- Sideloading: UI tweaks, more reliable downloads, better metadata, support for descriptions, support for sideload thumbnails as episode artwork, and more
- More actions in list views, with additional options on iPad
- Fix issues with download only on Wi-Fi, switching between Wi-Fi and cellular, and changing settings
- Major CarPlay updates including audio settings, starring, and more
- Improvements to syncing and resyncing
- Database infrastructure changes to resolve crashes
- Season and episode numbers now shown in episode lists and VoiceOver
- Fix VoiceOver issue when opening the main chapter list on the Now Playing screen
- Linked to Xcode 26.4
- Fix alignment issue with author in episode details
- Fix issue where episode descriptions in the inbox wouldn't have spaces
- Fix issue where episode descriptions shown in the inbox wouldn't appear on the notes page for certain podcasts
- And more!

Important fixes for sideloading along with other bug fixes.

- fix an issue with shortcuts not showing up
- fix an issue with folder counts
- fix issue with theme being messed up
- fix for non-square artwork
- fix for a rare issue where device could become out of date after turning off sync
- add a few more top picks on larger screens
- more efficient queue widget updates
- many other performance improvements
- fix issue where trim silence or enhance voice per-podcast setting could be lost

If you like Castro please help us out by leaving a kind review. It makes a huge difference!

- Fix sideload titles
- Add some German translations
- Add folders to backup files
- Fix some issues with stats and timezones/locales
- Security updates
- Small UI fixes in explore
- Improved episode details actions
- Major performance and crash improvements

If you like Castro please help us out by leaving a kind review. It makes a huge difference!

- Fix various issues with stats involving timezones/locales
- Fix some background thread / view issues that may cause crashes in some circumstances
- Fix an issue with sideload imports having the wrong date
- Add stats % complete
- More crash fixes

- Fixes for stats
- Improved stats share image
- Fix some issues around sync, including an issue where an unsubscribed podcast would get resubscribed
- Crash fixes

- Listening Stats! See detailed listening history charts, and if you’re an OG it might go all the way back to 2020
- Massive performance improvements! Fixing some of the biggest issues that have plagued Castro for years, with more to come soon
- Fix a crash on the watch app, which was Castro’s biggest crash by far
- Fix an issue with the watch app synchronizations setting being lost
- Fix an issue where if a podcast releases multiple episodes at once, Castro might not mark one of them as new
- Improve widget refresh logic
- Fix an issue where the notification toggle might not immediately reflect the server state
- Fix an issue where the artwork in the collapsed controls could be the wrong image
- Fix an issue where podcast author instead of name would be shown in now playing info
- Fix an issue where requeuing something would not remove the played state
- Fix continuous play toggle on watch
+ Many more bug fixes and performance improvements

Happy Holidays! Introducing Castro 'Wrapped'!

Also:
- Make the watch app free
- Many improvements to widgets, fixing playback speed, more performant updates, etc
- Fx an issue with event syncing that could cause multiple old episodes to appear back in your feed
- Fix various issues with clearing items from the grids in inbox and queue
- Fix an issue where the app would hang if started without connectivity
- Fix an issue where the catalyst app would crash on older versions of Mac OS
- Many smaller bug and crash fixes

Happy Holidays! Introducing Castro 'Wrapped'!

Also:
- Make the watch app free
- Many improvements to widgets, fixing playback speed, more performant updates, etc
- Fx an issue with event syncing that could cause multiple old episodes to appear back in your feed
- Fix various issues with clearing items from the grids in inbox and queue
- Fix an issue where the app would hang if started without connectivity
- Fix an issue where the catalyst app would crash on older versions of Mac OS
- Many smaller bug and crash fixes

Happy Holidays! Introducing Castro 'Wrapped'!

Also:
- Make the watch app free
- Many improvements to widgets, fixing playback speed, more performant updates, etc
- Fx an issue with event syncing that could cause multiple old episodes to appear back in your feed
- Fix various issues with clearing items from the grids in inbox and queue
- Fix an issue where the app would hang if started without connectivity
- Fix an issue where the catalyst app would crash on older versions of Mac OS
- Many smaller bug and crash fixes

Some bug fixes and improvements to features introduced in the last release.

- Storekit 2 support / new paywall
- Fix some issues with the widgets and make widgets function even if the app is not running
- Fix an issue where episode would not be marked as played if you scrubbed until the end
- Some refactoring around playback and audio
- Fix some possible race conditions around startup
- Add back jack-o-lantern icon
- Make Castro green icon the default again
- Fix an issue where slower playback speed would skip from 1.0 to .8
- XCode 26.1
- Link to newsletter
- Fix some crashes

- Storekit 2 support / new paywall
- Fix some issues with the widgets and make widgets function even if the app is not running
- Fix an issue where episode would not be marked as played if you scrubbed until the end
- Some refactoring around playback and audio
- Fix some possible race conditions around startup
- Add back jack-o-lantern icon
- Make Castro green icon the default again
- Fix an issue where slower playback speed would skip from 1.0 to .8
- XCode 26.1
- Link to newsletter
- Fix some crashes

- Storekit 2 support / new paywall
- Fix some issues with the widgets and make widgets function even if the app is not running
- Fix an issue where episode would not be marked as played if you scrubbed until the end
- Some refactoring around playback and audio
- Fix some possible race conditions around startup
- Add back jack-o-lantern icon
- Make Castro green icon the default again
- Fix an issue where slower playback speed would skip from 1.0 to .8
- XCode 26.1
- Link to newsletter
- Fix some crashes

Fixes some bugs with playback speed and the sleep timer, as well as various crashes.

2025.10.1
- pumpkin
- some refactoring in the audio stack to prepare for future improvements
- updated some plus icons to be consistent
- cleaned up some old networking code
- fix an issue with the podcast search results navigation
- fix 3 crashes

- Pumpkin Icon
- updated some plus icons
- fix an issue with the podcast search results navigation
- some refactoring and cleanup to prepare for future improvements
- fix 2 crashes

- Major app size improvements
- Fix watch app playback speed slider and syncing issues
- Fix some appearance issues, especially on the folder screen in dark mode
- Changes to paywalls / Castro Plus
- Fix an issue where after scrubbing to the end of an episode, there would still be time remaining in that episode
- Fix an issue where now playing button text would be cut off on certain devices like an iPhone 15 Pro
- Fix a crash that could occur when activating CarPlay before the main app starts up
- Fix an accessibility issue with adding to folder from the queue
- Fix an issue with sync where finishing an episode might not update the time remaining on other devices
- Many other crash fixes. Seriously so many crash fixes

update sdk 54 and support android 16

- Improvements to the now playing screen, especially on iPad
- Fix an issue where an invalid podcast episode could cause an entire feed to not load
- Improve episode details for small devices
- Improve animation on tutorial dismiss buttons
- Bug and crash fixes

- New now playing chapter UI
- Make a bunch of fixes to the new now playing screen to improve contrast and spacing on small screens
- Add .9x speed
- Fix a bunch of iOS 26 / glass issues, including icons disappearing on buttons
- Fix an issue where the appearance settings screen would be stuck in light mode
- Fix an issue that could cause podcasts not to refresh if you return to the app after a long period of time
- Fix an issue where the tab might overlay the top episode in the queue or inbox when the now playing bar changes visibility
- Fix sleep timer icon on widget
- Fix an issue where audio might not start when playing from inbox, or it would randomly pause
- Many other bug fixes and crash fixes

- Add more playback speed increments
- iOS 26 / liquid glass support
- Major improvements to app size
- Widget improvements
- Add color gradient to now playing screen
- Improvement to episode details gradient
- Fix an issue that would cause initial sync to fail
- Improved Castro plus thanks background
- Fix an issue in onboarding that would images to not be clickable
- Crash fixes

- Fix some issues where audio interruption was not properly handled
- Fix an issue on iPhones where entering the episode details page would reset your spot in the list
- Improved: Initial onboarding podcast selections load faster and are more relevant to you
- Fix app icon grid on various devices
- Improve the top picks empty state
- Fix the starred dialog not being dismissable
- Fix an issue with the search indexer that would cause it to always say it was preparing
- Fix an issue where queuing or playing by newest / oldest didn’t always work
- Fix a bunch of crashes from the last release
- Fix: after initial sync, tutorials are now dismissed
- Sync fixes
- Many crash fixes, especially on iPad

New features:
- Full iPad support
- Support for syncing across devices through your iCloud keychain for plus users
- Full support for proper HTML rendering and longer content on show descriptions

Fixes and updates:
- Fix an issue where certain feed states could cause you to resubscribe, which could cause new episodes to reappear in the inbox
- Fix an issue where the app could get behind and require several manual refreshes to get the latest content
- Fix an issue where an episode could be removed from the inbox in some cases when it shouldn’t be
- By default, new podcast notifications are now disabled, and fix various issues related to notifications
- Improve queue removal speed and fix issues with the queue after unsubscribing
- Improve launch screen on certain devices
- Fix for sideloads and add support for extracting embedded mp3 artwork in sideloads
- Add episodes tab to categories in explore
- Improve the social media links in settings, add reddit, and add a link to the merch store
- Update some action icons across the app for consistency
- Fix search issue on iOS 15 and also some iOS 15 icon tinting issues
- Small UI fixes on explore to make things align better
- Fix various issues with changing themes, primarily on explore and episode details
- Fix podcast name alignment in episode details
- Unsubscribe button is now outlined on podcast details
- Add Portugal as a country for explore
- Many other small bug and crash fixes

New features:
- Full iPad support
- Support for syncing across devices through your iCloud keychain for plus users
- Full support for proper HTML rendering and longer content on show descriptions

Fixes and updates:
- Fix an issue where certain feed states could cause you to resubscribe, which could cause new episodes to reappear in the inbox
- Fix an issue where the app could get behind and require several manual refreshes to get the latest content
- Fix an issue where an episode could be removed from the inbox in some cases when it shouldn’t be
- By default, new podcast notifications are now disabled, and fix various issues related to notifications
- Improve queue removal speed and fix issues with the queue after unsubscribing
- Improve launch screen on certain devices
- Fix for sideloads and add support for extracting embedded mp3 artwork in sideloads
- Add episodes tab to categories in explore
- Improve the social media links in settings, add reddit, and add a link to the merch store
- Update some action icons across the app for consistency
- Fix search issue on iOS 15 and also some iOS 15 icon tinting issues
- Small UI fixes on explore to make things align better
- Fix various issues with changing themes, primarily on explore and episode details
- Fix podcast name alignment in episode details
- Unsubscribe button is now outlined on podcast details
- Add Portugal as a country for explore
- Many other small bug and crash fixes

- An important fix for event syncing on fresh installs