Questions
Questions, answered.
A podcast app for people who listen — a lot. It blends your podcasts and your music into one continuous mix, so your shows and songs play from a single queue. Even without Apple Music it is a first-class podcast player in its own right — and there are no ads, on the free tier or on Plus.
PodMelody exists because I listened to so many podcasts that I'd quietly stopped listening to my music. There's always another episode, the backlog never runs dry, and the songs you love stop getting a turn. PodMelody puts your music back in the same queue — an episode, then a few songs, then the next episode — so keeping up with your shows no longer means giving up your music. — Chris, who builds PodMelody
You choose the podcasts and music to draw from, set how many songs play between episodes, and pick how things rotate. From there PodMelody continuously builds your queue — and you can rearrange it by hand whenever you like.
Yes. PodMelody draws music from selected Apple Music playlists and stations and plays it alongside your podcasts. An active Apple Music subscription is required for the music features.
Both can feed your mix, but they behave differently. A playlist is a finite list, so PodMelody draws tracks from it and can shuffle them. That includes Apple's personal mixes like Get Up! Mix, Chill Mix and New Music Mix: Apple refreshes them weekly, and PodMelody picks up the new songs the next time you tap Start Mix. An Apple Music station has no track list: Apple chooses a song when its slot begins. PodMelody takes one song for that slot, then returns to its own queue so your songs-between-podcasts setting still holds. Apple exposes a changing selection of stations to other apps, so one you expect may not always appear in the browser. Podcast Stations are different: they are your own groups of shows.
PodMelody supports iPhone and iPad on iOS or iPadOS 26 or later, including both screens of iPhone Duo, and its iPad version can run on compatible Apple Silicon Macs. It includes enhanced CarPlay playback controls; PodMelody Plus adds Mix, Queue and Browse on the dash.
No PodMelody account to create. Your PodMelody library, settings, history and listening progress stay on your devices or in your own iCloud account; PodMelody has no separate cloud store. Music uses your Apple Music subscription through Apple, not us.
No. There's no recommendations feed and no promoted shows. Your queue is built only from the shows you follow and the music you choose, and nobody pays to be in it. Search is there when you want to find something new.
Yes. Most podcast apps can export your subscriptions as an OPML file, and PodMelody imports it, so you don't have to add your shows one by one. OPML carries your subscriptions only; listening progress and history stay in the old app.
- From Apple Podcasts — no file needed. In PodMelody, open Settings → Import & export → Import From Apple Podcasts.
- From Overcast — sign in at overcast.fm/account and export your subscriptions as OPML.
- From Pocket Casts — Profile → Settings → Import & Export OPML → Save file, and keep it in Files.
- From Castro — Settings → User Data → Export Subscriptions, then Save to Files.
Then, in PodMelody, open Settings → Import & export → Import Subscriptions (OPML) and choose the file. Your shows arrive ready to add to a mix.
To keep a copy of everything, PodMelody's own backup goes further than OPML. Settings → Import & export → Export PodMelody Backup saves your shows, your Podcast Stations and their colours, and your listening history: the episodes you've played or skipped, and the songs you've heard. Import PodMelody Backup, in the same place, restores it. If a private feed syncs its sign-in details, the backup includes them in readable form, so keep the file somewhere private.
Export Subscriptions (OPML), in the same place, works the other way, for any app that imports OPML.
Steps for other apps checked 12 October 2026. Their menus may have changed since.
Yes, for podcasts. Every episode in your queue downloads automatically, free, and you can download any other with a tap — ready for flights, tunnels, and anywhere with a patchy connection. PodMelody Plus keeps your whole library ready, every show and station. Songs stream from Apple Music: Apple Music controls whether playlist tracks are available offline, and Apple Music stations require a connection.
Yes. iCloud keeps your library, synced settings, listening progress, bookmarks, history, and queue snapshots up to date, and another device can offer to continue the whole mix. Settings marked This Device, downloaded episodes, and pre-processed files remain on the device that made them.
Speed and chapters are in the free app: play anywhere from 0.5× to 3.0×, per show if you like, and jump between chapters in episodes that include them. Silence compression is part of Pro audio in PodMelody Plus, along with voice enhancement and volume levelling.
Yes. PodMelody has two looks, both included free, with light, dark and automatic appearance: the bold, glossy System look, or PodMelody's calm Editorial look. New installs choose one on first launch; switch any time in Settings → Appearance, where you can also pick Vinyl or Periodic as the app icon. PodMelody Plus adds accent colours for either look.
Only in how a few things are shown. Both looks play the same mix, with the same settings and features, and switching never loses anything. The differences:
- Home's top-left button: Editorial's SAD mark also shows pre-processing: a ring fills while a pass runs, and an open ring means one can start or resume. System's symbol shows iCloud and download status only (a cloud with a tick means everything is ready); tap it to see pre-processing in Device Activity.
- The time under the scrubber: above 1.0×, Editorial shows the episode position and the time it will take at your speed together. System shows one at a time; tap it to switch.
- The Timeline: Editorial draws the episode as a waveform, with episode and wall-clock time side by side. System shows the episode's length, the time at your speed and the time saved, above its chapters.
- Audio tools: in Editorial, Voice, Level and Silence are switches below the player's controls; in System, they are in the player's Audio menu.
- Beside the player on iPad: Editorial shows Up Next while a song plays and the episode's timeline while an episode plays. In System you choose the queue, the episode details or the timeline, and PodMelody remembers your choice.
They're Editorial's short labels in Now Playing. EP is episode time: your place in the episode as it was published. WC is wall-clock time: how long it actually takes to listen at your speed. PP appears on the speed control when the episode is pre-processed, rendered at your speed in advance so it plays without real-time processing. System spells these out in words.
Yes. PodMelody is available in English and German, and follows your device language automatically. To run it in a different language from the rest of the device, use iOS Settings → Apps → PodMelody → Language. German is the first translation; others will follow as they are ready.
Open Settings → About and tap Share Logs. PodMelody drafts an email to podmelody@slipangledynamics.com with anonymised diagnostic logs attached — no account details, listening history or show names in readable form. If Apple Mail is not set up on the device, a share sheet offers the same file so you can send it another way. Or just write to us; a human reads every message. For questions, ideas and release news, there's also r/PodMelody on Reddit.
By the people who choose PodMelody Plus. Nobody pays to reach you, so there's nothing in Free to pay your way out of. Plus adds things. It doesn't take an annoyance away.
The app is free to download and use; PodMelody Plus unlocks more mix sources and a bigger queue, pro audio, your whole library kept ready, the expanded CarPlay experience, and accent and station colours for AU$4.99 a month or AU$39.99 a year, with the first month of the annual plan free. Apple sets prices per country, so the App Store shows the exact price for your region. PodMelody is available now on the App Store. See the Plus page for what is included.
Want the walkthrough instead? Read the guide. Still stuck? Write to podmelody@slipangledynamics.com — a human reads it.