Breaker—The social podcast app

Thought I had no need to move away from Apple’s Podcasts but, having been an admirer of Leah Culver’s 2008 Pownce micro-blogging service, I was curious to give this a try and I was charmed.

this used to be a good app. i can’t figure out how to add a new podcast, so i have to listen to it in spotify ig.

The login is broken so I can’t access the app

In general, I love this app, but crashes a lot since this most recent update.

Deleted this app, was decent when I started using it, now it has been glitchy and suddenly I am getting adds every two mins with messages to upgrade. Not worth paying for an app that is no better than Apple’s native app.

I’m a heavy listener. I listened to 18 days worth of podcasts in 2022 (432hrs) - all that history gone! All my likes gone. Disappointed

This app shadow bans certain shows and if they do luck out and let you download one there’s no sound to them.

Seems to have issues while playing on CarPlay. Sometimes it won’t download episodes and/or play episodes.

I paid for this app and got scammed. I have been locked out of my account for months on end. Reaching out to support gets no response. They “updated” the app to require you to reset your password to access your account again, but the link they email you is broken. Don’t bother paying for this app. It’s apparently just a money grab. Previous review: Social podcast app? No thank you. I don’t want to talk about my podcasts or share them with my friends. I don’t care what anyone else is listening to and I don’t care about discovering or searching for new podcasts. I have several custom RSS feeds for ad free podcasts that I pay for via Patreon. I want to import them to an app via URL, listen to them, AND SAVE THE BEST EPISODES TO A PLAYLIST TO SAVE FOREVER SO I CAN RELISTEN TO THEM EASILY. I have tried a dozen podcast apps and searched high and low on Google. I finally found this app through a Medium article and I want to cry. It actually works. Import via RSS works. Listening works. Adding my favorite episodes to the favorites playlist works, and I can customize the settings to keep the episodes from being deleted on listen. Finally. I have not been able to find a single other app on the internet that does this and it’s literally the only feature I wanted. And I didn’t even have to fork over cash to try the app. Well done. I will be subscribing to get more playlists now that I know this app does what I need.

I’ve tried so hard to give this app chances to improve. I’ve been a user for almost 4 years, and it just keeps getting worse and worse. It doesn’t bother me that there are so many bugs, or that it doesn’t work consistently. What bothers me is that I see regular releases of new features when the core functionality of the app is incredibly unstable. Things as simple as playing back podcast from the last session don’t work. The UI for pop-ups literally obscured the buttons that you’re trying to use just to tell you that the app is switching to “nighttime mode.” This would be like your car stopping in the middle of the highway in order to tell you that it is turning on the air conditioning. 🤦🏾‍♂️ I have really tried. I have been a paid member, I have been a premium member, I have sent feedback, and the app just doesn’t get better. It’s like there’s no prioritization for the core functions of the application. No one needs all the bells and whistles. I just want to listen to podcast. I thought that maybe after the company was acquired, that things would get better, but really, they have just gotten worse…faster. Anyways, hopefully this review will save someone else four years of anger and frustration. Find another app.