Pocket Casts: Difference between revisions

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{{ProductCargo

|Company=Automattic

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|ArticleType=Product

|Category=Software

|Logo=~~1200px-~~Pocket Casts ~~icon~~.svg~~.png~~

|Logo=Pocket Casts logo.svg

|Website=https://pocketcasts.com/

|Description=Podcast player

}}

'''Pocket Casts''' is a podcast player for Android, iOS, and Web<ref>https://pocketcasts.com/</ref>.

'''{{wplink|Pocket Casts|Pocket Casts}}''' is a podcast player for Android, iOS, and Web<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pocketcasts.com/|title=Listen to podcasts with the best free podcasting app - built by listeners, for listeners - Pocket Casts|access-date=2025-09-26|work=Pocket Casts |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260124124852/https://pocketcasts.com/ |archive-date=24 Jan 2026}}</ref>.

==Consumer-impact summary==

*Business Model: Streaming service content, [[advertising overload]]

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==Incidents==

===Showing advertisements to Champion/Lifetime users (''September 2025'')===

In September 2025, the parent company Automattic changed the app to display advertisements to users who had purchased a lifetime license for the Pocket Casts app<ref>https://www.theverge.com/news/784429/pocket-casts-ads-lifetime-memberships-complaints</ref>. Support staff responded to complaints justifying the change as necessary to provide ongoing support and development of the app<ref>https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/the-new-advertisements-seriously-suck/#post-10923</ref><ref>https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/ads-despite-being-a-paid-customer/#post-11055</ref>. Later, the CEO posted on Hacker News claiming that showing ads to users that had purchased a lifetime subscription was a bug<ref>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45354405</ref>.

In September 2025, the parent company Automattic changed the app to display advertisements to users who had purchased a lifetime license for the Pocket Casts app<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/news/784429/pocket-casts-ads-lifetime-memberships-complaints|title=Pocket Casts is showing ads to people who paid for an ad-free app|first=Jess|last=Weatherbed|date=2025-09-24|work=TheVerge|access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260215114710/https://www.theverge.com/news/784429/pocket-casts-ads-lifetime-memberships-complaints |archive-date=15 Feb 2026}}</ref>. Support staff responded to complaints justifying the change as necessary to provide ongoing support and development of the app<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/the-new-advertisements-seriously-suck/#post-10923|title=The new advertisements seriously suck.|work=Pocket Casts Forum|date=2025-09-08|access-date=2025-09-26|author=jofzar |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251022090645/https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/the-new-advertisements-seriously-suck/ |archive-date=22 Oct 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/ads-despite-being-a-paid-customer/#post-11055|title=Ads despite being a paid customer|author=gmcmillan3|work=Pocket Casts Forum|date=2025-09-23|access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250927003249/https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/ads-despite-being-a-paid-customer/ |archive-date=27 Sep 2025}}</ref>. Later, the CEO posted on Hacker News claiming that showing ads to users that had purchased a lifetime subscription was a bug<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45354405|title=Howdy! There might be a misunderstanding: Anyone who has ever paid for Pocket Casts, even before Automattic acquired it, should not see ads. If you did, that's a bug and we'll fix it.|author=photomatt|date=2025-09-23|work=YCombinator Hacker News|access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250927003312/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45354405 |archive-date=27 Sep 2025}}</ref>.

==See also==

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+{{Incomplete}}
 {{ProductCargo
 |Company=Automattic
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 |ArticleType=Product
 |Category=Software
-|Logo=1200px-Pocket Casts icon.svg.png
+|Logo=Pocket Casts logo.svg
 |Website=https://pocketcasts.com/
 |Description=Podcast player
 }}
-'''Pocket Casts''' is a podcast player for Android, iOS, and Web<ref>https://pocketcasts.com/</ref>.
+'''{{wplink|Pocket Casts|Pocket Casts}}''' is a podcast player for Android, iOS, and Web<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://pocketcasts.com/|title=Listen to podcasts with the best free podcasting app - built by listeners, for listeners - Pocket Casts|access-date=2025-09-26|work=Pocket Casts |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260124124852/https://pocketcasts.com/ |archive-date=24 Jan 2026}}</ref>.
 ==Consumer-impact summary==
+{{Ph-C-CIS}}
 *Business Model: Streaming service content, [[advertising overload]]
@@ Line 18: / Line 20: @@
 ==Incidents==
 ===Showing advertisements to Champion/Lifetime users (''September 2025'')===
-In September 2025, the parent company Automattic changed the app to display advertisements to users who had purchased a lifetime license for the Pocket Casts app<ref>https://www.theverge.com/news/784429/pocket-casts-ads-lifetime-memberships-complaints</ref>. Support staff responded to complaints justifying the change as necessary to provide ongoing support and development of the app<ref>https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/the-new-advertisements-seriously-suck/#post-10923</ref><ref>https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/ads-despite-being-a-paid-customer/#post-11055</ref>. Later, the CEO posted on Hacker News claiming that showing ads to users that had purchased a lifetime subscription was a bug<ref>https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45354405</ref>.
+In September 2025, the parent company Automattic changed the app to display advertisements to users who had purchased a lifetime license for the Pocket Casts app<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theverge.com/news/784429/pocket-casts-ads-lifetime-memberships-complaints|title=Pocket Casts is showing ads to people who paid for an ad-free app|first=Jess|last=Weatherbed|date=2025-09-24|work=TheVerge|access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20260215114710/https://www.theverge.com/news/784429/pocket-casts-ads-lifetime-memberships-complaints |archive-date=15 Feb 2026}}</ref>. Support staff responded to complaints justifying the change as necessary to provide ongoing support and development of the app<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/the-new-advertisements-seriously-suck/#post-10923|title=The new advertisements seriously suck.|work=Pocket Casts Forum|date=2025-09-08|access-date=2025-09-26|author=jofzar |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20251022090645/https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/the-new-advertisements-seriously-suck/ |archive-date=22 Oct 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/ads-despite-being-a-paid-customer/#post-11055|title=Ads despite being a paid customer|author=gmcmillan3|work=Pocket Casts Forum|date=2025-09-23|access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250927003249/https://forums.pocketcasts.com/forums/topic/ads-despite-being-a-paid-customer/ |archive-date=27 Sep 2025}}</ref>. Later, the CEO posted on Hacker News claiming that showing ads to users that had purchased a lifetime subscription was a bug<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45354405|title=Howdy! There might be a misunderstanding: Anyone who has ever paid for Pocket Casts, even before Automattic acquired it, should not see ads. If you did, that's a bug and we'll fix it.|author=photomatt|date=2025-09-23|work=YCombinator Hacker News|access-date=2025-09-26 |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20250927003312/https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45354405 |archive-date=27 Sep 2025}}</ref>.
 ==See also==