7 ms·

Show HN: Cardo ‒ Open Source desktop podcast client

115 points by n0vella 2y ago

Show HN: Cardo - Open Source Desktop Podcast Client Hi, I'm an amateur developer from Spain. I have released this desktop podcast client that works on Windows, Mac and Linux. It's a modest project, but it might be useful for you, it has syncing capabilities with Antennapod, Kasts, Repod or other clients. You can manage your subscriptions, queue episodes and even download them to listen to later. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

denysonique 2y ago
Electron App authors must stop overriding the native wm's window title bar, or when they do they should still offer the option of being able to switch to using the native title bar.
- n0vella 2y ago
  I plan to add this option, it works well on Windows but shows uggly on mac and linux.
Armazon 2y ago
Hi, as a Antennapod user this sounds great. Can I sync my current playback position? Last time I tried Gpodder sync it felt very buggy
- n0vella 2y ago
  Yes, it works pushing the button on titlebar's left corner. Playback position is saved after pause, podcast swith or close the app. There is a setting to sync automatically after closing the app. It works well for me at least.
textadventure 2y ago
This looks nice and lightweight, it would be sweet to have the possibility to import an OPML file which is what most of the podcast services let you export. EDIT: Noticed a little bug on Windows, you can't add a podcast while it's playing, at least not by pasting the address, it immediately wipes out the field. Had to pause playback in order to add another.
- n0vella 2y ago
  Thank you! two tasks more. Funny bug trying to add a podcast while playing. OPML is a good idea also.
sciencesama 2y ago
Need to transcribe and skip ads in the podcast ! That would be a killer feature !
- Armazon 2y ago
  Something like Sponsorblock for non youtube videos would be great. Another killer feature for me are automatic chapters if the podcast doesn't provide any
- xnx 2y ago
  I wrote something that does this (in R of all things)! I still need to polish it up a little in share it though. It goes: podcast mp3 -> whisper transcription -> Gemini Flash to identify ad blocks -> FFMPEG to replace ad blocks with skip sound.
  - freedomben 2y ago
    That sounds really cool! This is probably paranoid, but IIWM I'd be a little hesitant to use Gemini since this is a slightly gray area. If Google decides you're violating any ToS they might nuke your entire Google account and any "associated" accounts. Depending on the podcast I would also worry that the podcast content might violate some safety guidelines they have that might also get you in hot water. For example, some of the podcasts I listened to in 2020/2021 timeframe had discussion about the Lab Leak theory of Covid back when that was a capital offense on Youtube and would get you taken down and sometimes banned. I'd be worried about Gemini seeing that content as a violation and triggering some sort of automated action against you. Also worth considering that even if stuff you listen to is fine now, it might not be the next time they decide to change the rules about what speech is allowed and what isn't.
- jdprgm 2y ago
  I actually have a WIP cross platform app that does exactly this. It is more generic around processing any audio/video with whisper and integrating with openai or local llm's for summarization and other things but I also added a podcast specific ad skipping feature (it's not as perfect as something manual like sponsorblock for youtube yet but i'd say it's about 85% accuracy at the moment dependent on the models used)
Contusion3532 2y ago
Looks like exactly what I've been looking for! Great work! Do you have any plans to distribute a flatpak version? Especially for single person projects, it can save time on packaging and testing.
- n0vella 2y ago
  As I can see flatpak is popular, I could check it, but I can't promise it as I never used flatpak and I'm not using linux a lot. Cardo bundles are automatically compiled using github actions, If there is a flatpak posibilitie that would be easy. However, as I could see (I'm new releasing apps) the multiple Linux distros make that the github bundles (made with ubuntu 22.04 machines) don't work for all distros. If you are on Arch Linux there is a package on AUR.
  - ladyanita22 2y ago
    Flatpak permite que un único paquete sea compatible con prácticamente todas las distros Linux mainstream. Translated (for the rest of the world): Flatpak would let a single package be compatible with practically all mainstream Linux distros.
ivvve 2y ago
Would be cool to have a sync function that works similar to Gpodders.
- xnx 2y ago
  It has Gpodder sync built in.
peppers-ghost 2y ago
Hey thanks for making this. I've been looking for something that would sync with Antennapod.
freedomben 2y ago
Thank you for providing AppImages and RPMs! I'll definitely be giving this a roll :-) As an Antenna Pod user this could be really great. I've been starting to use Audiobookshelf for Podcasts because I haven't had success with syncing in the past, but Antenna Pod is still a better UX so I'd like to be able to use that.
- noname120 2y ago
  Could you expand on the aspects of UX of Antenna Pod that makes it a better fit for you compared to Audiobookshelf?
  - freedomben 2y ago
    The biggest things are the number of "clicks" required to get to a particular podcast, the long-ish loading times after those clicks, and some little papercuts like RSS feeds not updating unless you click the "search" button, then click "search" to force it to refresh. I also get a lot of server crashes as a result of various issues consuming RSS feeds. I can't use ABS for maybe 30% of the podcasts I listen to because of that. I do love having the podcast episodes downloaded automatically onto my host though. That's an absolutely killer feature and for that alone I have some podcasts I really care about still on there. FTR, I absolutely love Aubiobookshelf. It's an amazing project and I recommend it without hesitation to everyone. I think some or all of those will be fixed eventually, but it may take a bit of time. I do wonder if the ideal UI for books may just not be a good fit for podcasts, though I would need to think on that quite a bit before coming to such a conclusion.
blazeraven 2y ago
Unfamiliar with podcast file formats, but how does it differ from typical audio (mp3, wav, etc.) players?
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- Phrodo_00 2y ago
  A podcast is basically a list of files which are the episodes (together with episode metadata), so this would presumably fetch those and notify you when there's new ones / download them, and maybe keep track of how far along you're in each episode and provide playback speed controls.
  - n0vella 2y ago
    That's it
pentagrama 2y ago
Good luck! What's the difference between MSI and EXE for the Windows installer?
- n0vella 2y ago
  In theory MSI is more secure due that only can contain a program (Cardo) and cannot execute code by itself. But there is no difference in this case because both are compiled from the same source. EXE is better known. Choose one and dont worry becasuse Cardo has autoupdate feature
- noname120 2y ago
  Standardized deployment.
ExtraRoulette 2y ago
I've been looking for a desktop Podcast Client! GPodder is okay but I was look for something a bit "crispier".
noname120 2y ago
Are you aware of Audiobookshelf[1][2]? While Cardo is a very cool initiative, I wonder if considered joining forces with Audiobookshelf as it might save up some duplicated efforts :) [1] https://www.audiobookshelf.org/showcase#:~:text=Podcast%20library&text=&text= https://www.audiobookshelf.org/showcase#:~:text=Podcast%20li... [2] https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf
- 1317 2y ago
  audiobookshelf looks more like a media server for mostly audiobooks, a la plex or jellyfin -- + podcasts as an extra thing whereas cardo seems to be a standalone desktop app just for podcasts not really in the same category
z3ncyberpunk 2y ago
Does not have ompl import?
- n0vella 2y ago
  Not yet, already on tasks!
flntzr 2y ago
Cardo is a major manufacturer of bluetooth headsets which integrate into motorcycle helmets[1]. Since they are in the audio space as well, I hope they won't take issue with the name of this project. [1] https://cardosystems.com/ https://cardosystems.com/
- n0vella 2y ago
  Cardo means thistle in Spanish. Some thistles are very likely a purple table microphone (the original icon was like that, then I simplified it to better integration with screens).
Jotace 2y ago
[dead]

115 points by n0vella 2y ago

denysonique 2y ago

Electron App authors must stop overriding the native wm's window title bar, or when they do they should still offer the option of being able to switch to using the native title bar.

n0vella 2y ago
I plan to add this option, it works well on Windows but shows uggly on mac and linux.

Armazon 2y ago

Hi, as a Antennapod user this sounds great. Can I sync my current playback position? Last time I tried Gpodder sync it felt very buggy

n0vella 2y ago
Yes, it works pushing the button on titlebar's left corner. Playback position is saved after pause, podcast swith or close the app. There is a setting to sync automatically after closing the app. It works well for me at least.

textadventure 2y ago

This looks nice and lightweight, it would be sweet to have the possibility to import an OPML file which is what most of the podcast services let you export. EDIT: Noticed a little bug on Windows, you can't add a podcast while it's playing, at least not by pasting the address, it immediately wipes out the field. Had to pause playback in order to add another.

n0vella 2y ago
Thank you! two tasks more. Funny bug trying to add a podcast while playing. OPML is a good idea also.

sciencesama 2y ago

Need to transcribe and skip ads in the podcast ! That would be a killer feature !

Armazon 2y ago
Something like Sponsorblock for non youtube videos would be great. Another killer feature for me are automatic chapters if the podcast doesn't provide any
xnx 2y ago
I wrote something that does this (in R of all things)! I still need to polish it up a little in share it though. It goes: podcast mp3 -> whisper transcription -> Gemini Flash to identify ad blocks -> FFMPEG to replace ad blocks with skip sound.
- freedomben 2y ago
  That sounds really cool! This is probably paranoid, but IIWM I'd be a little hesitant to use Gemini since this is a slightly gray area. If Google decides you're violating any ToS they might nuke your entire Google account and any "associated" accounts. Depending on the podcast I would also worry that the podcast content might violate some safety guidelines they have that might also get you in hot water. For example, some of the podcasts I listened to in 2020/2021 timeframe had discussion about the Lab Leak theory of Covid back when that was a capital offense on Youtube and would get you taken down and sometimes banned. I'd be worried about Gemini seeing that content as a violation and triggering some sort of automated action against you. Also worth considering that even if stuff you listen to is fine now, it might not be the next time they decide to change the rules about what speech is allowed and what isn't.
jdprgm 2y ago
I actually have a WIP cross platform app that does exactly this. It is more generic around processing any audio/video with whisper and integrating with openai or local llm's for summarization and other things but I also added a podcast specific ad skipping feature (it's not as perfect as something manual like sponsorblock for youtube yet but i'd say it's about 85% accuracy at the moment dependent on the models used)

Contusion3532 2y ago

Looks like exactly what I've been looking for! Great work! Do you have any plans to distribute a flatpak version? Especially for single person projects, it can save time on packaging and testing.

n0vella 2y ago
As I can see flatpak is popular, I could check it, but I can't promise it as I never used flatpak and I'm not using linux a lot. Cardo bundles are automatically compiled using github actions, If there is a flatpak posibilitie that would be easy. However, as I could see (I'm new releasing apps) the multiple Linux distros make that the github bundles (made with ubuntu 22.04 machines) don't work for all distros. If you are on Arch Linux there is a package on AUR.
- ladyanita22 2y ago
  Flatpak permite que un único paquete sea compatible con prácticamente todas las distros Linux mainstream. Translated (for the rest of the world): Flatpak would let a single package be compatible with practically all mainstream Linux distros.

ivvve 2y ago

Would be cool to have a sync function that works similar to Gpodders.

xnx 2y ago
It has Gpodder sync built in.

peppers-ghost 2y ago

Hey thanks for making this. I've been looking for something that would sync with Antennapod.

freedomben 2y ago

Thank you for providing AppImages and RPMs! I'll definitely be giving this a roll :-) As an Antenna Pod user this could be really great. I've been starting to use Audiobookshelf for Podcasts because I haven't had success with syncing in the past, but Antenna Pod is still a better UX so I'd like to be able to use that.

noname120 2y ago
Could you expand on the aspects of UX of Antenna Pod that makes it a better fit for you compared to Audiobookshelf?
- freedomben 2y ago
  The biggest things are the number of "clicks" required to get to a particular podcast, the long-ish loading times after those clicks, and some little papercuts like RSS feeds not updating unless you click the "search" button, then click "search" to force it to refresh. I also get a lot of server crashes as a result of various issues consuming RSS feeds. I can't use ABS for maybe 30% of the podcasts I listen to because of that. I do love having the podcast episodes downloaded automatically onto my host though. That's an absolutely killer feature and for that alone I have some podcasts I really care about still on there. FTR, I absolutely love Aubiobookshelf. It's an amazing project and I recommend it without hesitation to everyone. I think some or all of those will be fixed eventually, but it may take a bit of time. I do wonder if the ideal UI for books may just not be a good fit for podcasts, though I would need to think on that quite a bit before coming to such a conclusion.

blazeraven 2y ago

Unfamiliar with podcast file formats, but how does it differ from typical audio (mp3, wav, etc.) players?

deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
Phrodo_00 2y ago
A podcast is basically a list of files which are the episodes (together with episode metadata), so this would presumably fetch those and notify you when there's new ones / download them, and maybe keep track of how far along you're in each episode and provide playback speed controls.
- n0vella 2y ago
  That's it

pentagrama 2y ago

Good luck! What's the difference between MSI and EXE for the Windows installer?

n0vella 2y ago
In theory MSI is more secure due that only can contain a program (Cardo) and cannot execute code by itself. But there is no difference in this case because both are compiled from the same source. EXE is better known. Choose one and dont worry becasuse Cardo has autoupdate feature
noname120 2y ago
Standardized deployment.

ExtraRoulette 2y ago

I've been looking for a desktop Podcast Client! GPodder is okay but I was look for something a bit "crispier".

noname120 2y ago

Are you aware of Audiobookshelf[1][2]? While Cardo is a very cool initiative, I wonder if considered joining forces with Audiobookshelf as it might save up some duplicated efforts :) [1] https://www.audiobookshelf.org/showcase#:~:text=Podcast%20library&text=&text= https://www.audiobookshelf.org/showcase#:~:text=Podcast%20li... [2] https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf

1317 2y ago
audiobookshelf looks more like a media server for mostly audiobooks, a la plex or jellyfin -- + podcasts as an extra thing whereas cardo seems to be a standalone desktop app just for podcasts not really in the same category

z3ncyberpunk 2y ago

Does not have ompl import?

n0vella 2y ago
Not yet, already on tasks!

flntzr 2y ago

Cardo is a major manufacturer of bluetooth headsets which integrate into motorcycle helmets[1]. Since they are in the audio space as well, I hope they won't take issue with the name of this project. [1] https://cardosystems.com/ https://cardosystems.com/

n0vella 2y ago
Cardo means thistle in Spanish. Some thistles are very likely a purple table microphone (the original icon was like that, then I simplified it to better integration with screens).

Jotace 2y ago

[dead]