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The once pop third - company podcast app Castro had seemingly shut down this weekend , after earlier saying that it was “ actively seek a newfangled home ” for its product . The annunciation had followed hearsay that the fellowship would soon be closing down , spurred by a place froma former Castro employeeMohit Mamoria who , in November , wroteon Xthat the app would be exclude down over the next two months .
In ablog poston castro.fm , Castro ’s squad in December justify for the app ’s downtime due to arecent issuethat had required “ all-embracing oeuvre ” to bushel , and take note that any communicating about the app ’s future outside of Castro itself was “ not official ” and did “ not represent Castro ’s aspect ” — an indirect address to the XTC post which had instigate a number of media reports about the app ’s impend closing .
The company also confirmed that , although it had seen employee departure , it want to apologize for the “ unnecessary panic that may have arise from these conversation . ” The post to boot remark that Castro was seeking new proprietor for its podcast app in orderliness to continue to provide users with overhaul . TechCrunch ’s request for input at the fourth dimension of this initial report were not returned , however .
Reddit substance abuser were the first to observe the current outage with the Casto app , pronounce over the weekendthat the app would no longer lade newfangled podcasts or export the ones they have — meaning , they would not be able-bodied to well migrate to another app . Several also expressed frustration with the lack of transparency from the app ’s makers , notice they would have appreciated a head - up that the app was being close down .
“ Why all the silence and secrecy ? It ’s a huge smack in the face to people who have paid for and promoted the app for years , ” write one Reddit exploiter who give out by the handleg - money - tare .
Castrosold a majority staketo Dribble ’s owner midget in 2018 , but its creators at the time said they were still shareholders and would continue ferment on the app full - time . Citing the reasons for the sale , they said the app had make the sizing where the demands of running the business organization had extract them in too many different centering , and Tiny would offer them with more resource , contacts and expertise .
Castro ’s internet site was also not working on Monday dayspring , but a tweet from the company clarified on Monday evening that DNS issues it had claim to have experienced were now resolved and users should once again have access code . Some users were still suspect of the timing , however , given that the companionship made no promulgation on ten when the land site and app first go down .
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The localization has been deploy and propagating over the retiring twosome of hour . Many of you may have catch back the access . We are waiting for the generation to hit 100%.pic.twitter.com / kxx7Hdyp4l
— Castro Podcasts ( @CastroPodcasts)January 8 , 2024
Concerns over Castro ’s future tense , and the destiny of the indie podcast app industry as a whole , have broadened in recent yr as Spotify entered the market to contend with Apple Podcasts . That move shape the exits of other smaller podcast apps , which includedthe sale of Pocket Caststo a collective of radio broadcasters , including NPR and BBC Studios . The appwas then sold again to WordPress.com owner Automatticin 2021 . Satellite radio provider and Pandora ownerSiriusXM also bought the podcast app Stitcher in 2020 for $ 325 million . That get out the market place with fewer third - company apps outside of the technical school giants , with Overcast , Podbean and a smattering of others remaining .
Another request for remark from Casto owner Tiny was not return at of the clip of piece of writing .
Article updated , 1/8/24 , 6:45 pm pt to remark Castro claimed DNS issues had touch its web site .
