earsay

We're a small team that loves podcasts. When we started building earsay, we knew there were already apps that promised to skip ads. We also knew we weren't comfortable with how most of them worked. So we tried something different. It took longer and meant solving some genuinely annoying technical problems, but we think it was the right call. How other ad-skipping services work Most podcast ad-skipping services download episodes to their servers, analyze them, then either modify the audio or tell your app exactly when to skip. Some re-host modified versions with ads stripped out entirely. We couldn't ignore three problems with this approach. First, copyright. Podcast episodes are copyrighted content. Downloading them, modifying them, and serving altered versions to users without permission is infringement. The fact that many services operate this way doesn't make it legal—it just means they haven't been sued yet. Second, privacy. These services need to know what you're listening to. Every episode, every podcast, logged on their servers. Your listening habits become their data: sold, breached, or subpoenaed. Even services that claim to protect your privacy still require you to tell their servers what you want processed. Third, sustainability. Modifying and re-hosting content is expensive. Servers, bandwidth, storage for millions of episodes. That's why they charge monthly subscriptions—and why they might need to find other revenue sources when those subscriptions fall short. How earsay works We don't download your podcasts to our servers. We don't modify audio files. We don't create altered versions of copyrighted content. We don't even know what you're listening to. Here's what actually happens: when you play a podcast in earsay, the audio streams directly from the podcast's original source—the same RSS feed the creator publishes. Your iPhone or iPad runs our on-device AI to detect ads in real time. When an ad is detected, you can skip it, listen through it, or let earsay handle it automatically. The original audio plays exactly as the creator published it. earsay just gives you smarter controls—like a TV remote that can detect certain patterns and skip for you if you want. Why on-device processing matters Everything happens on your device. The ad detection AI runs locally on your iPhone or iPad. No audio is uploaded anywhere. No listening data leaves your phone. This isn't just a privacy feature. It's why earsay works the way it does, legally and ethically. We never touch the content, so there's no copyright issue. You're streaming the original podcast from the source. We don't need to know what you're listening to, so there's nothing to track. We couldn't build a profile of your habits if we wanted to—we don't have that data. No account to create, no login required, no server storing your information. We don't run cloud infrastructure for processing, so we can charge once instead of monthly. Pay once, use it as long as you want. No recurring fees, no pressure to monetize your data. The Sponsors Tab We built earsay because we love podcasts, and we know creators depend on sponsor support. That's why we created the Sponsors Tab. When earsay detects an ad, it extracts sponsor information—brand names, promo codes, special offers, website links—and shows them as visual cards. You get the information without the interruption. When you tap a sponsor link, creators benefit from the trackable attribution. Listeners control their experience. Creators get credit when their audience engages with sponsors. Sponsors reach people who actually want to hear from them. The original content stays untouched. Other features Beyond ad handling, earsay includes a few things that make podcasts easier to hear. Voice Boost enhances speech clarity, making dialogue easier to understand even with inconsistent recording quality or background noise. Silence Skip trims long pauses and dead air. Saves time without cutting actual content. Variable Speed lets you listen from 0.5x to 2x while keeping voices natural. All of this runs on-device. Your audio never leaves your phone. Pricing earsay is free to download. The full version—unlimited podcast subscriptions and all features—unlocks with a one-time purchase of $7.99. No subscription. No monthly fees. No tiers. Pay once, keep it. We chose this model because it's straightforward. You know what you're paying, and we're focused on making the app better rather than finding ways to charge you more.