It’s hard not to notice that the global pandemic has significantly impacted our lives by bringing work into our homes, changing our habits and ways of spending our free time. At Applover, during remote meetings in the past months, we tried to directly connect with all team members despite the lack of face to face contact. During video calls, we talked about how we spend our free time outside of work. Relatively often, our conversations boiled down to recommendations of podcasts we had listened to recently. We’ve decided to share our favorite programs that may be of interest to software developers.
Yet, before we begin, we’d like to share some exciting data that directly point to podcasts’ rapidly growing popularity. In the first quarter of 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic spread globally, the number of people listening to podcasts worldwide increased by 42%. As for Europe alone, the increase was a whopping 53%. Poland is the clear winner with a rise of 300%! We are sure that we contributed to that impressive number. Hence, here is a list of recommended podcasts by our team members. This article has been updated for 2022!
Software daily
Bartek, our back-end developer, recommended this podcast. As the title suggests, the show appears on the channel every day, covering a wide range of programming and IT industry topics. It’s safe to say that everyone interested in software development and technology projects will find something for themselves here. “Software daily” talks are about programming languages, frameworks, security, machine learning, front-end and back-end development of websites and apps. It’s a space where you can easily find many interesting interviews about the technology stack used by large and well-known organizations such as Netflix, Facebook, or LinkedIn.
Software Daily is mostly all about technical interviews with interesting experts from the Software Development field. The vast majority of guests are people working in large, well-known organizations who share their experiences and describe technologies they use daily in their projects. For me, it's a great way to stay up to date with the dynamically changing world.
Pivot
Pivot is a podcast recommended by our CIO, Radek. Twice a week, Kara Swisher – closely associated with New York Times magazine and creator of Recode, a popular Silicon Valley technology news site – and Scott Galloway – a marketing professor at New York University – discuss the biggest stories in technology, politics, and business. Pivot is a podcast that will undoubtedly give you bold predictions about the technology industry.
In my opinion, Pivot is currently the best, in terms of the content quality, podcast about start-ups, providing real-time comments on everything going on in this dynamic environment. Combination of hosts - Scott Galloway, a professor at NYU Stern, an authority in the community, and Kara Swicher, closely associated with New York Times magazine and creator of Recode, is brilliant.
Masters of Scale with Reid Hoffman
Like Pivot, Masters of Scale is a podcast aimed primarily at management teams. However, the program touches upon startups and technology topics, so we decided to include it in our list. The host of the podcast is Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder of LinkedIn and legendary Silicon Valley investor. His guests include CEOs of great companies like Netflix, Slack, Starbucks, and Nike. During the talks, the presenter reviews with his guests the strategies and stories that have helped them create and scale globally recognized brands. As you can see, Masters of Scale is a strictly business podcast, but with original, cinematic music and content saturated with the host’s honest stories, the show has an incredible authenticity that draws in a broad audience from around the world.
Masters of Scale is hosted by Reid Hoffman, the former founder and CEO of LinkedIn, who knows everything about scaling online businesses due to his experience, whether as an entrepreneur, investor, or mentor to some of Silicon Valley's largest companies. Thanks to his wide industry recognition, the guests of the episodes are founders of very well-known start-ups.
Swift by Sundell
It is a recommendation from Marcin, a member of our iOS development team. As the name suggests, “Swift by Sundell” is a show focused mainly on Swift, but the host and his guests don’t shy away from analysis related to software in general. Listeners of the podcast learn about app architecture, programming patterns, and a way to adapt them in Swift. At the same time, they are getting the latest information about the improvements and evolution of this programming language itself.
Swift by Sundell, in my opinion, one of the best podcasts related to Swift, hosted by John Sundell, who invites to the program prominent figures from the iOS world.
Better software design
Bartek, our back-end developer, described this podcast as meaty in terms of quality and quantity of content regarding app architecture and design. Mariusz Gil, the podcast host, invites experienced developers to share their knowledge about refactoring, Aggregate pattern, strategic Domain-Driven Design, Bounded context, and many more. Besides, “Better software design” also features experts who manage projects and interact with customers every day. Therefore, listeners will also find content about IT’s relationship with the business, collecting and analyzing project requirements, the IT industry’s anticipated future directions, and the demands facing it.
Better Software Design is a Polish podcast that focuses on software architecture. For me, especially important are topics related to DDD - domain-specific approach to software development - this podcast is a real vault of information on this topic. This podcast also helps to understand that working with Legacy Coding doesn't have to be scary at all, which I agree with!
Dev Talk
It is a podcast for developers, testers, analysts, and designers. Listeners will find much information concerning theoretical knowledge of programming and its practical applications. “Dev Talk” is a conversation about the fact that a developer’s work is not only about writing code, and developers also have a significant impact on User Experience and the whole process in general. Besides the technical issues, guests invited to the program also discuss topics related to project management, developers’ role in the entire process, and how the IT industry is developing. It is a space where those who wonder whether and why it is worth starting their adventure with programming will also find a lot of knowledge worth hearing.
I find tech discussions and interviews to be loaded with a bunch of useful tips and knowledge. What I love about the podcasts is that every time after listening to an episode I end up with a long list of inspiring personas or subjects to discover. And it’s a great balance between relaxing and learning!
Biznes w IT (Business in IT)
The host of “Biznes w IT” is Piotr Bucki, who, together with his guests, talks about creating, developing, and running businesses with multimillion-dollar revenues in the IT industry context. “Biznes w IT” will therefore be an excellent choice for Polish-speaking developers as well as executives or HR staff of digital agencies.
Piątki na Produkcji (Fridays in Production)
We feel a particular fondness for this podcast because two developers create it in Wrocław, the city where Applover’s headquarters is located. Its authors admit that they were inspired by the desire to create a community where it will be possible to talk about skills useful in any programmer’s work, regardless of the framework or technology. It’s a podcast that we recommend to anyone looking for both a technical and a “softer” conversation about programming, and who can listen and understand Polish-speaking guests.
Product Dissign
It is another podcast created by Wrocław-based specialists, this time in the field of product design. Conversations in “Product Dissign” revolve around topics related to the creation of software products. The hosts share their impressions about software products commonly used in design environments such as Figma. They also tell what aspects recruiters pay special attention to when hiring for product design positions in the IT industry. Moreover, they reveal tips on how to publish your designs on Dribble effectively, which can be beneficial to many freelance designers This podcast also is for Polish listeners.
Product Dissign - a weekly podcast of 3 product designers from Wroclaw, Poland, who share their experience and cover technology, UI, and UX topics.
Zaprojektuj Swoje Życie (Design Your Life)
As our CIO says, this Polish podcast is his local discovery and source of impressive knowledge about the Polish startup scene. It’s a show where the host’s guests share their stories about crowdfunding, venture capital funding, how to create a startup, and how to turn your hobby into a source of income.
Zaprojektuj swoje życie (Design your life) is, as for me, the best start-up-business podcast in Poland. Maciej Filipowski, just like Reid Hoffman in the U.S., is a widely recognized figure in the Polish start-up community. Thanks to that, his guests are extraordinary personalities from our backyard. The subject matter differs from designing lives but focuses on issues that affect or have affected entrepreneurs' lives.
Flutter 101 Podcast
One of the most popular podcasts channels on Flutter is the Flutter 101 Podcast. It’s listened by a huge number of developers who are actively participating in the Flutter community. Vince Varga hosts a weekly audio series that concentrates on Flutter software development and Dart programming language. This is an excellent alternative for you if you want to acquire the latest updates and news about Flutter development and the changes on technology itself.
Flying High With Flutter
Another great podcast focused on the Flutter development ecosystem is Flying High with Flutter. It covers all there is to know about Flutter. In a weekly episodes, expert guests in the Flutter sector are invited to tell about their background, expertise, opinions, and insights on the fascinating Flutter environment. The emphasis is on real issues that you can encounter when developing with Flutter but also some difficult or inspiring ideas from its community.
Worth following nowadays is Flutter – a mobile app development framework that is noted for its speed. It gained a lot of popularity in 2021 and is rapidly expanding. The ability to develop iOS and Android apps from a single codebase is the major reason why people desire to develop apps with it. It's a game-changer, to say the least.
GetWITit
Last but not least, my podcast recommendation, whose creators inspire hundreds of women to start working in the IT industry, create a female-friendly environment and reduce the inequality in terms of the number of women and men holding leadership positions in the tech industry. GetWITit is a great place to discover women’s possible career paths in the IT business and find a tremendous amount of inspiration from great female leaders.
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Podcasts as a source of valuable development knowledge
The fact that podcasts are growing in popularity year after year is indisputable. No wonder, mostly because of the easy accessibility on such streaming services as Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or Spreaker. In the case of software, it’s a great way to gain new information, learn about industry news, and hear from experts who can teach a lot. For anyone thinking about choosing an interesting podcast, we recommend our list of favorites. What we also love about podcasts is that we can listen to them literally anywhere!
