PodLP on PodLP Blog

Introducing the PodLP Sponsor Portal

Tue, 03 Mar 2026 08:00:00 -0500

Your podcast on phones like the Nokia 6300 4G with PodLP

Since launching in 2020, PodLP has brought podcasts to listeners who never had access to them before — people using $12 feature phones across India, Africa, Southeast Asia, and even the United States. Today, PodLP has been installed on well over 10 million devices in 175+ countries via the KaiStore, JioStore, Cloud Phone, and Android.

Sponsors have been part of that journey from the beginning. Sponsored listings on PodLP have offered podcasters a genuinely global reach across an underserved audience. Until now, campaigns were handled ad-hoc by email. Today, we’re launching the PodLP Sponsor Portal — a self-serve checkout at sponsor.podlp.app — to make the process simple and transparent.

PodLP launches on Android flip phones

Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:00:00 -0500

PodLP for Android flip phones launches today, making it easy to stream and download podcasts on budget-friendly Android feature phones.

Android flip phones?

PodLP launched nearly 6 years ago in June 2020 with a focus on emerging markets through platforms like KaiOS and the JioPhone. In 2024, PodLP expanded with a new version for Cloud Phone. Today, PodLP is now available as a native Android Package (APK) targeting non-touchscreen phones with direction pad (d-pad) navigation.

PodLP Migrates to Podcast Index

Sun, 04 Aug 2024 08:30:00 -0500

PodLP for KaiOS has migrated to The Podcast Index, expanding its catalog to over 4 million podcasts and eliminating the need for manual submission to a separate index.

Why Migrate?

PodLP launched in June 2020, a few months before The Podcast Index launched in September 2020. At the time, Listen Notes was one of the only available podcast indexes, but at $180/m for just 5,000 requests, it was completely unaffordable. Since PodLP serves a large global community of listeners on budget feature phones, it doesn’t monetize at the same rate as listeners located primarily in the US or Europe. As a result, PodLP was built on its own podcast index and application programming interface (API) optimized for low cost.

PodLP Turns 4, Launches on Cloud Phone

Sun, 16 Jun 2024 08:30:00 -0500

PodLP turns 4 years old, launches on CloudMosa’s Cloud Phone furthering its mission to make podcasts accessible to the next billion listeners.

PodLP Turns 4!

It’s incredible to think that PodLP launched 4 years ago at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in June 2020. PodLP was first available on the KaiStore without push notifications, transcripts, or even thumbnails on the homepage! PodLP has since grown to 10M+ installs in 175+ countries around the world, and today PodLP continues it’s growth with a launch on a new platform: CloudMosa’s Cloud Phone.

🇯🇵 こんにちは、日本です。Hello, Japan!

Mon, 19 Feb 2024 08:30:00 -0500

PodLP v2.4.1 was released, with support for Japanese 🇯🇵!

What’s New?

In the February Developer Update, the first KaiOS smart feature phone in Japan was announced. This is expected to be an updated version of the Orbic Journey V, running KaiOS 3.1.

With Japanese, PodLP expands it’s support for more than 30 languages around the world. In addition to Japanese, PodLP v2.4.1 includes several performance enhancements and server-side improvements for faster content rotation and easier podcast discovery.

Subscribe to podcasts on the calendar app with PodCal

Sun, 12 Nov 2023 08:30:00 -0500

PodCal is a free experiment in podcast accessibility, by PodLP. Subscribe in the Calendar app on macOS and iOS, in Google Calendar on Android and Web, or in any calendar app!

Screenshots of PodCal on iOS, Android, macOS, and KaiOS

How it works

PodCal is remarkably simple, simply subscribe to any podcast using the following link: https://id.podcal.app/{itunes_id}.ics and replace {itunes_id} with the iTunes ID for the podcast. For example, the link to subscribe to Planet Money is https://id.podcal.app/290783428.ics. Calendar events are created for each episode, starting on the publish date and time.

PodLP Joins 1% for the Planet!

Tue, 01 Feb 2022 08:00:00 -0800

PodLP joins 1% for the Planet, contributing at least 1% of annual sales to environmental organizations dedicated to protecting and preserving wild places.

About 1% for the Planet

One Percent for the Planet is an international organization whose members contribute at least one percent of their annual sales to environmental causes. The oranization was founded in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia, and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Flies.

PodLP Passes 10M Installs on the JioStore!

Sun, 30 Jan 2022 20:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce that PodLP has achieved an incredible milestone, passing 10 Million app installs on the JioStore!

The Road to Ten Million

PodLP was among the first dedicated podcast apps for smart feature phones, released to the KaiStore in June 2020 and the JioStore in October 2020. PodLP was fortunate to one of JioDevelopers GrowthPad Program’s Earlier Build for Bharat Cohort Startups, a program that supports brands, products, non-profits, startups, and entrepreneurs as they build and launch apps on JioStore application marketplace. Since then, we have continued to add features and make improvements to deliver the best listening experience on KaiOS devices worldwide.

PodLP v2.1 is Here + New Sponsorship Opportunities!

Sun, 07 Nov 2021 17:00:00 -0800

The new PodLP v2.1 which adds a sleep timer, playback info & notification, improved downloads, and more was published on the KaiStore as of 11/5!

Check out screenshots of some of the new features and tweaks below.

About PodLP v2.1

PodLP v1 was released on the KaiStore in June 2020, and the JioStore in October 2020. Since then, we have continued to push updates and make improvements to deliver the best podcast experience on KaiOS smart feature phones worldwide.

PodLP Launches on KaiOS 3.0

Fri, 17 Sep 2021 00:00:00 +0000

PodLP launches on the KaiStore for KaiOS 3.0, beginning with the sub-$100 TCL Flip Pro and Alcatel Go Flip 4 launched this week in the United States.

This week, TCL and Alcatel (a TCL brand) launched the TCL Flip Pro for Verizon and Alcatel Go Flip 4 for T-Mobile as affordable smart feature phones for the United States market. These are the first mobiles to premier with KaiOS 3.0, the latest major version of the popular operating system from KaiOS Technologies. In preparation, we’ve released a major version of PodLP v3.0 as one of the first 100 apps to launch on the KaiStore 3.0!

Celebrating One Year of PodLP

Tue, 15 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

Today marks the 1 year anniversary since PodLP first launched on the KaiStore.

PodLP was built to connect first-time internet users on KaiOS smart feature phones with top-notch podcasts–providing access to news, sports, worship, entertainment, and more across many languages and cultures. Since June 2020, millions of listeners from 175+ countries have discovered, listened, and subscribed to podcasts on PodLP that inform and inspire them.

Podcasts for the Next Billion Listeners

As of January 2021, roughly 40% of the global population is without internet access according to Statista.com. KaiOS is a mobile platform for first-time internet users offering affordable 3G & 4G-connected devices as low as $10 USD. Unlike other feature phones, KaiOS devices come preinstalled with an app store–the JioStore in India and KaiStore globally–extending smartphone-like capabilities to low-budget devices.

Podcasting 2.0 Integration in PodLP

Mon, 07 Jun 2021 07:45:00 -0400

PodLP adds support for Podcasting 2.0 features including the Person, Location, and Funding tags that are part of the community-driven podcast namespace.

Podcasting 2.0

PodLP now supports several Podcasting 2.0 features like the Person, Location, and Funding tags with the latest update. These features are a part of the Podcast Index’s community initiative to enhance listener experience. With this update, PodLP joins the growing list of podcast apps & hosts to support these new features. In future updates, we plan to support additional features including Chapters, Transcripts, and more.

IPv6 and the Future of Podcasting

Mon, 22 Mar 2021 08:45:00 -0500

The majority of podcasts are hosted on IPv4-only networks as of March 2021. This has a negative impact on content availability, especially in emerging markets that lead the world in IPv6 adoption.

About IPv6

Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) was introduced 26 years ago in 1995 as a replacement for IPv4. IPv6 was primarily designed to solve the impending exhaustion of the 4.3 billion total IPv4 addresses. For context, the world population in 2021 is 7.9 billion. Clearly not every person, let alone every device, would or could have their own IPv4 address. With IPv6, there are a total of 3.4×10³⁸ addresses which by some calculations should be enough for 69,683 years.

PodLP Launches Push Notifications

Thu, 11 Feb 2021 06:00:00 -0500

PodLP v1.5.0 was released today on the KaiStore. Most notably, this update includes push notifications for subscribers to stay up-to-date with the latest episodes from their favorite podcasts.

Push Notifications

With today’s update, PodLP listeners will receive interactive web push notifications when podcasts they have subscribed to publish new episodes. PodLP was the first podcast app specifically designed for KaiOS smart feature phones. Today, we continue to improve the PodLP user experience by helping listeners stay connected and informed with the news, entertainment, and education programs that matter most.

PodLP: 2020 Year in Review

Mon, 18 Jan 2021 09:00:05 -0500

We are grateful to have launched PodLP in 2020 amidst the global pandemic, and to deliver podcasts to millions of first-time listeners around the world.

About PodLP

There is more podcast platform competition now than ever before. While large companies scramble to acquire premium subscribers, we took a different approach with PodLP. The next billion is a term used to refer to the latest cohort of first-time internet users who are more rural and mobile-first than previous cohorts. Our mission with PodLP is to bring podcasts to the next billion, connecting first-time podcast listeners with audio news, education, and entertainment from around the world.

PodLP partners with Rephonic to expand regional content

Mon, 07 Dec 2020 08:52:01 -0500

PodLP is pleased to announce a partnership with Rephonic to expand the availability of regional content to the next billion podcast listeners. By leveraging Rephonic’s directory of 1.7+ Million shows, PodLP will now deliver the Top 50 most popular podcasts in the listener’s chosen language.

PodLP partners with Rephonic to expand regional content

What’s New

With the help of Rephonic, the first entry on PodLP Category List page will be the Top 50 most popular podcasts in the listener’s chosen language. Most podcast data sources offer top podcasts by country, and are often based on subscriber data from Apple Podcast listeners. Rephonic’s data set pulls from a variety of sources and will provide content more representative of PodLP’s global audience.

PodLP is now available on the JioStore for JioPhone listeners in India

Thu, 01 Oct 2020 11:46:05 -0500

PodLP is now available on the JioStore for JioPhone listeners throughout India. On International Podcast Day, JioDeveloper’s announced that PodLP, a GrowthPad Program’s Cohort Startup, was launched on JioPhone and will be accessible to the 100 Million+ JioPhone users across India.

PodLP is now available on the JioStore for JioPhone

About JioPhone

The JioPhone is Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited’s flagship KaiOS smart feature phone adapted for the Indian market. Available in more than 22 Indian languages, the JioPhone has been a major driving force bridging India’s digital divide. Since its launch in August 2017, more than 100 Million JioPhones have been sold, all with access to third-party applications distributed through the JioStore.