Search by idea, follow a question, or let boxlore suggest what’s next.
Then it stays quiet while you listen. Free, with no app ads and no paywalls.
What’s new · Curious · Calm · Yours · Every feature · Questions · Install · The soul of boxlore · What we track
Read the release notes
⚡ Improved:
- On Home, a show you listen to oldest first now picks up exactly where you left off, even deep into a long series, and skips trailers. Daily mix suggests the same next episode.
- On Home, a show you've heard every episode of now lists its latest episodes instead of an empty list, and a show whose episodes can't load lets you try again.
🆕 New:
- The Rest Is History, Darknet Diaries, Serial, Sherlock Holmes Short Stories and The Desi Crime Podcast have show pages in their own style: a gallery wall hung with the latest episodes, the show's flag-bearer with the flag waving, Serial's stack of cards dealt from its seasons, an 1891 Strand Magazine that opens to the stories read so far, and the hosts' crime board pinned with past cases. Each has its own moment when you subscribe.
- Conspiracy Theories' show page is now an evidence board, with the latest episodes pinned up and tied together with red yarn, on white paper by day and black by night.
- Show pages in a show's own style carry a "The best of boxlore" seal in place of the "Made for" tag. Tap it to find out what the page is.
- The late-night sleep timer prompt has a new look in your theme's colours: a night sky with a turning moon, and once you pick a time it shows when playback will pause.
- On show pages, Select all selects every episode of the show instead of stopping at 100, and while you search it selects your search results. A selected episode on a show's own-style page now stays readable.
- Your monthly story with Echo opens again from Listening history instead of closing the app. Echo now lands smoothly between cards, the story fills the status and navigation bars, and its card's title no longer runs under the show covers.
- Tapping a link no app on your phone can open, like a host's page or a funding link, now says so instead of closing boxlore.
- Playback controls on the lock screen, in notifications and in Samsung's Now Bar show rewind, play and forward in that order, even when nothing is queued next, with a Next episode button beside them when there is.
- Fixed a crash that could close boxlore in the background while the player notification loaded an episode's artwork.
- Echo's occasional question about how likely you are to recommend boxlore reaches listeners it had been skipping since the last update. It can now also ask when you come back within a few hours of finishing an episode.
- Search by idea. Describe a topic and get episodes about it, not just shows with that word in the name.
- Lore. Swipe through questions that lead to episodes you’d never have searched for.
- Recommendations. Picks shaped by what you actually listen to, on Home, in Explore and in your queue.
- The boxlore brief. An optional daily news episode, with sources.
- No app ads, no paywalls. Every listening feature is free.
- Pages that follow the show. Show and episode pages take on the colours of the show’s artwork.
- A player that stays out of your way. Sleep timer, chapters, transcripts, and intro and outro skipping.
- Ready before you go offline. Smart Downloads get new episodes onto your phone.
- Classic, Pure, or Material 3? Start from one of three styles, or build your own theme from any colour you like.
- Floating navigation, or a classic bar? And Crisp, Soft or Round lettering.
- Skip the intro? Set where playback starts, and how far each skip goes.
- Tagged Tech, but it’s really Philosophy? Then it’s Philosophy. Give any show you follow your own tag and icon.
- Coming from another app? Import your shows, add any RSS feed by its link, including private ones, and back up everything.
- And much, much more. See every feature.
- Search by idea. Describe a topic and get shows and episodes about it, even when the words don’t match. Misspelled show names still work.
- Recommendations. Matched on boxlore’s servers from what you’ve listened to, liked or finished, then re-ranked on your phone. On Home, in Explore’s For You, and in Smart Queue.
- Home. Daily Mix, Because you like, rows for the time of day, and trending shows.
- Lore. Question cards that each lead to an episode. What you play and skip teaches your taste.
- The boxlore brief. An optional daily news episode with sources, in Global, India, US and UK editions.
- A start that asks first. Answer a few questions and get shows to begin with, or search, pick genres, or import your library.
- Player. Audio and video episodes, 0.5× to 3× speed, and a sleep timer that can stop at the end of the episode.
- Seek and skip. Separate back and forward amounts from 5 to 120 seconds, optional seek buttons on the miniplayer, and intro and outro skipping with per-show overrides.
- Chapters and transcripts. Chapters and transcripts that follow playback, chapters read from show-note timestamps, and both saved with downloads.
- Smart Queue. Keeps something playing: the next episode, unfinished listening, new episodes, then recommendations. Or keep it to the show you’re playing.
- Support a show. A show’s funding links appear as a Support chip on its page.
- Folders. Group shows in folders from 1×1 to 3×3, or let boxlore sort them by genre. Reorder folders and shows however you like.
- Tags and icons. Give any show you follow your own tag and one of 31 icons. Tags become filters at the top of your shows.
- Downloads. Auto-downloads for the shows you choose, and Smart Downloads with episode and storage limits, Wi-Fi and charging options, and auto-delete for played episodes.
- Alerts. Choose which shows send new-episode alerts.
- Any RSS feed. Add a show by its feed link, including private links.
- Themes. Classic, Pure, Material 3 from your wallpaper, or a custom theme from any colour.
- Artwork colours. Show and episode pages can match the show’s artwork, or keep your theme everywhere.
- Layout. Floating or classic navigation, Crisp, Soft or Round lettering, and player layout.
- Android Auto. Browse Home, Library, Downloads and Discover in the car. Playback picks up when you reconnect.
- Google Cast. Play on TVs and speakers, with the player in the app kept in sync.
- Widgets. Now Playing, playback controls, Your Shows and New Episodes.
- Cloud sync. Sign in with an optional account to back up your library and keep it in sync across your devices.
- Full backup. Export your shows, tags, folders, history, likes and settings to a file, and restore them later.
- OPML. Import and export your subscriptions to move between podcast apps.
Always free, with no app ads, no subscriptions and no paywalls.
Is boxlore free?
Yes. No subscriptions, no paywalls, and no app ads. The soul of boxlore explains why it stays that way.
Will I hear ads?
Not from boxlore. Some podcasts include ads their creators put in their own episodes, and those play as part of the show.
How do recommendations work?
boxlore’s servers match episodes to what you’ve listened to recently. Your phone then fine-tunes the order for your playback habits. What we track and why has the details.
Why can’t I find a show that’s exclusive to another app?
boxlore plays public podcasts from the Podcast Index and any RSS feed you add. Platform exclusives aren’t published openly, so they aren’t here.
Can I add a private or paid feed?
Yes, if the feed has its own private link. Go to Settings → Library and add it. Feeds that need a separate username and password aren’t supported yet, and new-episode alerts should stay off for private feeds.
Can I sync between phones?
Yes. Sign in with an optional account to back up your library and keep it in sync across your devices. boxlore works fully without one.
Can I bring my shows from another app?
Yes. Import a subscription file (OPML) when you start, or later from Settings. You can export your subscriptions or a full backup at any time.
Is boxlore open source?
The Android app is source-available under the PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0: you can read the code and run it for personal, noncommercial use, but not redistribute it. The servers behind search and recommendations are private.
- Google Play is the recommended install.
- GitHub Releases has the latest APK for sideloading.
- Obtainium adds boxlore with automatic update tracking.
Android may ask you to allow installation from your browser or file manager when sideloading. boxlore needs Android 12 or later.
Report a bug · Share an idea · View the roadmap · The soul of boxlore · What we track
Ideas from listeners shape the roadmap. If something breaks or feels missing, tell us.
The boxlore Android app is source-available under the PolyForm Strict License 1.0.0. The servers behind search and recommendations are private.