I might have a very odd bug, but VLC only plays one song normally and then any song after that is complete silence. No updates or reinstalls could fix it.
YMMV perhaps?

I’ve been using AntennaPod for over a year - moved over from PocketCasts back then - and am very happy with it. I have very simple requirements though, so it might be as full-featured as other options.

Simple Alarm Clock.
Extremely reliable during the ~10 months I’ve used it so far and it is indeed simple enough.