PocketCasts was pretty much perfect for me for a long time and recently (past couple years maybe?) they did a big update which made it noticeably worse. I tried a few other apps and they had even bigger issues. I'm still using PocketCasts and they've fixed some of what they messed up but it isn't perfect.

They have a good library of podcasts built in but also allow you to add custom rss feeds for any smaller shows they don't have or if you have private feeds from patreon or elsewhere.

Welcome to Tidal! I came from Spotify myself and the improvement in audio quality alone means I haven't looked back!

I use Google Podcasts to fill the gap

If synchronising your episode progress and subscriptions is important, I'd use google podcasts for a commercial solution. I used it for a while and it worked great.

I've since moved on to audiobookshelf, for a self hosted option that achieves the same sync across devices.

Didn't Tidal end that program a few months ago? Or is it different than what this article is talking about: https://musically.com/2023/03/01/tidal-shuts-direct-artist-payouts-scheme-after-paying-500k/

BeyondPod

I've been using it for years. I have the paid version of it.

I'm sure I barely use any of the features. At the end of the day it lets me download my podcasts and prunes them as I listen (as I've configure it).

I feel like I need to buy it again to give the dev some money.

I've been using podverse for a while now and it's been great except for a few quirks with the queue

I switched to Podcast Republic awhile ago because I like the playlist feature and being able to have different "channels" for similar types of podcasts. Very customizable too! They have the android app and a website, though I've never used the website

newpodcastapps.com

I’ve had good experiences with Castbox.

I use Stitcher

I’ve been very happy with Podurama for the last few months.

Guess not what you're after, but I switched from Spotify to Deezer which has podcasts built in. So I only need one app.

Old post, but if you connect your phone to your PC using bluetooth, you can play audio to your PC from your phone, at least this works for me on KDE plasma. I use this to continue listening to music/podcasts from my phone without having to set up any sort of sync solution.

Previously, I was usin scrcpy, an adb based solution to route audio from my phone to my computer.

DoggCatcher for podcasts for Android is great

Still love Pocketcasts and would use nothing less (though I have a lifetime membership since I beta'd the web player when it first launched, so YMMV)

I didn't see it in the comments but I am very happy with Podcast Guru om android.