The Groong Podcast App is now in beta
A dedicated home for Groong listeners. Install it, tap the bell, and hear from us directly — no algorithm deciding what you see.
A small door out of recommender jail
For years, Groong has lived wherever you find us — YouTube, podcast apps, social media, inboxes, group chats, and the occasional “Did you see this episode?” from a friend.
That worked well enough. Until it didn’t.
Like many independent media projects, we kept landing in what we can only call recommender jail. We have followers, subscribers, and people who genuinely want to hear from us — and yet the platforms often decide not to show our work to the very people who asked to see it.
So we built a small door out.
The Groong Podcast App is now in beta.
It’s a dedicated home for Groong listeners — built to make it easier to follow our interviews, analysis, and conversations about Armenia, Artsakh, the Armenian diaspora, the South Caucasus, and the wider region. The full catalog, in one place. Watch or listen. And, with your permission, a notification the moment a new episode drops.
No algorithm. No mystery. No “we thought you’d rather watch a 9-second cooking video instead.”
Why we built it
Groong has now passed 555 episodes — long-form conversations with analysts, authors, journalists, policymakers, and scholars who follow the region with care. But getting those episodes in front of our own audience has only gotten harder. YouTube doesn’t always recommend us. Social platforms don’t always show our posts. And if you miss an episode when it comes out, it can vanish into the feed before you know it.
This app is our answer. A clean, focused, installable home that keeps the full catalog in one place, lets you watch or listen, and — with your permission — notifies you when something new is published. We’re not trying to spam anyone. We’re trying to reach the people who already asked to hear from us.
The bell is the point
The most important feature, at least for now, is the bell. Install the app, tap the bell, allow notifications — and when a new Groong episode publishes, you’ll get a notification. Tap it, and it opens the episode. That’s the whole idea: a direct, simple path from new episode to listener.
What you can do in the beta
Browse the full catalog, newest first. Watch video-first with the YouTube player, or switch to audio with one tap — play, pause, scrubber, 15-second skips, and speeds up to 2×. Jump around long episodes with chapter navigation. Read built-in show notes and guest info. Share any episode with its own deep link. Light and dark themes follow your system settings.
It’s a Progressive Web App today, which means you install it straight from your browser — no app store waiting room. Native iOS and Android versions are coming next.
How to install
iPhone/iPad: Open app.groong.org in Safari → tap Share → “Add to Home Screen.”
Android: Open app.groong.org in Chrome → three-dot menu → “Install app.”
Either way, a Groong icon lands on your home screen and opens full-screen, just like any other app.
Privacy matters
No accounts. No logins. No profiles. No personal database behind the curtain. The app is a fast reader and player for Groong’s public catalog. Analytics are opt-in — decline and nothing is tracked. Your attention belongs to the journalism, not to trackers.
Try it and tell us what breaks
This is a beta, so there may be rough edges — and that’s where you come in. Install it, tap the bell, try watching, try audio, try chapters, try sharing an episode. Then reply and tell us what works and what doesn’t. “It works on my phone” is useful. “The bell does nothing on my browser” is also useful. “Please add search before I lose my mind” is very useful.
Groong has always been a community effort. The app should be, too.
› Install the beta: https://app.groong.org
› Read the full announcement: https://podcasts.groong.org/20260609-announcing-groong-podcast-app/