Autohop · Core Concept

Meet the Priority Stack.

Every other podcast app asks you the same question, dozens of times a week: "what do you want to play next?" Autohop asks you once — and then never asks again.

How it works ↓ Set yours up

The idea

A ranked list, not a to-do list.

The Subscriptions page in Autohop isn't just a list of the shows you follow — it's a ranking. The order of that list is the single instruction Autohop needs to run your entire listening life.

Put your must-listen shows at the top and your "when I get to it" shows at the bottom. From that moment on, whenever an episode finishes, Autohop automatically plays the next unplayed episode from the highest-ranked show that has one ready. New episodes download in the background, the queue rebuilds itself, and playback simply flows — top of the list downward.

You never build a playlist. You never pick the next episode. You told Autohop what matters most, and it remembers.

😮‍💨 Other podcast apps

  • New episodes pile up in an inbox you have to triage
  • You hand-build playlists or tap "play next" all day
  • Playback stops when an episode ends — back to the list
  • Your favourite show gets buried under noisy daily feeds

😌 Autohop's Priority Stack

  • Rank your shows once, by dragging — that's the whole job
  • The queue fills and orders itself automatically
  • Playback advances on its own, show after show
  • Your #1 show always plays first the moment it's ready

How it works

Top of the list plays first. Always.

Here's a Priority Stack the way it appears on the Subscriptions page. The numbers aren't just positions — they're a promise about what plays before what.

Subscriptions

1 📰 Morning News Briefing
Daily · always plays first ≡
2 🎙️ The Big Interview
Weekly · plays when news is done ≡
3 ⚽ Footy Roundtable
Twice weekly ≡
4 🧠 Deep Dive History
Catch-up listening ≡

Drag the ≡ handle to reorder any time.
The queue rebuilds instantly.

The rule in one sentence: when an episode ends, Autohop plays the next downloaded, unplayed episode from the highest-ranked show that has one — and if a higher-ranked show publishes something new mid-session, it jumps the queue automatically.

A day with the stack

What this feels like in practice.

Using the example ranking above — news first, then the interview show, then sport — here's a normal day. Notice what you don't do: open the app to choose anything.

7:05 am

You hit play on your commute

The Morning News Briefing dropped at 6:40. Autohop found and downloaded it during an available refresh — it plays first because it's ranked #1. No searching, no inbox.

7:31 am

The news ends — the interview begins

Rank #1 has nothing else unplayed, so Autohop moves straight down the stack to The Big Interview, mid-walk, without you touching your phone.

12:40 pm

A higher-priority show publishes

During a later refresh, Autohop finds a lunchtime news bulletin. Because that show outranks everything currently in Up Next, it downloads and slots in to play next — your sport show politely waits.

6:15 pm

The stack runs dry? Catch-up kicks in

Everything above is played, so Autohop flows down to Deep Dive History — the back-catalogue show you ranked last, perfect filler for the drive home.

The payoff: across a whole day you made zero playback decisions, yet everything played in exactly the order you'd have chosen by hand. That's the Priority Stack doing its job.

Instructions

Setting up your Priority Stack.

It takes about a minute, and you'll only ever revisit it when your tastes change.

  1. Open the Subscriptions page. Every show you subscribe to appears here, already in priority order. New subscriptions join at the top of the stack.
  2. Tap "Reorder" in the top toolbar to enter edit mode.
  3. Drag the handle on the right side of any row up or down. Ask yourself one question per show: "if this and the show below it both had a new episode, which would I want first?"
  4. Tap "Done." The queue rebuilds immediately — open Up Next from the player and you'll see your episodes in the new order.
  5. That's it. From now on Autohop downloads, queues, and advances automatically. Just press play.
A good starting ranking: time-sensitive shows (news, daily briefings) at the top · weekly favourites in the middle · evergreen and back-catalogue shows at the bottom. Time-sensitive content goes stale; evergreen content waits happily.

Common questions

"But what if…"

What if I want to play something out of order?

Swipe any episode in Up Next. Play Next promotes it to the front of the queue, Play Last pushes it to the end, or just tap Play to start it immediately. These are one-off overrides — the stack stays exactly as you ranked it, and normal order resumes afterwards. Pinned episodes show a badge in Up Next so you can see what you've moved.

What if my #1 show has no new episodes?

Autohop simply looks at #2, then #3, and so on, until it finds a show with a downloaded, unplayed episode. The moment your #1 show publishes again, it goes back to the front.

Does ranking a show low mean I'll miss its episodes?

No. Every subscription still downloads its newest episode as soon as it's released, regardless of rank. Rank only decides playback order, never whether an episode arrives.

Do I have to maintain this?

Only when your tastes change. There's no inbox to clear and no playlist to rebuild — auto-archive quietly cleans up played and stale episodes, and the queue refills itself.

Where does a new subscription go?

Straight to the top of the stack, so its episodes start flowing immediately. If a new show shouldn't outrank your favourites, just drag it down to where it belongs.

Rank once. Listen forever.

The Priority Stack is one piece of a player designed to run itself.

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