Is there a viable replacement for apple podcasts app?

Hello all. I see from the many many threads that everyone seems to be having problems with the Apple Podcast app these days.

First let me add myself to the list of people who feel the same. It genuinely feels like Apple coders make changes to this app just to make changes, but never to improve the user experience. The app has continued to deteriorate in quality over the past few years. In addition to the many complaints I have seen on these threads, the 14.6 version also makes it harder for podcasts you manually add to your phone that are not downloaded through Apple. Those podcasts are never listed under "Up Next", and they cannot be found under "Shows" under the Library tab. You can only find them under "downloaded" but even there, they even took away the settings button for these podcasts such that you can no longer change the order of play. (Or perhaps it is hidden somewhere so you don't use it and I just have not been able to find it.)

Anyway, that brings me to my question - is there another good app out there that lets you playback audio files you add yourself?

For background, here is what I am doing. I have an iPhone XS running 14.6. I have a significant amount of old time radio files that I upload onto my phone. I have listened to them in Podcasts for years because it was the best way to organize them and it allows for a 1.5x speed playback. Music does not act as a viable replacement because it does not allow you to alter the speed of playback. I have also tried Audiobooks, and that can suffice if need be, but I do not find that as user friendly and easy to use.

In addition, I am still running Mojave on my MacBook. I refuse to upgrade to Catalina or Big Sur because I hate what they did by breaking up iTunes. It is so much less functional. Under the new separate system, you cannot add your own files to Podcasts, and while you can add them to Audiobooks, you cannot then edit the metadata on the Mac. Essentially that means you are stuck working through Music, but that again that lacks the playback speed option.

So bottom line, given the continued destruction of the Podcast app - which I am convinced they ultimately want to get rid of because they keep ******* people off every time they make changes - and until they add a playback speed option in Music, I was hoping that there was a different app I can put on my iPhone that will allow me to playback audio files that I add myself. I have never used Spotify, but I was under the impression that you cannot add your own files to Spotify. If you can add your own files, perhaps that is an option.

Any thoughts, and sorry for the long build-up.