Lysten: Podcast Player

Name: Lysten: Podcast Player
Rating: 4.4 (10 reviews)
Author: Ambi Studio AB

Easy to use, Privacy focused

Free · In‑App Purchases

10 Ratings
Age Rating

4+
Years
Category

News
Developer

Ambi Studio AB
Language

EN
English
Size

46.3
MB

Start listening in seconds. Follow any show, then keep your library and progress in sync across iPhone, iPad, and CarPlay with a simple email sign-in. Start listening in seconds — search for any show, follow it, and get a clean list of episodes ready to play. Share episodes and shows with anyone, whether or not they have the app. iPhone and iPad users get an App Clip that drops them straight into playback. Tap the share button to invite your friends and loved ones. Lysten is a lightweight podcast player. Sign in with your email to keep your followed shows, episodes, and listening progress in sync across all your devices — iPhone, iPad, and CarPlay. Features: - Sync your library and listening progress across devices with a simple email sign-in - Interactive widgets showing your feed and unfinished episodes — catch up where you left off with a tap - Sidebar on iPad with cover art and grouped sections - CarPlay support, including a Continue Listening carousel - Download episodes to listen offline — long press an episode and select Download - Sleep timer, set, enjoy & sleep - Adjustable playback speed - Podcasts and episodes indexed in Spotlight - SharePlay support — listen to episodes with friends and family - Extremely lightweight If you run into any trouble or have any questions, please reach out: - E-mail: support@ambi.se - X (Twitter): @ambiApps - Mastodon: @ambiApps@mastodon.social Privacy policy: https://ambi.se/privacy Terms of use: https://ambi.se/terms

Ratings & Reviews

4.4

out of 5

10 Ratings

User privacy business model!!!
05/13/2024
tevaliaracks
First, love to support developers that make software like you’re doing, that make a real attempt to respect users. Love the minimalist approach. Simple, looks great, yet isn’t full of “busy” menus, links, or an overemphasis on externals/appearances over function that works smoothly for how users actually use podcast apps. However, there are still some functional elements that keep me from freely using this app. There are some unhandled exceptions, that appear to make the app crash/close. I’ve noticed this on occasion i think when interacting with download episodes, or switching between episodes and podcasts. Don’t have it zeroed in when it happens exactly. I’d like to have some visible que to let me know that new episodes are available for a particular podcast, or maybe a visible mark on new episodes in the podcast listing so you know which are new or unlisted to. I’d like to be able to at least manually refresh podcasts to check for new episodes, whether it’s simply being able to pull down on the podcasts list or an option in a quick menu. There’s no indicators or way of checking that new episodes are available. I’ve noticed after selecting episodes to download that they sometimes disappear from the download list and I have to go back through the podcasts and download those episodes again. That’s a fairly significant deterrent for me to use this app. Basically, I love the appearance and simplicity of this app, but would love just a few basic user functions that could be included in the current interface that would give it better functionality without changing how it is now. Of course, there are some bugs that appear to need to be worked out.

Developer Response
Hey! First of all, sorry for the late reply.Thanks for your review and thank you for appreciating what we're trying to build.I'll add "Add new episode mark", "Introduce way to force refresh of podcast", "Investigate download bug" and "Investigate crash" to our to do list. We'll most likely prioritize crash fix and download bug fyi.Feel free to reach out directly to me at cesar@ambi.se if you have any other trouble or feedback.Have a nice day!/ César
User privacy business model!!!
05/13/2024
tevaliaracks

First, love to support developers that make software like you’re doing, that make a real attempt to respect users. Love the minimalist approach. Simple, looks great, yet isn’t full of “busy” menus, links, or an overemphasis on externals/appearances over function that works smoothly for how users actually use podcast apps. However, there are still some functional elements that keep me from freely using this app. There are some unhandled exceptions, that appear to make the app crash/close. I’ve noticed this on occasion i think when interacting with download episodes, or switching between episodes and podcasts. Don’t have it zeroed in when it happens exactly. I’d like to have some visible que to let me know that new episodes are available for a particular podcast, or maybe a visible mark on new episodes in the podcast listing so you know which are new or unlisted to. I’d like to be able to at least manually refresh podcasts to check for new episodes, whether it’s simply being able to pull down on the podcasts list or an option in a quick menu. There’s no indicators or way of checking that new episodes are available. I’ve noticed after selecting episodes to download that they sometimes disappear from the download list and I have to go back through the podcasts and download those episodes again. That’s a fairly significant deterrent for me to use this app. Basically, I love the appearance and simplicity of this app, but would love just a few basic user functions that could be included in the current interface that would give it better functionality without changing how it is now. Of course, there are some bugs that appear to need to be worked out.
Developer Response 05/27/2024
Hey! First of all, sorry for the late reply.Thanks for your review and thank you for appreciating what we're trying to build.I'll add "Add new episode mark", "Introduce way to force refresh of podcast", "Investigate download bug" and "Investigate crash" to our to do list. We'll most likely prioritize crash fix and download bug fyi.Feel free to reach out directly to me at cesar@ambi.se if you have any other trouble or feedback.Have a nice day!/ César
It’s a start but needs improvement
Jun 3
GLAMd0lll
The good thing about the app is the mini player. I really like that feature & it's something different than a static bottom bar that most apps use.I also like the app's name and icon. I find both of them to be pretty memorable and simple. The rest of the app leaves much to be desired. Let’s start with the whole “minimalist” navigation approach. It seems like the goal was simplicity, but there are no navigation buttons/icons + you have to use the search to navigate everything. There's not even a global settings button or menu, which is also confusing.When you're a new user like me and testing the app and only have one podcast, your feed is full of just one show. You can literally only get away from that screen by using the search. It's just not intuitive and goes against normal Apple design patterns. On the flip side, the episode listening page has the opposite problem. It has around 7 icons across 2 rows and is overwhelming and cluttered. Progressive disclosure would be the best thing to use here.In combination, these two things make me suspect that the app was at least partially vibe coded bc idk how a human would insert such drastically different patterns into a single app. The actual deal-breaker for me is the fact that there are no auto-generated chapters.I'm looking for something to replace Spotify Podcasts and Apple Podcasts. Both of these apps have that feature (which allows you to skip to the next section of the podcast when ads start). It's super useful. the app might have potential, but I don't recommend it in its current state.
It’s a start but needs improvement
Jun 3
GLAMd0lll

The good thing about the app is the mini player. I really like that feature & it's something different than a static bottom bar that most apps use.I also like the app's name and icon. I find both of them to be pretty memorable and simple. The rest of the app leaves much to be desired. Let’s start with the whole “minimalist” navigation approach. It seems like the goal was simplicity, but there are no navigation buttons/icons + you have to use the search to navigate everything. There's not even a global settings button or menu, which is also confusing.When you're a new user like me and testing the app and only have one podcast, your feed is full of just one show. You can literally only get away from that screen by using the search. It's just not intuitive and goes against normal Apple design patterns. On the flip side, the episode listening page has the opposite problem. It has around 7 icons across 2 rows and is overwhelming and cluttered. Progressive disclosure would be the best thing to use here.In combination, these two things make me suspect that the app was at least partially vibe coded bc idk how a human would insert such drastically different patterns into a single app. The actual deal-breaker for me is the fact that there are no auto-generated chapters.I'm looking for something to replace Spotify Podcasts and Apple Podcasts. Both of these apps have that feature (which allows you to skip to the next section of the podcast when ads start). It's super useful. the app might have potential, but I don't recommend it in its current state.

- You stay signed in when you open Lysten without a connection. Your library is there offline, and syncs as soon as you're back online. - Playback picks up again after Siri interrupts it, instead of leaving you paused. - Episodes now show "Downloading" while a download is running, so you can't start the same one twice — which could crash the app.

Version 2.2.2 Jul 31

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

Information

Seller: Ambi Studio AB
Size: 46.3 MB
Category: News
Compatibility: Requires iOS 17.0 or later.

iPhone
Requires iOS 17.0 or later.

iPad
Requires iPadOS 17.0 or later.

Apple Vision
Requires visionOS 1.0 or later.
Languages: English
Age Rating: 4+

4+

Learn More
In-App Purchases: Yes

Lysten+ $1.99

Lysten+ Yearly $19.99

Learn More

Developer Website

Privacy Policy

Supports

Siri

Use this app with Siri to help you get things done.
SharePlay

Share experiences in this app with friends and family right inside FaceTime or Messages.
Family Sharing

Some in-app purchases and subscriptions may be shareable with your family group when Family Sharing is enabled. Learn More