All fans of podcasts should check out Google Listen on their Android phones. This is the antithesis of the clunky empeg podcast experience. I was listening to my favorite podcasts in 60 seconds after first installing the app. It takes a little bit of getting used to, but it delivers the goods very quickly.

Traditional radio and television need to adopt new methods such as this, or the "Internet in your pocket" revolution will leave them as distant memories.

Now, off I go to load podcasts on to my empeg, since I don't actually own a Droid, but tested Listen on the Droid I was setting up for my sister. Maybe I should switch.....

Listen is fairly nice, but I actually find ACast better.

And I'll throw in yet another suggestion: Doggcatcher.

I'll defend this one to the death. IMO, it's without a doubt not only the best podcast app, but the best app on the market (well, if you listen to podcasts). It's incredibly feature rich and completely focused on giving you almost any option you could want. You can really fine-tune your subscriptions and how they download.

Plus, the developer might be the best around when it comes to Android. He's surprisingly interested in the feedback of his users, and has responded to every email I've ever sent him. In the year that the app has been out, I'd estimate that just of the bugs and features I've suggested, he's corrected about 5 bugs and implemented about 10 features. A couple examples:

- in my work, I drive around and make several stops in the day, and I can make the podcast playback pause by removing the power cable (or, by the same token, just turning the car off)

- I didn't have T-Mobile on my G1 for my first year of owning it, so I didn't have 3G, so on my request he implemented a feature where the app would only download new episodes over wifi, and then decided to also add the option of only downloading if the phone was charging

I've been such a fan of this app that I've proselytized it every chance I get. I've gotten it mentioned on AppJudgement over at Revision3 (they even show my email and mention my name ). And in full disclosure: because of all my help in giving feedback and spreading awareness of the app, the developer was kind enough to surprise me by sending me a $50 Amazon gift card this Christmas. But that's not what makes me recommend the app. The fact that it's incredible does that.


But hey, in the end, it probably just comes down to what you prefer and what you're used to