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Apple Updates Podcasts iOS App With Custom Stations, Playlists, and iCloud Syncing

Jessica Lares said:
Not updating until they add back the skeuomorphism. I'm so used to it now that it just looks weird.
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There's a few Akai reel to reels on FleaBay, socre one of those, record your podcasts to it :D

WestonHarvey1 said:
What was particularly skeuomorphic about it? It had buttons?
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Funny enough, the most visually impacting skeuo in the Podcast app isn't immediately visible if you don't fiddle around in the app a bit :)

wxman2003 said:
Still prefer Downcast.
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mykelefty said:
hmmm... is this worth leaving Downcast for now? I love Downcast... but I love the idea of iCloud syncing to iTunes
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I was a big Downcast advocate, especially before the Apple app, and continued to use it over the Apple app until a few months ago when Podcasts (apple) got pretty stable and Downcast got so feature bloated, the UI was giving me seizures.

Now with improved sync, better UI, I'll probably never considering going back.

The other thing for me: Podcasts uses the standard Apple repository for storing audio, so if you have car audio that mounts all the content of your phone, you get podcasts under podcasts with Apple, but not with 3rd party apps (not a major thing, but one of many small considerations for me)
 
The skip forward was dropped from 30 seconds to 15 seconds. I wanted MORE time added, not less. I like Downcast for it's 2 minute skip forward. If you listen to Podcasts like MacBreak Weekly, Leo LaPorte can get LONG WINDED with his ads, 4 minutes or more. It's nice to jump past them with a couple taps.
 
foobarbaz said:
No. As far as I can tell nothing has changed regarding iCloud sync. It syncs with other iOS devices, like before. iTunes doesn't sync podcasts to iCloud, like before.

The only difference is that the new "My Stations" playlists are synced, too.

Seems like MacRumors is reading something into the release notes that simply isn't there.
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I'm wondering about this too. I updated and cleaned up my podcast lineup on my phone, then opened iTunes on my laptop. iTunes shows old podcasts as not listened to, not reflecting the changes and deletions I made on the new app, just like it would before this update. iTunes doesn't appear to be talking to iCloud with respect to podcasts. This is why I've just been managing podcasts on my phone; whenever I would sync with iTunes the out of date info on my computer would supersede the app info and I'd end up stuck with old podcasts on my phone again.

The updated app looks like an improvement, but I still can't sync with my computer. Or am I missing something??
 
Thank you Jony! It is so much more usable now, I couldn't help but smile when I opened it.
 
Downcast is working fine for me. Is there a compelling reason to switch back? please?

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Daremo said:
The skip forward was dropped from 30 seconds to 15 seconds. I wanted MORE time added, not less. I like Downcast for it's 2 minute skip forward. If you listen to Podcasts like MacBreak Weekly, Leo LaPorte can get LONG WINDED with his ads, 4 minutes or more. It's nice to jump past them with a couple taps.
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exactly! Feel bad for Leo 'cause I always skip the ads. two hits on the 2 min fwd then back 15 secs...
 
Support for podcast chapters?

Looks nice, however still does not seem to have an interface for listing podcast chapters.

Music app has the podcast chapter support. The only way to listen to The Economist ~8 hour long podcasts is through Music app with Podcasts app NOT installed. If Podcast app is installed, then podcasts disappear from the Music app.
 
I love threads like this. Most people here had no idea what skeumorphism was until recently and only just started to notice and hate it once it became cool around here.
 
WestonHarvey1 said:
What was particularly skeuomorphic about it? It had buttons?
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This is good example of skeumorphism gone bad. It's too confusing and not user friendly.
podcast-player_2322791c.jpg


I remember the days of Leopard when Apple had finally started to get their GUI for OSX to look more cohesive. Before, it was a total mess. Then comes Mountain Lion with Reminders, Calendar, and Contacts. Ugh. I wish the OSX apps could have more of a cohesiveness to them. Never fear though, Jonny is on the job.
 
Hope it fixes Resume!

TEG said:
Unless this also stops the Music App from taking over when I press play on my headphones, it is pointless...
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No kidding! This is the thing that is so annoying! I'm tired of pausing a podcast, checking out at a store (or some random other task), then pressing resume and having music start playing. Then I have to dig the phone out of a coat pocket (might have my hands full, be in the cold, etc.), stop the music, open the Podcasts app, select the podcast (that was PAUSED!), press play, and hope that Podcasts.app didn't also lose its place. Pain in the ass.

Obviously, this is a whiny #FirstWorldProblem, but if we're already complaining about a poorly-built and buggy app, this is an appropriate complaint. :)
 
my gosh, this update is an ***** godsend to the performance of the Podcast App. it runs SO much better, it updates podcasts more reliably, and overall feels like a much more polished experience. there were so many bugs in the last version.

it also seems to download quicker? anyone notice this? it's downloading Podcasts much much quicker than before - nothing on my end has changed regarding internet speed or 3G speed
 
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Love it! Only things I didn't like where the audio controls on the iPad are so close together despite all the space available, and that now I have a badge icon that says 1000+ on it because it considers every episode of every podcast I'm subscribed to as being unplayed.

Edit: About the 2nd issue... after fixing the podcasts by deleting the old episodes (and a nice new feature is the ability to delete episodes in large batches. Awesome!), I was pleased to see the changes carried over to my other device. Sweet! As for the badge, I just went into notification settings and disabled the badge icon. So a non-issue actually.
 
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I'm still hopeful but so far:

iPad app has been on "updating library" for almost an hour. I don't want to delete and reinstall since everything is organized and a clean install could take ages to organize. Despite its unreliability, I've been using the app so I could stream and I've been hungering for fixes.

On my iPod, where I've stuck to the Music app and relied on content downloaded and synced, I installed the new app to see if it would also hang. No problems. At least until I tried making a playlist, which led to a crash. Then another and another and another. I've given up on that. Now I'm streaming. On the plus side I see chapter support. On the downside it's crashing every minute or two.
 
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Video

Has anyone noticed that if you listen to video podcasts the image gets shifted (by closing the app, double tapping on the home button, and then swiping to the right and hitting play ... let it play a few secs in the background while you listen to it then return to the video).

IMG_2079.jpg

I've noticed this on all versions.
 
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DanShockley said:
No kidding! This is the thing that is so annoying! I'm tired of pausing a podcast, checking out at a store (or some random other task), then pressing resume and having music start playing. Then I have to dig the phone out of a coat pocket (might have my hands full, be in the cold, etc.), stop the music, open the Podcasts app, select the podcast (that was PAUSED!), press play, and hope that Podcasts.app didn't also lose its place. Pain in the ass.

Obviously, this is a whiny #FirstWorldProblem, but if we're already complaining about a poorly-built and buggy app, this is an appropriate complaint. :)
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Absolutely, and this works fine in other podcast apps. This is not attention to details, it is the lack of attention to details. Though, it now seems to be approaching useable. Still no podcast chapter support which worked fine in iOS 2, 3, and 4 but lost it chapter images AND titles in iOS 5 and 6 (I think that was when it broke). So, a feature that once worked fine (inside the iPod/Music app), breaks and nobody fixes it for two full years.
 
Downloading Glitch When Put To Sleep Mode?

i think i may have found a glitch already...

with the last version, once you start downloading a podcast you could put it into sleep mode and it would finish up the download. it seems with this version, while downloading a podcast if you put it into sleep mode it times out after a few mins and you have to restart the download. it does pick up from where it left off (thankfully) but it's annoying nonetheless

can anyone else confirm? i have replicated the problem on an iPhone 4S on wifi and cellular and an iPad 3 on wifi
 
I agree podcasts should go back into the music app. It makes more sense. I'd actually love movies to go in there too, and maybe rename it to "media". It would save icon space, that's for sure.

This update, however, is awesome. Thank god that tape deck is gone. Hopefully they'll restore colour to the music app next, that's been bugging me greatly. ;)
 
If simplification is the goal...

...put all my audio files in ONE app again!:confused:
 
Rogifan said:
Why do they belong in music? I don't listen to one podcast that's related to music.
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Apple could solve it quite well by calling it the "Audio" app instead of music.

iOS design is idiotic enough to store videos in "Photo" and the video app does not play video unless it's from iTunes. :rolleyes:

Putting a podcast back into the music player makes more sense by comparison.
 
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