Poems are meant to be heard. This release rebuilds how listening works on Stanza, from the first tap on an episode to a live reading starting on the other side of the world, and gives hosts a clearer picture of their shows.
A better way to listen
Every episode, on every screen, now plays through one shared player, so what you see always matches what you hear.
- Real waveforms. Each episode shows the shape of its own audio, not a decoration.
- Resume where you left off. Pause and come back later, and playback picks up at your spot. Episodes show In progress or Played at a glance.
- A mini player that follows you. Keep browsing while an episode plays. On phones it can fold into your avatar ring and open from the Stanza sheet.
- Lock-screen controls. Control playback from your lock screen, notification or headset on Android and iOS, and from your browser's media controls on the web.
Find your next show
The podcast directory is now a sectioned page with a pick of the week, continue listening, new episodes, shows from poets you follow, moods and categories. Each show has a single page with its latest episode, popular episodes, seasons, the host card and similar shows.
- Honest numbers. Shows may display "members listened", counting signed-in members who reached at least 30 seconds. We never call these plays, and nothing appears below ten.
- Respectful of you. Everything in the directory follows the same reading rules as the rest of Stanza, including blocks, age rules and your hidden content warnings.
Listen your way
- Sleep timer. Off, end of episode, or 15, 30 or 60 minutes, with a gentle fade at the end.
- Play next. Queue up to 25 episodes on your device and let them follow one another.
Quote and annotate a transcript
When an episode has a timed transcript, a line can become more than text.
- Quote a line. Turn one or two adjacent lines into a share card, with a link that opens the episode cued to that moment. Opening the link never starts playback by itself.
- Margin notes. Leave a note on a line, just like a margin note on a poem. It is an ordinary reply, with the same moderation and reporting, and hosts can switch notes off for an episode.
Live readings
Tap Remind me on a scheduled live reading and we will tell you when it goes live. The performer never sees a list of who tapped. Live and podcast cards can also appear in your feed when they come from poets or shows you follow, and you choose how the live preview behaves in Settings.
For hosts: analytics
Hosts can open View analytics from their show page.
- Free. Subscribers, members listened, responses, the last seven days and your top three episodes.
- Pro. Completion, how far listeners get, a listen-through curve, longer date ranges and a longer top list.
- No names. Breakdowns appear only once at least five listeners are involved, and nobody is identified. Because signed-out and RSS listening is not counted, every figure is a floor.
Get started
Update the app, open Podcasts, and press play. Hosts, your analytics are waiting on your show page.