Got a tip for us?
Let us know
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
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I'm a big Downcast user (it finally allowed me to cut the cord - I rarely sync with iTunes now).
Downloading podcasts without syncing to iTunes? Welcome to the 21st century, Apple.
I downloaded the app. The UI is weird. But then I discovered that it appears to only allow podcasts from iTunes. Meh. So I uninstalled it. If I hear a future version is improved, I'll take a 2nd look.
But for now I'm sticking with Downcast.
Downloading podcasts without syncing to iTunes? Welcome to the 21st century, Apple.
I downloaded the app. The UI is weird. But then I discovered that it appears to only allow podcasts from iTunes. Meh. So I uninstalled it. If I hear a future version is improved, I'll take a 2nd look.
But for now I'm sticking with Downcast.
My suspicion is that subscriptions and downloads do not sync between devices. Only the playback state of individual episodes.
Can anyone confirm that playback state does sync using iCloud?
I tested one video podcast that I streamed on my iPhone and iPad and it did not remember the play position.
There is no iCloud file showing up in documents in the cloud like the one for Trailers, (not sure if this is needed to sync play times though).
There is no iCloud file showing up in documents in the cloud like the one for Trailers, (not sure if this is needed to sync play times though).
Something this doesn't address as well as, say, Pocket Casts by shiftyjelly is blind operation. Pocket Cast's skip back/forward 'buttons' are the entire left and right of the 'now playing' screen. I can skip while not taking my eyes off of the road or in a dark bedroom, all by touch. The skip buttons on the new Apple app are tiny.
Sounds like a small thing, but its critical for me, so I'll be staying with Pocket Casts.
Sounds like a small thing, but its critical for me, so I'll be staying with Pocket Casts.
I guess I'm fortunate that none of this stuff means very much to me. It's all just disposable media. So I just blew away all the podcasts on my iPhone and Mac, turned off podcast syncing in iTunes, and then used this app to grab some podcasts. And I guess the idea is that this app stands on its own - it does not need to sync with a Mac. Fine for me, though there seems to be no button to "get all" from a podcast.
I do wonder if at some point I'll simply no longer use a Mac and just use iOS devices + cloud (Google mail, apps, iCloud, etc.). But yesterday I had to FTP into someone's web site, edit some files using changes emailed to me. Flipping back and forth between applications (mail, FTP, textedit/Word) was a lot easier on a Mac.
I do wonder if at some point I'll simply no longer use a Mac and just use iOS devices + cloud (Google mail, apps, iCloud, etc.). But yesterday I had to FTP into someone's web site, edit some files using changes emailed to me. Flipping back and forth between applications (mail, FTP, textedit/Word) was a lot easier on a Mac.
Doesn't look like it's iCloud doing the syncing as strange as that seems. Here's what I'm seeing (or not).
No new data is showing up in neither ~/Library/Mobile Documents/ on OS X which is where iCloud data goes nor in the Manage Storage settings pane in iOS.
Subscriptions haven't synced for me yet from iPhone to iPad though and I'm still noodling with this thing. So iCloud could kick in for me at some point I guess. OR Apple has this marked this app to have a special iCloud storage setting that will not go against our 5GB storage allotment (just like iTunes purchases) That'd be nice of them.
Just want to rule out Downcast if possible if only for the advantage of having iTunes pickup my episode last-played locations over iCloud syncing since Downcast doesn't have a desktop option yet.
No new data is showing up in neither ~/Library/Mobile Documents/ on OS X which is where iCloud data goes nor in the Manage Storage settings pane in iOS.
Subscriptions haven't synced for me yet from iPhone to iPad though and I'm still noodling with this thing. So iCloud could kick in for me at some point I guess. OR Apple has this marked this app to have a special iCloud storage setting that will not go against our 5GB storage allotment (just like iTunes purchases) That'd be nice of them.
Just want to rule out Downcast if possible if only for the advantage of having iTunes pickup my episode last-played locations over iCloud syncing since Downcast doesn't have a desktop option yet.
From Apple's support pages...
Note: Subscribing to a podcast using your device will not subscribe you to that podcast on your computer or other iOS devices.
Playback Sync automatically allows you to sync your playback position to all of your iOS devices with the Podcasts app installed, using your Apple ID. In order for Playback Sync to sync your playback position, you must be signed in to the iTunes Store using the same Apple ID on your iOS devices.
A useful feature missing which Downcast now handles very well.
Note: Subscribing to a podcast using your device will not subscribe you to that podcast on your computer or other iOS devices.
Playback Sync automatically allows you to sync your playback position to all of your iOS devices with the Podcasts app installed, using your Apple ID. In order for Playback Sync to sync your playback position, you must be signed in to the iTunes Store using the same Apple ID on your iOS devices.
A useful feature missing which Downcast now handles very well.
Rationalising? Nope, sorry. This is something I genuinely believe after a decade+ of creating and supporting bespoke software for non-technical people to use. The more you can simplify things the more likely they are to discover features for themselves. It's an approach that's clearly visible throughout iOS, especially on the iPhone. Apps tend to do one main task and that's it. Heck they've had Music and Video split for a long time now so this isn't really anything new at all.
You're talking about integration and finding 'creative ways' to do that... this is EXACTLY what Apple just did! They are approaching this from the point of view (rightly IMO although that is of course just my opinion) that the homescreen is the first level of any application. They've effectively moved Podcasts two levels up and allowing users to find it far more easily than the old location in the 'more' menu within music. Hell, if you want to group it with music put it in a folder, Podcasts are no further away in terms of taps than they would be on one of the four shortcut options within the music app itself!
Ultimately, and a quick read through this thread tends to support this theory, I'd expect the geeks to not like this change as they are used to information dense software that they can customise and tweak to their precise needs. That's fine, nothing wrong with that at all, but they're not the primary audience for this change. That's the vast number of non-technical users on iOS and I suspect that they will ultimately benefit from this change.
Ironically, its these very same people who gripe that iTunes has gotten too bloated.
I just realized if you copy and paste a podcast feed URL (that's outside of iTunes) into the "Search" box, it will ask if you want to subscribe to the feed.
I just realized if you copy and paste a podcast feed URL (that's outside of iTunes) into the "Search" box, it will ask if you want to subscribe to the feed.
Thank you for figuring that out now all we need is to figure out how to get syncing across devices working
I think this is great! Call them idiots for beeing late to the party, but "Subscription" and "Auto Download"??? Finally! To all the whiners, just stick with your 3.rd party.
Try the auto download.
I just realized if you copy and paste a podcast feed URL (that's outside of iTunes) into the "Search" box, it will ask if you want to subscribe to the feed.
Doesn't work with a URL from Audible's podcasts. Wonder if the URL has to match something in the iTunes store to come up in "Search"?