Show HN: I built a local-first podcast app
13 by aegrumet | 4 comments on Hacker News.
I worked on early podcast software in 2004 (iPodder/Juice) and have been a heavy podcast consumer ever since. I wanted a podcast app that respects your privacy and embraces the open web—and to explore what's possible in the browser. The result is wherever.audio, which you can try right now at the link above. How it works: It's a progressive web app that stores all your subscriptions and data locally in your browser using IndexedDB. Add it to your home screen and it feels native. Works offline with downloaded episodes. No central server storing your data—just some Cloudflare/AWS helpers to smooth out browser limitations. What makes it different: - True local-first: Your data stays on your device - Custom feeds: Add any RSS feed, not just what's in a directory - On-device search: Search across all feeds and episodes, including your custom ones - Podcasting 2.0 support: Chapters, transcripts, funding tags, and others - Auto-generated chapters: For popular shows that don't have them - AI-powered discovery: Ask questions to find shows and episodes (this feature does send queries to a 3rd party API, and also uses anonymized analytics while we work out the prompts) - Audio-guided tutorials: Interactive walkthroughs with voice guidance and visual cues The basics work well too: Standard playback features, queue management, speed controls, etc. I'm really interested in feedback—this is more passion project than business right now. I've been dogfooding it as my daily podcast app for over a year, and I'm open to exploring making it a business if people find it valuable. Curious if there are unmet needs that a privacy-focused, open web approach could address.
Wednesday, October 8, 2025
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