One of my dear friend and blogger Ileane Smith has started discussion on Facebook Page about creating podcasts on the go. She is an avid blogger and her YouTube channel is an inspiration, which I would highly recommend to my readers.
The discussion also turned on to which operating system is more conducive for doing this. iOS vs Android is a well known fight and we will take a look at what each system is capable off.
So rather then answering it on the discussion, I am creating this post to help as many people as I can.
Nothing can be proved without a proof, so I have decided to create this podcast from my mobile. This will not only help me creating this post but it will also help the readers to check the quality of the podcasts on mobile.
I will talk about my mobile setup for podcast at the end of this post.
I use Mac for my regular podcast recordings and use GarageBand to record and edit the podcasts. I like the interface and easiness of using the app and was looking for similar kind of experience on the mobile.
Lets look at the iOS first:
iOS is more closed and monitored environment, so most of the apps are thoroughly reviewed before they go on sale. It helps in keeping the quality and uniqueness in check.
Here are some of the apps, which can help you create a podcast from mobile.
1) GarageBand
GarageBand is available on iOS also and can be used on iPhone and iPad. This is one of my preferred apps for the podcast creation.
It supports the external USB microphones, which are great for on the go recording as sometime phone microphone can capture too much noise. Also it can help you creating instrument sounds, which can be added to the podcast from your phone.
It also recognises any addition of music generation apps and even allows the music addition from those apps. It also provides the complete editing functionality within the app.
It is still not as advanced as the Mac counterpart but good to enough to keep the work going. The other drawback is that you still need some post processing like correcting the ID3 tags of the file.
This is another good app with very easy user interface. It works by creating carts, which can be handled separately, though it is not a multi track recording or editing app.
This is a complete app for podcasting, which provides support for ID3 tags and all the post processing on the run time to create a podcast on iOS. The carts are supported based on iPhone and iPad, it supports 16 carts on iPhone and 35 carts on iPad.
It also supports Audiobus-compatible apps to be a input source or microphones for your podcast along with external microphones.
The major strength of this app is that its a complete podcasting solution and you don’t need anything along with it.
The drawback is that it doesn’t have a multi track editor of stream editing capabilities. So if you have to clip something in between, you need to use third party apps, though it supports that kind of editing.
Now lets talk about Android:
Android also has few solutions, which can be used to create podcast on the go.
1) RecForge II
This is one of the apps, which allows you to create audio recording along with some basic editing of the tracks. It can record the podcast in mp3, ogg or wma file format.
It comes with basic editing capabilities like trim, cut, time starching and pitch adjustment, which can be done inside the app. It can also convert between different audio formats.
It also supports the limited ID3 tags editing, you can add covers, artists, album and comments to the recorded file.
Though it looks a good solution, it has its drawbacks. The reviews show that it gets crashed and there are some performance issues.
Maintaining a performance across the devices is one of the issues with Android as app developers has to support multiple hardwares and many of them does not approach it correctly.
This is one of the best solutions for creating podcast on the go. It supports multi track recording, rich editing tools and extensive support for external devices.
This app can import mp3, WAV and other formats along with non-linear non-destructive editing with move, trim, split, cut/copy/paste, remove, cross-fade and range editing.
You can attach wide range of mixer and external microphone with your phone to record podcast. This is good if you have USB microphone or devices, which you use on your laptop, these can be used with your phone also.
It supports the full project structure and you can save and continue on the work later on. There are some in-app purchases which can unlock some additional functionalities like sound effects, USB audio support, MIDI support etc.
To an extant this is the best app for creating podcast on the Android. The only drawback is that it does not export the recording in mp3 format, so you need an additional app for mp3 conversion. It only supports OGG, WAV and AIFF formats.
Now lets talk about my setup:
I have Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Nexus 10, which I use for my personal and blogging work and have purchased Audio Evolution Mobile DAW with an in-app purchase for USB audio support.
I have a Samson C03U USB Condenser Microphone, which I use for my podcast recordings. I use the same microphone with my phone and tablet as they support the external microphone with USB audio support.
Fingers can be a issue on the mobile screens as they do not provide the required precision (at least for me), this is where Galaxy Note 3 scores very high. S-Pen gives the required precision and makes the editing very easy on small screen.
I can do complete recording and editing on my mobile device with this setup and it is easy to take with you on the move. The only issue is for the file conversion and ID3 tags update, I need to use some online tools.
You can check the audio quality of this podcast, which will give you a good idea about this setup. If you use any other setup then provide feedback in the comments below.
I hope this post has given you a good idea on how to create a podcast on your mobile phone.
Resources And Links Mentioned In This Episode:
1. GarageBand
3. RecForge II
5. Samson C03U USB Condenser Microphone
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I would love to receive a feedback on the podcast, it can really help me improve the show and make it more useful for the users. Please use the comment section to provide feedback.
Hey Sanjeev! I am actually in awe of what you have done here! I had no idea you started a podcast. Your sound quality is really good too. I
I use the same mic you mentioned but I think your sound is better than mine. lol
Thanks so much for the kind mention and for taking the time to describe all of these apps. This is pretty awesome.
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