter as much as you think

Quick question: What’s the most important component in a good gaming laptop? Let’s set aside subjective elements like design — and those all important LED lighting features — and focus on what makes for a great gaming experience.

The first thing that comes to mind is your GPU, right? It does all the heavy lifting, and it can compensate for  just about any other shortcoming your system has. Processor, RAM, hard drive speed — these can all bottleneck your GPU and hit your FPS a fair bit, but a powerful graphics card can compensate for any of them. With an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 purring away under the hood, you could even be gaming on an Intel Core i3 and still see decent performance.

But there’s one commonly overlooked element that can absolutely spoil that experience, no matter how quick your GPU is: Your display.

As we’re fond of pointing out, gaming laptops — especially budget gaming laptops — tend to skimp on display quality. Even big manufacturers like Dell are guilty of slapping cheap TN displays on otherwise great gaming laptops.

The display is the most important bottleneck for your games. A gaming laptop’s display is literally your window into the game world and as such, it’s one component that can literally color your experience.

Sure you might get 120FPS on Ultra settings with a powerful enough graphics card, but what do those extra details matter if they’re washed out and lifeless? That’s a question we faced during our most recent Inspiron 15 Gaming review.

This $900 laptop is a scrappy little thing. On paper, it runs games just as well as the latest Razer Blade, a laptop more than double the starting price of the Inspiron 15. That’s impressive, until you actually take a look at the Inspiron 15’s display.

Colors are drab, crushed to death by a substandard display panel likely chosen for its cost effectiveness over its visual fidelity. It completely ruins an otherwise great gaming laptop, and subverts the work the GPU puts in.

In the 21st century, it’s unacceptable to roll out a product like the Inspiron 15 with a 1080p display that’s incapable of rendering more than 61 percent of the sRGB color space. That kind of color accuracy means the Inspiron 15’s capable GTX 1060 renders colors you won’t even be able to see on the Inspiron’s stock display. What good is being able to games at high graphics settings when you’re going to have trouble even seeing them?

To be fair, the Inspiron 15 isn’t the worst offender, it’s simply the latest in a long line of budget and even high end gaming laptops which show an utter disregard for display quality. There’s just no reason for it, a great display can make up for mediocre graphical performance but even the most powerful GPU in the world can be hamstrung by a poor quality display.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Dell Inspiron 15 7577 Gaming Review
• The best budget laptop you can buy
• The best laptops under $1,000
• The best laptop brands
• The best laptops you can buy

SoftBank investment is a long-awaited piece of good news for Uber

It’s been a rough year for Uber. From a string of scandals to the departure of CEO Travis Kalanick, to an ongoing legal battle with Waymo over self-driving car tech, the company has taken a beating. But with just a few days to go in 2017, Uber just received some really good news.

A much-discussed investment from Japan’s SoftBank Group is moving ahead, The Wall Street Journal reports. The ridesharing company’s investors and employees tendered shares equal to about 20 percent of the company on Thursday, December 28, the paper said, citing anonymous sources familiar with the matter.

SoftBank will initially limit the stake it acquires to 15 percent in a tender offer that values Uber at $48 billion, according to the report. That’s a roughly 30 percent discount from Uber’s most recent valuation, which put the value of the company at $70 billion. Nonetheless, the Uber employees who cash out are about to get very rich. They will be able to sell their stock at about $33 a share, Recode noted. As part of the deal, SoftBank will invest at least $1 billion into Uber, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Uber’s board will add six members, including two from SoftBank. The terms of the deal also reportedly call for corporate reforms and greater voting rights for all investors. These changes are expected to end the infighting that has gone on since Kalanick resigned as CEO in June. Kalanick still sits on Uber’s board and Uber investor Benchmark has engaged in a protracted battle to get Kalanick to give up his remaining influence.

While Uber has grown massively over the past few years and ridesharing is viewed by many as the most important transportation trend of the near future, the company has been accused of everything from covering up a major data breach to using software to circumvent government regulators. Much of this has been tied to a toxic corporate culture created by Kalanick. Uber appointed former Expedia CEO Dara Khosrowshahi to replace him in September, but SoftBank’s investment may be the first true sign of the company’s turnaround.

SoftBank is betting big that Uber can clean up its act. The Japanese firm already owns stakes in other ridesharing companies, giving Uber not only cash but also connections that could help it in overseas markets, where the company has been challenged by various rivals. After a year of taking punches, Uber might finally be ready to throw some.

Editors’ Recommendations

• Uber’s $10 billion investment offer from SoftBank gets the green light
• It’s deja vu as Uber forms a joint venture in Russia, much like it did in China
• SoftBank eyes discounted stock buy as new Uber CEO preps for 2019 IPO
• Uber has shut down Xchange Leasing after learning it’s seriously in the red
• Uber vs. Lyft: This is the ultimate ridesharing app showdown

Unlike Apple, Motorola and HTC don’t slow CPU speed as batteries age

Motorola and HTC are in the clear, but how others respond remains to be seen.

A few days before Christmas, word came out that Apple was deliberately slowing down the CPU performance of older iPhones as their batteries aged. We won’t get into all the nitty-gritty details, but as you’d expect, people weren’t all that happy to hear that their phones were being slowed down on purpose by the company that made them.

Following this news, questions started to be raised about whether or not Android OEMs also follow suit with this practice. So far, Motorola and HTC have been the first companies to respond.

According to spokespeople that got in contact with The Verge, neither Motorola or HTC intentionally slow down processor speeds of their phones as batteries get older.

We’ve reached out to Samsung, LG, and Huawei inquiring about this, but we’ve yet to get any final answers from any of them. However, once that does happen, we’ll be sure to let you know.

While we’re talking about this, if an Android OEM does admit to slowing down CPU performance on aging hardware, will that stop you from buying phones from them in the future?

How I proposed to my girlfriend using Android

Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ pass through the FCC

The FCC’s given the S9 and S9+ its blessing, but there aren’t any new details to drool over.

We’re expecting to see some really excellent phones in 2018, and one of the first that we’ll get our hands on is Samsung’s Galaxy S9 and S9+. The S9 won’t be a drastic upgrade compared to the S8, but even slimmer bezels, faster processor, and better fingerprint sensor placement should all come together for one heck of a device.

Samsung Galaxy S8

Leading up to the S9’s launch, the FCC officially certified the device on December 27. There are certifications for both the S9 and S9+, and we can see that each one has a model number of SM-G960F and SM-965F, respectively.

Unfortunately, aside from those model numbers, there’s not much else to see or talk about.

We’re still not expecting the S9 to make an appearance until sometime after CES this coming January despite what earlier rumors indicated, and there’s still no word on price. However, as we exit 2017 and get in 2018, more info should start popping up. Stay tuned.

This is our first look at the Samsung Galaxy S9

Best demos available on Playstation 4 right now

It’s an awesome day! You just got a PlayStation 4! You now have it all set up and you’re ready to dig into some serious gaming. However, the problem is that the only game you have is the used copy of Rugby 15 that your aunt got you. Sure, you could go ahead and pretend to enjoy one of the most poorly reviewed games available on the PS4, but there is another way. Fortunately for you, there are plenty of demos available for some really great games and we’re going to take a look at some of the coolest games with demos on offer in the PlayStation Store.

Destiny 2

Forget about Rugby 15. You deserve to sink your teeth into something a little more delicious. Great news, one of the most popular online multiplayer games is available for a test run right now. Go get a feel for the second installment of Bungie’s first-person shooter epic right now, for free!

See at PlayStation Store

Doom

Speaking of first-person shooters, Bethesda just recently rebooted the Granddaddy of first-person shooters. If the last time you plated Doom was on a bootlegged floppy then maybe it’s time to revisit the series. Doom has garnered mostly positive reviews so a chance to dip your toe in that water and see for yourself seems like a good deal to me.

See at PlayStation Store

Resident Evil 7: Biohazard

Perhaps you are in the market for some spooky scares. Resident Evil 7 has got you covered. The latest entry into the Resident Evil series just happens to be a blast and is also chock full of creepy moodiness. Get the demo and see if you can handle it!

See at PlayStation Store

NieR: Automata

Well on its way to becoming the sleeper hit of 2017, you couldn’t do much better as far as RPG demos go. If you want to get a peek at the game that’s blowing people away with its impeccable game design then now is your chance.

See at PlayStation Store

Final Fantasy XIV

Maybe you’re a big fan of massively multiplayer online experiences. Maybe you’re also a big fan of the Final Fantasy franchise. If both of these assumptions are true then I have great news for you. The multiplayer Final Fantasy XIV has a demo that is just waiting for your download. You can play the game for free all the way up through level 35. How’s that for a bargain?

See at PlayStation Store

Injustice 2

Oh, you’re looking for a fighting game? Netherrealm has you covered. The DC comics empire may stumble in the world of cinema but thanks to Injustice 2, they are doing great in the gaming department. Download the demo now and take control of all your favorite DC heroes in some no holds barred fighting fun.

See at PlayStation Store

The Evil Within 2

Oh no! You didn’t get spooked out enough from the Resident Evil 7 demo? That’s ok, there are more scares to be had. Get yourself some more survival horror action with The Evil Within 2. With its largely favorable reception, I think you can spend a little time and no money playing the demo in order to see if you’d like to take the full ride that The Evil Within 2 has to offer.

See at PlayStation Store

Hopefully, this list affords you the opportunity to try out a few of those blockbuster games that everyone is talking about without having to open your wallet. The games listed are here are just a few of the demos that are available on the PS4. If you want to see what else is available all you have to do is go to the games section of the PlayStation Store and select the Demos section. There is a veritable smorgasbord of games there and they are adding more all the time.

Why are we reviewing PlayStation 4 games on Android Central? Let us explain.

PlayStation 4

• PS4 vs. PS4 Slim vs. PS4 Pro: Which should you buy?
• PlayStation VR Review
• Playing PS4 games through your phone is awesome

Amazon

Google Store drops Pixel C, but another detachable tablet is in the works

Google’s last Android tablet is dead.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again – Android tablets are in a really awkward place right now. Devices like the Galaxy Tab S3 and Amazon’s line of Fire tablets stick out as some of the best options, but as a whole, the interest in large touch-screen canvases with Android has died down a lot.

Now, it appears even Google is calling it quits with Android tablets. The Pixel C is the last Android-powered tablet that Google released, and it came out all the way back in 2015. The Pixel C’s remained at its MSRP of $599 nearly its entire life with discounts being few and far between, and it’s also been sold out for a while, too. Now, the Pixel C has officially been removed from the Google Store for good.

The only laptop/tablet you can purchase on the Google Store is the Pixelbook, and while it does run Chrome OS, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Jerry noted in his review of the Pixelbook that it “is as much tablet as a laptop”, and a lot of this has to do with how well Chrome OS has evolved over the years for things like using apps, playing games, and watching movies. The Pixelbook is proof that Google’s tablet future lies with Chrome OS rather than Android, and the axing of the Pixel C is just reinforcement of this.

Samsung’s ‘Nautilus’ will likely have a stylus similar to the one on the Chromebook Pro.

On that same note, new details of an upcoming Chromebook have recently emerged, as well. There have been murmurings of a detachable Samsung Chromebook since last month by the name of “Nautilus”, and according to a new commit, Nautilus is referred to as having a stylus that can be stored in the Chromebook itself (ala Samsung’s Chromebook Pro).

This can be seen with text such as “PEN_EJECT” and “TEST=Verify that the ‘stylus tools’ menu gets launched when I eject the pen on nautilus”, and while exact details on the stylus aren’t mentioned here, it’ll likely perform similarly to what we’ve seen from past Samsung Chromebooks.

We still aren’t sure when we’ll get a public announcement of Nautilus, but if the Pixel C had to die in order for it to live, you won’t find us complaining about that at all.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums

Honor View 10 specs

The Honor View 10 has a packed spec sheet without flagship pricing.

If you’re looking for a phone to compete with the $500 OnePlus 5T, the Honor View 10 (also known as the Honor V10 in parts of the world) is a good alternative. It’s got the latest specs from Huawei — it’s basically a Huawei Mate 10 Pro in all but appearance — along with its AI benefits at a price lower than we’re used to seeing in this category.

Chrome OS will finally let you run Android apps in the background

Introducing Android Parallel Tasks.

Android apps on Chrome OS have gotten much better since their debut earlier this year, and while the implementation still isn’t perfect for some titles, it dramatically increases the usefulness of Chrome OS compared to the likes of Windows and macOS.

Since their launch, however, there’s been one issue that’s made Android apps on Chrome OS feel somewhat incomplete – the inability to keep them open and running in the background. While you can have multiple apps on your screen at once, only one is active at any given time. This is something that can prove to be awfully annoying if you’re trying to multitask, but thankfully, you won’t have to put up with it for much longer.

First spotted by the folks over at Chrome Unboxed, a new feature in the Chrome OS beta channel on Chrome 64 allows multiple Android apps to be open and active at once. The feature is called Android Parallel Tasks, and although we’ve yet to get our own hands on it, it looks like something that’ll make Android apps feel much more natural when used on Chromebooks.

There’s no timeframe for when Android Parallel Tasks will be made available to the general public, but our guess is that it’ll be sooner rather than later seeing as how it’s already in beta.

Chromebooks

• The best Chromebooks
• Should you buy a Chromebook?
• Google Play is coming to Chromebooks
• Acer Chromebook 14 review
• Join our Chromebook forums