Headliner is streets ahead of other audiogram generators in its flexibility and the quality of its videos. There are probably easier-to-use services, but I rarely find myself confused by the interface.

I especially like the integration with certain hosting platforms, that allows me to transition from uploading an episode to my host, and then creating an audiogram without having to re-upload the audio to Headliner. Even if your broadband is fast, that saves a lot of clicking around, plus it’ll import metadata and artwork.

The only real knock against it is that, although the AI-powered transcription accuracy is reasonable, the timings invariably need adjusting. I’m a bit of a stickler, and I like to make sure that the words on-screen exactly reflect the words being said (bar umms and ahhs), so I’m always having to re-adjust timings, or fix how sentences have been broken up. That adds 15-20 minutes to the process, for a fairly short video, especially if there are multiple speakers.

That said, you can produce some great-looking videos with it, and their free plan is generous.

It’s early days for the app so it might be worth a revisit. It’s more heavily customisable than pod.link (currently the best in this category), but not as smart, as it doesn’t have tie-ins with podcast apps, meaning you have to go and gather links to your podcast in different apps yourself.

There are some user interface bugs that will need to be worked out, too… just little things that aren’t show-stoppers but just make it a little untidy.

That said, the customisability is a bonus. I like that I can use my own banner image and change the icon if I want (for my example I used my show’s social media assets, since the cover art works better in a large square format). Changing colours is a bit overcomplicated (a simple hex input box would have sufficed), but again this is useful as it lets me reflect my show’s brand. There are some other nice customisation touches too, like changing the types of buttons and even the show’s name (I especially like this since this example show has a search-engine-optimised name which is quite long).

I think the issue with feed verification is just a little bit of nativity on the developers’ part, which shows in their press release and their eagerness to have their own chart… which is more distracting than it is helpful.

It’s a 2009-ass website, and in my opinion, as with all of the services of this ilk, it’s typically populated by the type of people who want to use a scattergun approach to find opportunities to speak on others’ podcasts.

I’ve yet to see any good opportunity come from a service like this that’s as good as one human being introduced to another.

That said, it deserves an honest shake, so I’ve signed up for a premium account as an “expert”, and will update this review with more findings.

When you sign up, you can choose a podinbox.com page URL. You can add your square podcast artwork to your page, and customise the greeting listeners will see when they visit it. You can even record an introductory video, prompting visitors with your question.

Listeners will visit your podinbox.com page and record their voicemail, and can leave a donation to the podcast. Of course it works just as well on mobile as it does on the desktop, and visitors have the opportunity to review their recording before submitting it.

The only sour note for me is the authentication flow. As a listener to a podcast, I don’t think I want to sign up for an account with a service to submit a one-time voicemail message. Some will see this as a barrier-to-entry, and be reluctant to give away their email address and create a password for a service they’re unlikely to use again any time soon I obviously see the need for authentication, but would prefer this be through social accounts like Twitter or Facebook.

That said, there’s a semi-social aspect to the inbox: All new messages are displayed on your PodInbox page, and other visitors can hit a ♡ button to indicate they like a particular message. Given there’s no on-screen indication that messages are public, for now you might want to communicate this in your intro text or video, in case your listeners are prone to over-sharing. (Private messaging is an idea they’re exploring, as are more moderation features.)

Once a listener has submitted their message, you as the podcaster get an email notification with a link to play, download, and archive the message. The download is in the form of a 128kbps MP3. There’s no metadata attached and the filename’s a string of numbers and letters, so if you’re downloading in bulk, be sure to rename files as you go (I’ve submitted this feedback to the developers).

I’d love to see this implemented as a WordPress widget. The UI is minimal so lends itself well to that kind of aesthetic. It could even be implemented as a WordPress content block or shortcode, so a voicemail box can be directly added to an episode’s show notes on the web.

Any service like this that makes it easier to solicit audible feedback from listeners gets a 👍 from me. PodInbox is a solid service already, and as a super-young product, it works far better than some that have launched with larger teams and seemingly bigger budgets.

They offer a generous free plan, with the option to upgrade to cut out the fee they take on donations.

I ran this tool against two feeds: a hobby one, and a show I produce for a client. Straightaway it demonstrated the fundamental work both of us need to do on our respective podcasts’ SEO, if we want casual listeners to find us based on their interests.

The interface is scrappy and buggy, and the English copy isn’t great. It doesn’t do anything you couldn’t do yourself, but if you value your podcast’s keyword ranking for apps like Apple Podcasts – and the many that still use the iTunes directory – it’s worth the $7 a month for the starter plan.

This is a really neat idea. I tried it with Castro using an episode of Connected, and Overcast where I’d been listening to Wine Dine and Storytime. It didn’t work with the Castro app, but worked a treat with Overcast.

I reported the issue with Castro back to the developer. The app is said to be in beta, and is worth keeping an eye on.