I sideloaded AntennaPod last year on my first Kompakt, which I sold with MuditaOS K at v1.2 because of missing-but-basic-in-the-USA group-messaging and voicemail features.
I liked AntennaPod on my first Kompakt, so I installed it on a deGoogled smartphone that replaced my Kompakt.
Given that MuditaOS K provides full group-messaging support in v1.4, I plan to buy a Kompakt again after Mudita also enhances its voicemail features, which Mudita now plans for Q3 2026 and which should include both a voicemail-waiting indicator (VWI) and one-key access to (long-pressing [1] to dial) voicemail.
Curious about @davidray’s CalmCast and wondering whether it will become my go-to podcast player on my second Kompakt, I installed it on the same deGoogled smartphone and compared it to AntennaPod there.
Here are seven impressions.
Kudos
- Well done, @davidray!
Easy to Learn
- For example, CalmCast’s “Following” tab is equivalent to AntennaPod’s “Subscriptions” tab.
Better on Kompakt
- I wonder why the bottom half of the bottom set of icons (lock, player speed, etc.) in the CalmCast’s “Now Playing” screen gets obscured by the Android Navigation Bar on my deGoogled smartphone, but I assume that they are fully visible on the Kompakt – the specific AOSP-based cellphone that @davidray is targeting!
Something Between 1 and 1.5
- I hope that CalmCast one day will let users pick more playback speeds, such as 1.25x (which I use almost always on AntennaPod).
Queue in the Queue
- I look forward to CalmCast getting the roadmapped “Queue” feature, given that the “Downloads” tab does not let users arrange downloaded podcasts in a particular order (which I do daily on AntennaPod’s “Queue” tab).
Instant Scrolling → Instant Love
- I love CalmCast’s “instant scrolling” (which works well anywhere) vs. AntennaPod’s “momentum scrolling” (which does NOT work well on the Kompakt). Instant scrolling should be mandatory for every Kompakt app that requires scrolling!
Goodbye, Depression. Hello, Calm.
- Others have written on this Forum about putting their smartphones in grayscale mode (e.g., via Settings > Display > LiveDisplay > Reading mode enabled) in anticipation of switching to the Mudita Kompakt. But, I must say that using AntennaPod with my deGoogled smartphone in grayscale mode is DEPRESSING to me, given that it renders as black-&-white photos what I KNOW are eye-candy-colorful podcast covers, so I have disabled grayscale mode on my deGoogled smartphone. In contrast, I can tell that using CalmCast on my next Kompakt will be CALMING, given the clean formatting of its text-only “Following” and “Downloads” tabs, with pure-black text and icons and controls on a pure-white background.
