Show HN: Cardo ‒ Open Source desktop podcast client

 (cardo-podcast.github.io)

84 points | by n0vella20 hours ago

10 comments

  • textadventure16 hours 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.

    • n0vella15 hours ago
      Thank you! two tasks more. Funny bug trying to add a podcast while playing. OPML is a good idea also.
  • freedomben13 hours 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.

  • pentagrama9 hours ago
    Good luck! What's the difference between MSI and EXE for the Windows installer?
    • n0vella1 hour 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
  • ExtraRoulette9 hours ago
    I've been looking for a desktop Podcast Client! GPodder is okay but I was look for something a bit "crispier".
  • sciencesama16 hours ago
    Need to transcribe and skip ads in the podcast ! That would be a killer feature !
    • jdprgm15 hours 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)
      • 3abiton14 hours ago
        Not to hijack's OP great work, but when you say 85% you mean true positives? How about the false positives?
        • jdprgm13 hours ago
          My prompting is conservative to err on the side of playing an ad if there is a chance it might be part of the actual content, not really getting false positives at all yet. That being said while still in development I haven't reached the stage of running on a huge collection of podcasts to get more representative statistics.
          • xnx9 hours ago
            I think the accuracy of my prompt/llm is also ~85%. I've got a collection 2500+ podcast episode transcripts (English language) with ads I'm going to try and analyze shortly to find out if I'm missing any ads, or tagging some falsely.
    • n0vella15 hours ago
      Hi, I have a task to check SponsorBlock API to see if this can work for podcasts. In the other hand I doubt a bit because I don't know if that could harm podcasters in any way. But I think something like SponsorBlock eventually will be a feature. PD, awesome idea other people are doing using Whisper.
      • WesleyLivesay15 hours ago
        One of the challenges that are always going to be present when trying to skip podcast ads is that the vast majority (especially on larger shows) of ads are inserted dynamically even those that are read by the host. That means that not everybody gets them (geo targeted) and they may not be served to every listener at all times. Makes it a more challenging problem than the baked in sections of YT vids that Sponsorblock targets.
        • xnx14 hours ago
          Exactly. The SponsorBlock system would need to be updated to support marking ad block stop and start points by audio signature (much more complicated than simple timestamps) or transcription (compute intensive).
        • n0vella13 hours ago
          Uh, that could be a problem, I was thinking on sponsors made by the podcaster itself, but some plattforms do insert extra adds (I saw them at the beggining or end) and makes sense that they are country-specific and not the same every time.
          • WesleyLivesay12 hours ago
            Yeah, I would recommend this be VERY low on your priorities list because of all of the challenges involved.

            There is a reason none of the major podcast apps have even attempted to do anything with ad blocking.

            • xnx8 hours ago
              My naive attempt at removing podcast ads with an LLM worked on my first attempt. LLMs make many seemingly impossible tasks easy.
    • xnx16 hours 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.
      • freedomben13 hours 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.

    • Armazon16 hours 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
  • Contusion353215 hours 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.

    • n0vella15 hours 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.

      • ladyanita2210 hours 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.

  • Armazon16 hours 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
    • n0vella1 hour 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.
  • peppers-ghost14 hours ago
    Hey thanks for making this. I've been looking for something that would sync with Antennapod.
  • ivvve15 hours ago
    Would be cool to have a sync function that works similar to Gpodders.
    • xnx15 hours ago
      It has Gpodder sync built in.
  • blazeraven13 hours ago
    Unfamiliar with podcast file formats, but how does it differ from typical audio (mp3, wav, etc.) players?
    • Phrodo_0012 hours 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.
    • 12 hours ago
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