The app largely gets out of your way, split into four segments: Now Playing, History, Playlists and Downloads. You can create playlists and download podcast episodes on your phone, and then you can jump in and start playing with your Watch. There is a smartphone companion app for Android users only, which lets you send podcast URLs to the watch, but it's not essential - just handy if you'd like to minimize time spent fiddling on the small screen.ĬastBox is a little like Overcast, in that it's largely a controller for podcasts playing on your phone - but it's also absurdly simple. It'll work with both Android and iPhone, letting you browse and download podcasts straight to the watch. Wear Casts stands alone - literally - as the only Wear app that currently works sans phone. When it comes to Android Wear, the pickings are much, much slimmer. It ticks two of the key boxes: simple and easy to use. As long as you've got Bluetooth headphones, you're good to get your podcasting on. You can search and browse podcasts directly on your wrist and download episodes over Wi-Fi or cellular. It's so fully featured that the iPhone version of the app doesn't do anything but tell you what the Apple Watch version does. We've explained what sets them apart to help you find the best one for you. Not all of them function fully standalone, but not all of them have all the same features either.

Tried and tested: Best Apple Watch apps | Best Wear OS apps Sadly the options for Android Wear users are more sparse, but we've included a couple that we think are worth checking out. We've been scouring the App and Play stores and trying out the best podcast apps on offer.

If you happen to own a smartwatch, you may also have been wondering if there's a good way to listen to podcasts from the wrist, be it an Apple Watch or Android Wear smartwatch. They're the new radio, or so we've heard, and there are so many quality podcasts out there to listen to that it can be overwhelming.

Pocket cast apple watch