Pocket Casts update adds ‘Ok, Google’ commands to play podcasts

From a good Material Design interface to implementation of new Android features, Pocket Casts is one of the best apps on the Play Store. The podcast player received an update today that added improved voice controls, Marshmallow support, and date-based filters.

The improved voice controls allow users to use ‘Ok, Google’ to start playing a specific podcast, playlist, or what’s in their ‘Up Next’ queue:

“Listen to PODCAST NAME in Pocket Casts”

“Listen to PLAYLIST NAME in Pocket Casts”

“Listen to Up Next in Pocket Casts”

I’ve found that saying ‘play’ instead of ‘listen to’ also works. It’s a rather handy feature when you can’t pull your phone out of your pocket right there and then.

Users can now add a date filter specifying only podcasts from a certain time period (with increments ranging from a day to a month) show up in a playlist. This is on top of the app’s already minute filter options.

Podcast listening stats are now synced up between devices and can be found in Settings > Help > Stats. Other updates include support for Android 6.0 features, like the new permissions model and Auto Backup of settings and the database. This update also squashes other smaller bugs.

Go to the Play Store now to update to version 5.3 of the app. If you’ve been looking for a podcast player, Pocket Casts is worth every penny.