Review Insights · Google Play
Offline Podcast App: Player FM
Maple Media · 106,960 ratings · ★ 4.0
4.0
★★★★★
106,960 ratings
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Top complaints - extracted from 44 negative reviews
Recurring phrases mined from 1-2★ reviews. The bigger the percentage, the more users have the same problem. Fix the top 2-3 in your version and you have product-market fit on day one.
1
"podcast"
8 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Ads, ads, ads... so tedious. it's a podcast aggregater, not a 'platform' the content they post is intended to be free" - Leigh Fairbrother
2
"podcasts"
8 negative reviews mention this · 18% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Paying customers should not have to click through an ad for featured podcasts. Remove it and you have five stars" - Jesus Loves Us
3
"subscription"
7 negative reviews mention this · 16% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It's part of Play Pass which absolutely should mean NO ads and NO In App Purchases! yet it has BOTH and constantly asks you to pay for a subscription! That feels like fraud to me! So uninstalled for good." - Jorgen Hjort
4
"been"
6 negative reviews mention this · 14% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Unplayed podcasts once again rarely showing unless a refresh.. I was a beta tester for your app so I know you saw my feedback. it has always been about the problem of unplayed yet downloaded episodes not showing until you refresh the feed. …" - Sally Horobin
5
"play"
5 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "It stopped working with Android auto and plays offensive advertisments, so I uninstalled it." - Matthew Kastor
6
"player"
5 negative reviews mention this · 11% of all complaints
★★★★★ "Having used this app for years , I've had enpugh of the same problems never getting addressed ..Some feeds fail to update.... downloads can complete but still remain unplayable offline unless app restarted... full screen player consistently…" - juiceybar
📋 All 44 negative reviews
Every 1-2★ review we fetched. Use the copy button to grab them all for your own analysis (paste into ChatGPT/Claude with a prompt like "summarize core user problems, group by theme, ignore bugs, focus on missing features").
Ads, ads, ads... so tedious. it's a podcast aggregater, not a 'platform' the content they post is intended to be free
It stopped working with Android auto and plays offensive advertisments, so I uninstalled it.
ever since the most recent update the continuous play function is screwed up; it isn't playing down my list, it's shuffling, and I'm not finding anywhere to turn that off. no, my continuous play did not get turned off. yes, I've uninstalled and reinstalled.
poor app
Changed from a 5 star to 1 because they've added pop up ads that promote podcasts, even though I'm paying for premium that describes itself as removing all ads. I contacted support and they said this is a feature and did not say this was being done in error.
1 star for the constant nagging to upgrade even though the app is quite good.
stops working often
Now have to use a VPN just to sign in. Also it has not and won't sync all my played podcasts. my history is there but it's not updated my podcasts, don't fancy marking 1000s as listened too. email sent. not good considering I pay £50 a year for this privilege 😕
Unplayed podcasts once again rarely showing unless a refresh.. I was a beta tester for your app so I know you saw my feedback. it has always been about the problem of unplayed yet downloaded episodes not showing until you refresh the feed. I've left as a beta tester so that others are aware of this annoying long term bug through my feedback. It makes the app so frustrating to use.
streaming not good
Worst app is stopping every 2 minutes
It's part of Play Pass which absolutely should mean NO ads and NO In App Purchases! yet it has BOTH and constantly asks you to pay for a subscription! That feels like fraud to me! So uninstalled for good.
Having used this app for years , I've had enpugh of the same problems never getting addressed ..Some feeds fail to update.... downloads can complete but still remain unplayable offline unless app restarted... full screen player consistently fails to open with controls unavailable ... loved it but its too frustrating now..
In the past a very good podcast player, but now WITH a subscription still ads IN MULTIPLE PLACES (INCLUDING A POPUP, but also sponsored entries in suggestion and home page) is completely unacceptable. I have also been informed by the app support that this is intended behavior. potential subscribers beware! Edit: The default response to this review also shows how little they care. I already wrote in my review that support said this is intentional and their response tells me to contact support...
very bad app 😕😡😡
Uninstalled due to nag to upgrade every time the app is opened.
Final Update March 2026: I'm out. I manually loaded all my subs into Youtube Music after my Player FM subscription was inexplicably canceled and I was locked out of the website as if I never existed. Support never responded to my request for help. I got a Play Pass subscription but I still couldn't log in to resolve the sync errors. Something fishy is going on with this developer. I'm not sure they support this app anymore.
I haven't been able to finish a podcast on this app since updates due to subscription nag full-screen popups. This is especially troubling as the app is trying to sell subscriptions and does not own this media at all.
good app
No longer accessible in Spain. I've happily used this app for years, now suddenly my account doesn't work, without notice. "Due to changes to our systems, you may have difficulty accessing Player FM from your market." They had me going back and forth for several days, blaming it on a technical issue at first. Can't even access to get the OPML to import elsewhere. So, useless and discarding their users.
this has been the only podcast app for me since I started listening to podcasts on my phone, but it has finally come time to move on. The app suddenly can't work with my car's bluetooth. It connects and starts to play, but will stop after only a few seconds. it's a real shame. I hate to stop using it, but I need something functional.
completely over run with annoying pop ups and useless menus. I hate this app
Despite paying for this app, displays annoying pop up ads every time I start the app. GO AWAY!!!
When you pay for the ad-free subscription for a few years? Suddenly, the app starts showing you ads in the form of suggested podcasts! I've been getting a full screen ad for a podcast I don't want to listen to called for months. there is no option or any setting in the menu to turn this off. I didn't ask to be suggested podcasts and I don't want to be suggested podcasts that counts as an ad and when I'm paying for ad free subscription I expect to be left alone.
Started subscribing me to random podcast. Had to remove 3 from my feed today.
terrible app. almost impossible to use the free version because of bugs and ads. truly wild how much this app sucks. antennapod works way better for me
bad
keeps freezing and stops playing
some of these ads are downright trashy. avoid if you have a gambling addiction, as there are MANY casino app ads
the conspicuous bias and shadow banning on this app has gotten to be too much. Time to find a new podcast app
aggressive ad popups every time I open the app. the price to remove the ads is extortionate. when a normal app wants 5€ or €10 at the high end, this app wants $25... repeatedly! as a subscription?!! insane marketing and prioritization strategy for such a basic app that there's a hundred alternatives to.
Bad
paid for the app. app store subscriptions says I have paid for it. however app keeps telling me on my phone that my payment wasn't verified. either a bug, or I don't know. I have paid. if fixed soon I will give good review. but for now there are still ads, etc. and the pop up telling me I'm not verified. I like the app. but fix this. I will change my review when fixed. also ads not removed.
it's not work
Ok
because you keep asking me how much I'm enjoying it. I'm not enjoying these. interruptions..
Recently (as in the past few months) the app will not save the spot of the podcast I was listening to when I get a phone call or when another app has audio play. I've been using this app for the better part of a decade and never had an issue like this before or so consistently, it's made itself completely unusable.
Rating 1 star because I would like the team to contact me. I've paid for the app and have opened multiple support requests about a broken feed but they get marked as Solved with no reply. Thank you!
Media format is not supported by Android
player FM is a poor quality app and it traps you there by making it difficult to leave and export your podcasts and it constantly bombards you with demands to get the paid version such that it is. it's almost unusable with the free version
Paying customers should not have to click through an ad for featured podcasts. Remove it and you have five stars
Great app, only slight problem is sometimes the podcasts are quiet, some loud. I like the app still though, use it most days. Catchpa is extremely annoying, if they don't accept after 3 attempts I happily spend half an hour giving wrong answers over and over. I'm going for a different app now.Just tried going Pro, but they and Google want me to spend 2 hrs playing the password reset game we're all familiar with.I did try,Edit, I went pro, so why am I still getting popup ads.Csnt reset my pwd !!!
Getting pop up ads AGAIN. Should I expect to be refunded the money I paid for the gold version?
the app really pushes subscription, I finally caved and the user experience is now so much worse ?? played pods won't go away and new pods won't show up
Sentiment summary
72%
Positive (4-5★)
6%
Neutral (3★)
22%
Negative (1-2★)