Android app no longer working without Google Play

• 

  nic0lasm · Member · June 22, 2026 at 6:31 am

  • Copy link
  • Add topic to favorites

  I’ve been a Pocket Casts user for years. However, the Android application recently became unusable after updating it.

  On opening, it shows the error “Something went wrong: Check that Google Play is enabled on your device and that you’re using an up-to-date version before opening the app” and prevents me from using the app.

  Indeed, I do not have Google Play. I also do not have a Google account. I do not see how this is relevant for using Pocket Casts. The app never asked this before and it always worked well. None of the other apps on my phone are requesting this.

  I hope this will be fixed? If Google Play is needed for some specific feature, you could display the error when launching that feature, not when opening the app. I’d like to listen/manage my podcasts, and don’t need Google Play for that.

  Thanks!!