When comparing Pocket Casts vs OsmAnd Maps & Navigation, the Slant community recommends OsmAnd Maps & Navigation for most people. In the question“What are the most useful Android phone apps?” OsmAnd Maps & Navigation is ranked 7th while Pocket Casts is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose OsmAnd Maps & Navigation is:
[OSM][1] provides a map editable by everyone; just like the web-based encyclopedia, Wikipedia. Using a community edited map allows one to correct isses they encounter. Combined with the monthly turn around, these edits are added for navigation quickly. [1]: http://www.openstreetmap.org/
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Remembers playback speed & starting position
You can set a 'start from' position for a podcast to skip a set number of seconds from the beginning of an episode. Great for when you don't want to listen to an intro you've heard a couple of dozen times before.
Additionally, you can also change the playback speed, to slow down fast talkers or speed up slow talkers.
Pro Quick access to Sleep Timer
The most pleasing User Experience (UX) to set a Sleep Timer.
Activating the sleep timer will stop the podcast after a set period of time or at the End of the Episode.
Pro Vibrant aesthetics
Pocket Casts has one of the most colorful, pleasant to use interfaces.
For example, the app takes the most prominent color from the album art and colorizes the rest of the playback interface based on that color. This allows the app to stay vibrant and slightly different for each podcast.
Or the way it displays featured podcasts in a colorful mosaic made from album art, makes the whole experience of using the app pleasant.
Pro Auto download specific podcasts
You can set Pocket Casts to automatically download the latest episode of a podcast, whenever a new episode is released.
Pro Excellent, easy to use discovery system
Clicking the plus button in the top-right corner will bring you to featured podcasts. From there you can access multiple ways of finding new things to listen to such as: top charts (that can be separated in audio and video), search (that allows searching both by name and feed URL), a list of podcast networks and different podcast categories.
They also have a great selection of podcasts to choose from. The team behind Pocket Casts work hard to maintain a reliable and high quality catalog so you can avoid out of date listings, problems with raw feeds, etc.
Pro Sync with iPhone, iPad, Android
If you use Pocket Casts on more than one device, you can synchronize settings, playback positions, etc., across all your devices.
Pro Sonos integration
It is possible to connect Pocket Casts with Sonos, and play podcasts.
Pro Global and per-podcast playback settings
Enables you to set a "global" playback speed to use for all podcasts which can be over-ridden by a podcast specific playback speed.
Pro Automated playlist creation
Pocket Casts has a feature called Episode Filter, that allows automatically creating playlists based on setting such as playing states (unplayed, playing, played), status (downloaded, downloading, not downloaded), episode type (audio, video) and of course podcasts themselves.
You can also customize the appearance of the playlist with a color and an icon to help it stand out easier.
Pro Can set custom skip-forward and back timing
You can set custom "skip forward" and "skip backward" timings for easily skipping past parts of podcasts you don't like.
Pro Based around crowdsourced OpenStreetMap data
OSM provides a map editable by everyone; just like the web-based encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Using a community edited map allows one to correct isses they encounter. Combined with the monthly turn around, these edits are added for navigation quickly.
Pro OpenStreetMap contributing made convenient
One can also utilize features to contribute back to OSM. This includes reporting a bug or adding a POI. This feature doesn't require an internet connection as the points can be uploaded latter upon request.
Pro Works offline once the maps are downloaded
Pro Helpful lane guidance
Lane guidance can assist in deciding if one should stay in the right or left lanes. OsmAnd provides detailed information on the number of lanes and which are valid for your chosen destination; based on the data available it may show too many or too few lanes.
Pro Excellent general map viewing
Sometimes one needs more than just navigation, they have a need to view a map or specify a specific route. OsmAnd provides a very nice, detailed map. This can be good for seeing what is around you or showing a place you are talking about to a friend.
It also provides a means to add waypoints on the map which can be used to dictate a specific route (not simple enough to do routinely).
Pro Routinely updated maps
Utilizing the community driven OpenStreetMap data has allowed for monthly publishing of new maps that the user can use. Though that doesn't necessarily mean the map data has changed.
Pro Free and open source
Pro Shows speed limit
Pro Contour lines enable understanding the terrain
Through the use of an additional plugin OsmAnd Maps & Navigation is able to utilize contour lines on its maps which helps view the landscape and terrain.
Pro For car navigation, vehicle parameters and specifications can be entered
This helps in optimizing route calculations based on vehicle's maximum speed or a country's maximum speed limits, typical driving speeds, width and height of the vehicle and so on.
Pro Has an option to FAVOUR (rather than avoid) unpaved roads (remember when you have this selected!)
This helps in avoiding often congested main roads and in casually discovering alternative routes, sometimes dirt roads as well, which are commonly far less-travelled in most places. Odd place for this option though, should be near the section where you can select which types of roads to avoid instead.
Cons
Con Cannot create custom playlists
You can not add specific podcast episodes to create a custom playlist. While you can set up "filters" to create a playlist, if you're trying to follow a thread of specific podcast episodes, you can't set that up.
Con Skip episode often does not work with CarPlay
The Skip Episode feature, to automatically mark an episode as listened to and finshed, often does not work in CarPlay mode. Instead, you have to push the "skip forward" button a lot. Good luck having a long enough stoplight for that!
Con Does not work with paid podcasts
Con Slow and sometimes poor search
Most often does not find what you are looking for (which is not caused by bad OSM data).
Con Slow rendering
It can take some time for an area to be rendered. This tends not to be a problem during navigation since only a small area must be rendered as the map moves, and this area isn't immediately needed; though likely a bigger issue with smaller screens.
Con Poor navigation interface
The interface is not the most intuitive, though is continually progressing. It doesn't provide a 3D view like many navigation apps.
Con Near impossible to scroll through map
Due to the slow rendering (already mentioned) it is near impossible to scroll through OsmAnd's maps. You move the map only slightly and it takes ages to redraw all vector layers.
Con No display when the next speed limit occurs
When driving on unknown streets you are often surprised by speed limits or town signs, so you have to friction brake.
Con Terrible address data
This is a limitation of OSM's data, but it is unreliable for locating an address while offline. Even with internet it doesn't appear that it can locate most addresses.
Con No recorded voices can be found for download, only text-to-speech
Though not generally a problem, since OsmAnd+ favours TTS-based voice prompts it does advertise also supporting recorded voice prompts. However they cannot be downloaded or selected anywhere in the app, so you'll end up with awkward pronunciation, depending on your device's TTS engine, especially when setting your language to English in a non-English speaking area. Disabling street names will help as a limited workaround, but for those looking for clear and well-pronounced instructions, it's better to look elsewhere.
Con Being based on OpenStreetMap data can be lacking
The use of OSM also has the drawback of many places not getting the attention needed for updates. Depending on the geographic location OSM may have the most detailed maps or the most bare/outdated map.