PodsnapPodsnap Podcast ad blocker
A podcast ad blocker that skips sponsor reads and inserted ads
Updated
A web ad blocker works by refusing to load the ads. Podcast ads can't be stopped that way: they are part of the episode's audio, read by the host or stitched in by the network before the file reaches your phone. So a podcast ad blocker has to find the ads inside each episode and skip past them. That is what Podsnap does.
What it skips
- Sponsor reads: the host's "this episode is brought to you by…" segments, promo code and all.
- Inserted ads: the spots a podcast network drops into the episode, often different for every listener.
- Cross-promos: a show advertising another show, or its own extras.
The show itself plays. A skip ends at the ad's last word, so the show's own intro music still plays.
How it finds the ads
Podsnap's server transcribes every episode, word by word, and marks where each ad break starts and ends in the transcript. It also keeps a library of ad reads it has heard before, so an ad that runs on many shows is recognized wherever it turns up. When the playhead reaches a marked break, the app jumps to its end and shows a receipt, such as "Skipped a 2:12 ad".
If Podsnap isn't sure a stretch is an ad, it doesn't skip it on its own: the break is highlighted and one tap skips it. Undo brings back any skip. How Podsnap finds and skips ads has the details.
Does it block the ads or remove them?
Neither, strictly. Podsnap doesn't edit the episode or rewrite the show's feed. It plays the episode as published and jumps over the ad breaks while you listen, so the show's audio stays exactly as its makers released it.
Which podcasts it works with
- Any show with a feed. Search for it, paste its feed link or Apple Podcasts link, or bring your shows over from another app as an OPML file. Private feed links work too.
- Not shows that are only on Spotify: they have no feed for another app to play.
- Ads skip on their own in English, French, German, Spanish and Italian episodes. In other languages, only the breaks Podsnap is sure of skip on their own.
Other ways to hear fewer podcast ads
You can skip forward by hand, buy a show's ad-free version where it sells one, or stick to shows that mark their ads as chapters. How to skip podcast ads compares all five ways. Music subscriptions mostly don't help: Spotify Premium, for one, doesn't remove podcast ads.
What it costs
Podsnap is free for your first 30 episodes with ad-skipping, then one episode a day. Podsnap Plus lifts the limit for $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year (US prices). It's on iPhone and Android.