How to save 30 minutes per day with these AI-powered podcast apps

You know I love productivity tools, but with the latest AI advancements, it’s getting harder to keep up. Sometimes, it feels like AI is turning into a time-waster instead of a time-saver. 

Here are 3 AI products that will actually SAVE you some time by turning long reading sessions into short, bite-sized, voice-based podcasts. I've been using them for a few weeks and was able to save at least 30 minutes per day, every day. 

PocketPod AI-based Podcasts App

PocketPod 

My favorite one in the list, and the one I use every day when driving to the office. 

This app looks like a simple podcast app, but it feels more like a personal daily news edition. 

First, you need to select your interests, add a few "custom topics" (which I'm not sure work yet, but probably will be used on later releases), and boom. Every day you will get a 30-40 minutes podcast with a recap of everything you need to know. If you have a certain article you wish to listen too - you can do that too, but sharing the article with the app, which will then produce a 2-3 minutes summary out of it and add it to your daily list. 

Of course, the voices are all AI-based, and the end result is amazing (even the occasional glitches are fun). 

The news is well-presented, packed with info, and yet concise. Each topic is sourced from multiple outlets you can explore for more details. There’s definitely room for this app to grow, and tons of potential, but for a new release, it’s impressive. I’ve already made it part of my morning routine, listening on my drive to work—and I’m really enjoying it.

Backed by Y-Combinator, PocketPod is defined as "the single place people go to consume audio entertainment, while removing nearly 100% of the cost associated with producing high quality content".

Download link: PocketPod (currently only in the US App Store) 

Volv

I’ve written about Volv in the past: an app that turns every topic into a 9 second summary. 

In an interview with the founders I learned that much of the curation used to be made by humans, I wonder if it's still the case... 

Although the app hasn’t changed much since I started using it a few years ago, the latest premium feature lets you listen to curated summaries—a great addition. You can still choose topics that interest you, including a variety of TikTok and cultural trends rarely found in most tech-focused news apps.

Download link: Volv

NotebookLM

The last product in this list is NotebookLM by Google, a personalized AI research assistant that lets you collect information and then organize, analyze and summarize it using AI (Google Gemini). 

Of course, the big hype around it started with the release of the podcast feature and recently some improvements were made to it. So now, I’m able to collect a few links to a topic I need to explore, throw them in a notebook, and ask NotebookLM to generate a podcast to listen to on my way back home. A classic time saver and much nicer experience than reading long articles.

The big hype kicked off with the podcast feature, where you can turn your collected information into a fun podcast. It's an amazing feature that got even better with some recent updates. 

Now, I can gather links on a topic I want to explore, drop them into a notebook, and have NotebookLM generate a podcast for my commute home. It’s a classic time-saver and a much better experience than reading long articles.

Link: NotebookLM