Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Offers New Dedicated Podcast App for iOS

MacRumors

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
68,196
38,988



podcast.png


Earlier this month, it was reported that Apple would be launching a standalone podcast app in iOS 6. Instead of waiting for the next version of iOS, Apple posted the Podcast app on the App Store today. [App Store]
Podcasts app is the easiest way to discover, subscribe to and play your favorite podcasts on your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. Explore hundreds of thousands of free audio and video podcasts from the Podcasts Catalog, and play the most popular podcasts, organized for you by topic, with the all-new Top Stations feature.

Features:

- Enjoy all of your audio and video podcasts in a single app
- Explore hundreds of thousands of podcasts including shows in over 40 languages
- Try the innovative new Top Stations feature to find new podcast series in a variety of topics, including arts, business, comedy, music, news, sports, and more.
- Browse by Audio or Video podcasts, or see what's most popular in Top Charts
- Tap subscribe for your favorites and automatically receive new episodes for free as they become available
- Stream episodes or download to listen while offline
- Skip forward and back using simple playback controls
- Turn on Sleep Timer to automatically stop playing a podcast while listening in bed
- Share your favorite episodes with friends using Twitter, Messages and Mail
- Optionally sync your favorite episodes from iTunes on your Mac or PC
- Sync your episode playback for seamless transition between devices
Click to expand...
podcastscreenie.png



The app supports streaming or downloading of episodes and offers syncing of episode playback between devices. This means that users can, for example, start listening to a podcast on their iPhone and finish on the iPad.

Update: Some users have noticed a redeem button within the Podcast app suggesting the possibility of paid podcasts down the line.

Podcasts is a free download for the iPhone and iPad on the App Store. [Direct Link]

Article Link: Apple Offers New Dedicated Podcast App for iOS
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2012/06/26/apple-offers-new-dedicated-podcast-app-for-ios/
Very interesting. I don't see anything in the feature list that would make me switch from Downcast cold turkey but I'll check it out of course.
 
Glad that they included features a lot of other podcast apps have (e.g. sleep timer). I have really come to love Downcast though. Especially after Podcaster did their horrible redesign.
 
basesloaded190 said:
And I just bought Downcast! Looks like a very cool and useful app. Will definitely be giving this a go later today.
Click to expand...

Me too :(

Still to check it out - I want to stream podcasts, not download them; my reason for buying Downcast.

Judgement on Apple's offering reserved ...

Update: yes, it does stream as well so it's Podcasts v Downcast ... http://tinyurl.com/7fyzwot
 
Last edited:
But does it return the crucial "get more episodes" function that has been absent from the iPad podcast player (music.app)?

Edit:

I just installed it and the answer is yes, but they sure made it hard to find and unintuitive. When you're looking at the window of a specific podcast, you then have to click on a tiny unlabeled gear icon in the upper right hand corner, then you have to turn on the subscribe switch (even though you aren't actually subscribing) - and only then will it show you the list of available episodes, then you have to have the auto-download switch set to off, then you have to close the settings window, and then at the right side of the specific episide you want to download you have to know to click on the unlabeled icon of a downward facing arrow.

I'm not saying this is awful, I mean it works fine once you figure it out, but it's sure not the best design to implement this function.

But other than that the new podcast app seems really great! And I'm a HUGE podcast user, so I know of what I speak.
 
Last edited:
Curiouser and curiouser...

Not sure what to think about this.

Am I the only one concerned that this will ghettoize podcasters and make them less visible..

In iTunes, podcasts and and other "New Media" stood side by side in iTunes with "Old Media"..

This feels like a step backwards to me.
 
jwdsail said:
Not sure what to think about this.

Am I the only one concerned that this will ghettoize podcasters and make them less visible..

In iTunes, podcasts and and other "New Media" stood side by side in iTunes with "Old Media"..

This feels like a step backwards to me.
Click to expand...

Bingo.
 
Why does everything have to have a separate app, most of us, well, a lot of us have upwards of 150 apps on our iOS devices I don't what good another app is going to do... iTunes as first released on iOS looked just great...anyway bs inconsequential moves by apple that aren't anything to write home about or could even be considered a step back, we should start getting used to them...
 
I LOVE Downcast, but will give this a go. The one thing I've never got working particularly well was the syncing across devices.

If it's a good app, then Downcast has just been Sherlock'd. Hopefully they'll come up with extra stuff to stay relevant. I hate to see third party devs get the shaft when they do such a good job.
 
jwdsail said:
Not sure what to think about this.

Am I the only one concerned that this will ghettoize podcasters and make them less visible..

In iTunes, podcasts and and other "New Media" stood side by side in iTunes with "Old Media"..

This feels like a step backwards to me.
Click to expand...

OR, they feel they can do it beter when it's not fighting for space alongside the latest britney fart.
Podcasts and music are different media, why not seperate them?

[edit] ooh, nice, it automagically gets your existing podcasts from the itunes app.
 
blow45 said:
Why does everything have to have a separate app, most of us, well, a lot of us have upwards of 150 apps on our iOS devices I don't what good another app is going to do... iTunes as first released on iOS looked just great...anyway bs inconsequential moves by apple that aren't anything to write home about or could even be considered a step back, we should start getting used to them...
Click to expand...

I wonder if this is a move by Apple to slowly transition to separate apps on the computer. A lot of people complain that iTunes is too bloated, maybe this will allow Apple to break it up and keep it lean.
 
Is this only for podcasts that are in iTunes? Or can you import your own via URL?
 
Interesting but doesn't seem to offer automatic downloading of podcasts or iCloud sync between iPhone and iPad, which is bizarre considering it's made by Apple. I think Downcast maker can relax for now...

EDIT: it does support automatic downloads

----------
basesloaded190 said:
If it's anything like Downcast, you should be able to import a URL
Click to expand...

Nope, it's all based on the iTunes catalogue.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back