Scribe

There are plenty of AI-based transcription apps on the App Store (believe me, I must have tried at least 10 different ones this week, and I barely scratched the surface), but how many of them use a plastic-wrapped CD as their whole aesthetic? Scribe does. The app does the same thing as dozens of similar utilities on the App Store, but at least this one has a UI design that doesn’t suck, a clear subscription-based business model that doesn’t feel scammy, and – most importantly – intuitive interactions that let you record, transcribe, generate a summary, and export. The simplicity of Scribe is refreshing, the app is pleasant to use, and it doesn’t feel like it’s constantly trying to trick you into subscribing to another plan or joining a company’s mailing list. Transcription also runs on-device, so your audio notes won’t be stored on anyone’s servers.

Nightstand

I covered a similar app last week, but Nightstand is another solution to keep track of your book reading list and organize your collection. You can set daily reading goals, take notes, assign ratings to books, and check out stats about your reading patterns. Nightstand also comes with AI-powered recommendations based on your personal reading history, which I’m sure Apple will eventually consider for their own Books app and store.

Queue

This is a fascinating new podcast client by indie developer Eike Drescher that’s iPhone-only at the moment with no versions for other Apple devices. We’ve seen an influx of iPhone-only podcast apps this year following the criticized redesign of Overcast (which has since been improved upon considerably), and although I typically shy away from covering these apps, Queue has my attention for a few reasons. First of all, the design is gorgeous, with a tasteful blend of minimalist interface and lovely touches (such as subtle animations on the floating mini player) that make it stand out in a sea of same-y SwiftUI-based apps.

Second, as the name suggests, Queue revolves around the concept of a single, well, queue that you can use to triage and manage the episodes you want to listen to. In the queue, you can drag and drop episodes to rearrange them however you want, and you can start playing them with just a tap. Progress is saved on a per-episode basis, so if you want to dip in and out of a long episode (some people had the courage to release a 16-hour one!) to listen to something else in the meantime, you can do that. The app’s Now Playing screen is unlike any podcast player I’ve tested on iOS: chapter navigation is integrated into the progress bar (similar to Spotify, but better and more consistent), artwork is available as a thumbnail in the top left corner, and instead, show notes (with tappable links) are front and center.

Finally, you can tell that Queue is made by someone who is passionate about listening to podcasts. The app debuted with a full-featured Insights page to see stats about your listening habits and streak, and the attention to detail throughout the app is unmistakably the product of someone who cares about crafting a solid experience for fellow podcast lovers. At the same time, I noticed some early bugs that confirm its young nature: the button to archive an episode isn’t always shown in the queue; sometimes, I try to mark an episode as finished, but it doesn’t go away; and some show notes display raw HTML strings in the Now Playing screen.

Despite these issues, Queue is the first app of this new generation of podcast clients that genuinely piqued my interest. If the developer can keep working on it, improve stability, and expand to other platforms, I think this will be one of the apps to keep an eye on over the next few months.