Would you be interested in the Fountain.fm [1] podcast app? Are you still interested if someone told you it runs on a 2nd layer on top of bitcoin?
Why would you pay a credit card fee and a Patreon fee if all you want to do is directly sponsor a Podcaster?
You see, lightning transactions are more or less free (as in, sub $ cent transactions) [1].
And using the Fountain.FM or Breez podcasting app's allowes not just you to stream money to the podcaster herself, but also a % of that "donation" to be split or even wholly donated to yet another person. [2]
[1] Scroll down to Median Fee: https://1ml.com/statistics
[2] For example, when you listen to this episode it will not stream money to the podcaster, but to the Human Rights Foundation: https://player.fm/series/closing-the-loop-2955490/ep-14-rodo...
No, I think that actually dilutes the value of a "decentralized" network.
> What is it that these apps offer that the default Google podcast doesn't?
For one, donating directly to the podcaster herself instead of to Spotify/Google/Anchor/Apple or whoever else runs the app.
> Does it give better discovery options?
Sort of, yes. Let me explain: All podcasting apps rely on the Apple podcast index. [1] One of the very early podcasters, Adam Curry, was worried about this index being run by Apple, who may or may not one day decide to censor the index or ask money for it. So he set up his own [2].
[1] http://adam.curry.com/html/PODFATHER-g6c2RMsVnxgTdZ2DgHlVfMv...
The Value 4 Value initiative [1] incentives podcasters by paying an x amount for every second that you listed to a podcast. You can also donate an arbitrary extra amount if you wish.
My favorites now are Breez [1] for all Value4Value[2] podcasts, and Overcast[3] for all podcast that haven't upgraded yet.
[1] https://breez.technology/technology.html
[2] https://podcastindex.org/podcast/value4value
[3] https://overcast.fm/