your phone transcribes the episode, opencast skips the ad breaks, free. no account, no tracking, open source. transcripts, search, and chapters when you want them.
opencast finds the ad breaks in your podcasts and skips them.
It is also yours. There is no opencast account, no tracking SDK, and no ads of our own. Subscriptions and listening progress sync through your private iCloud, any RSS feed works, and the source code is MIT-licensed on GitHub. The whole app stays around 10 MB.
Transcripts are made on your device with Apple Speech or Whisper. Follow along as the episode plays and tap any line to jump there. Search everything ever said across your library. Generate chapters and a summary for long episodes. Voice Boost is a broadcast-style leveler for quiet hosts and loud rooms.
~how ad skipping works~
Download an episode and your phone transcribes it. opencast checks the transcript for promo and sponsor reads and marks every break on the timeline and in the transcript. High-confidence breaks skip automatically. Borderline sponsor reads are marked but never skipped, so you decide. Queue a batch, keep listening, and get one notification when detection finishes. Detection works from the transcript text, not the audio.
~what the app can do for you~
• Skips ad breaks automatically, with one-tap undo
• Transcripts on device, with tap-to-seek and follow-along highlighting
• Full-text search across titles, notes, and transcripts in your library
• Generated chapters and summaries for episodes with a transcript
• Voice Boost, speed, sleep timer, AirPlay, and Up Next
• Per-show intro and outro skip
• CarPlay and Siri integration
• New-episode notifications with no promotions inside
• Search the podcast directory or subscribe by RSS URL
• OPML import and export
• Downloads for offline listening
• Private iCloud sync for subscriptions and progress
• Native SwiftUI for iOS 26, on iPhone and iPad
~optional and paid~
On-device transcription and ad skipping are free. Remote Transcription and Chapters & Summary are optional and use transcription hours: the first hour is free, then 20 hours for $0.99 or 100 hours for $4.99, in the US. Remote Transcription processes episode audio only for the jobs you request. Chapters & Summary sends transcript text, never audio. You see the estimate and your balance before anything starts. Remote transcription and summaries are offered at-cost.
opencast is open source under the MIT license:
https://github.com/connlark/opencast
Your listening is not a growth funnel.
An open source, native look and feel podcast app. Developer is attentive and makes changes all the time. Really enjoying it!
Developer Response
i appreciate the kind review. thank you!
RIP ads
teslaisbetterthanedison
Loving the skip ads feature.Would love it to be set and forget though.
Vibe coded junk
jdutton1984
Keeps throwing the error feed is over 8mb and can’t be loaded
Developer Response
i’m currently working on improving support for large feeds for the 2026.9.1 release. if you can share the podcast name through the support link (or open an issue on GitHub, whichever is easier), I can check your specific case too.
opencast 2026.9.1 reads the whole feed, jumps to the moment you tapped, and writes the chapters a show never did.
• generate chapters and a summary for any episode with a transcript
• shows with enormous back catalogs now load completely, up to 100,000 episodes, with full notes for every one
• tap a timestamp in show notes to jump straight to that moment
• playback prefers your downloaded copy and switches to it the instant a download finishes, without losing your place. automatic ad skips only apply when the audio matches the transcript they came from
• find more shows: apple-ranked search with podcast index filling the gaps. when a show has two very different feeds, opencast recommends the fuller current one or lets you pick the archive
• episode diagnostics replaces episode info: copy or share a full report, check whether the feed and audio urls respond, and share the audio file itself
• **much** lower battery use while playing in the background
• dozens of fixes: downloads, transcripts, ad analysis, and chapters stay attached when a show changes episode ids, purchases and billing recover from interruptions, rss dates and entities parse more reliably, and sync and data reset are safer
full release notes: https://github.com/connlark/opencast/releases/tag/2026.9.1
Version 2026.9.1
The developer, Connor Larkin, indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .
Data Not Linked to You
The following data may be collected but it is not linked to your identity:
Usage Data
Diagnostics
Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More
Accessibility
The developer has not yet indicated which accessibility features this app supports. Learn More
Information
Seller
Connor Larkin
Size
14.6 MB
Category
News
Compatibility
Requires iOS 26.0 or later.
iPhone Requires iOS 26.0 or later.
iPad Requires iPadOS 26.0 or later.
Mac Requires macOS 26.0 or later and a Mac with Apple M1 chip or later.