I am not totally sure why I ended up switching to Pocket Casts. (I went from Instacast -> Downcast -> Pocket Casts). Cross platform sync was probably the main thing; I was using a Nexus 4 for a while and still have a Nexus 7, and the syncing even between iOS devices seemed to work better. I also find the interface to be cleaner.
That Bluestacks thing is bananas.
The android subreddit usually has good recommendations. Honestly I don't use very many apps on my phone--I tend to just use phones for taking pictures, quick capture of notes, listing to media, maps, weather, and yelp. I do more reading, writing and stuff on tablets (and real computers).
Android apps I have found to be excellent include: Draft (dropbox text editor), Chronus or Dashclock (tied, quick info widgets), Nintendo emulators, Instapaper, Jota+ (text editor for local files), MX Player (media), Press (for Feedly), TeslaLED (flashlight), and Shuttle music player.