Will we finally get the apple podcast app for the watch?

[Xarthan]

What's a podcast?



j/k I would love this feature

 

[perezr10]

I don’t think podcasts will be supported by Apple until Series 4 at the earliest. Wireless transfers are too slow, even with the Series 3. Only diehards would put up with 15 minutes per podcast. Most people would bitch and moan about how slow it is. And the Series 2 takes well over an hour per podcast.

The hardware needs to get upgraded to Bluetooth 5.0 which would allow for much faster transfer speeds.

 

[boston04and07]

I’d love this. While they’re at it, I’d also love a native ibooks audiobooks app too. K

 

[powerslave65]

I use WatchCast in conjunction with NikeRunClub while running with just my AW2. I really enjoy the Podrunner music mixes which come out as podcasts.

Here's what works for me: I keep WatchCast in the watch Dock, right next to NikeRunClub. This makes for easy access.

When walking out to start a run I first start NRC and immediately pause it. Intention is to give it a little bit of time to fine tune the GPS fix. Tap the side-button to open the dock and select WatchCast. Choose what I want to listen to, start it playing, stretch a little, then when ready to go switch to NRC with a double-press on the crown and unpause.

Just did a lunchtime run with the latest WatchCast update and it worked great. My Mpow Cheetah headphones have volume controls and play/pause on the headset and control the WatchCast playback.

(yes for some reason it seems that NRC doesn't autopause until you've actually covered some distance)

Curious if WatchCast is significantly better than WatchPlayer? Since you must pay to subscribe to more than 2 podcasts. I don't mind paying if better as long as it is but the reviews were less than stellar.

 

[deeddawg]

Try it out. The ($3?) upgrade in WatchCast is only if you want automatic subscription downloads t your phone for more two podcasts. You can still try it out with just two, and download other manually (I think).

I have both but like the transfer interface of WatchCast better. With that said, I haven't used WatchPlayer in while of months so there may be updates I've not played with.

 

[perezr10]

Try it out. The ($3?) upgrade in WatchCast is only if you want automatic subscription downloads t your phone for more two podcasts. You can still try it out with just two, and download other manually (I think).

I have both but like the transfer interface of WatchPlayer better. With that said, I haven't used WatchPlayer in while of months so there may be updates I've not played with.

I’d agree with you on the transfer thing. I downloaded Watchcast earlier and tried to transfer a podcast to my watch for a run. I could never figure it out and went back to WatchPlayer. I’ll try it again tomorrow when I’m in less of a hurry.

 

[deeddawg]

I’d agree with you on the transfer thing. I downloaded Watchcast earlier and tried to transfer a podcast to my watch for a run. I could never figure it out and went back to WatchPlayer. I’ll try it again tomorrow when I’m in less of a hurry.

Actually, it's funny but I typo'd the above. I preferred the WatchCast transfer interface better.

That said, it looks like WatchPlayer recently went to v2.0 a few days ago; my experience with it was the v1.x versions and I've not explored the v2.0 version.

Again, I recommend folks try both and see which they prefer. Either way, reward the developer for whichever one you prefer.

 

[DesertSilver]

I don’t think podcasts will be supported by Apple until Series 4 at the earliest. Wireless transfers are too slow, even with the Series 3. Only diehards would put up with 15 minutes per podcast. Most people would bitch and moan about how slow it is. And the Series 2 takes well over an hour per podcast.

The hardware needs to get upgraded to Bluetooth 5.0 which would allow for much faster transfer speeds.

Not sure I understand what you're saying about it taking too long to transfer. The functionality is currently available for songs to be synced to the watch, along with Apple Music functionality coming soon in 4.1 where you could stream songs directly from the watch. And I would assume that music is generally has a lot higher bitrate than podcasts. So ideally, native podcast functionality would work the same where you can transfer or stream.

I got my Nike AW cellular yesterday and went out for a run without my phone and I was itching to listen to my podcasts...

 

[bradbomb]

I don’t think podcasts will be supported by Apple until Series 4 at the earliest. Wireless transfers are too slow, even with the Series 3. Only diehards would put up with 15 minutes per podcast. Most people would bitch and moan about how slow it is. And the Series 2 takes well over an hour per podcast.

The hardware needs to get upgraded to Bluetooth 5.0 which would allow for much faster transfer speeds.

100% cannot be the reason. If wireless transfers were too slow, than Apple Music wouldn't be available to stream "40 million songs" as the ad says. Most podcasts are at lower bitrates than high-fidelity, albeit lossy compression, m4a music files. This could have been implemented even with Series 0 the same way playlist syncing was happening on WatchOS 1-3. You should have been able to tell the watch that these podcasts are ones I subscribe to and it should have synced over bluetooth when the watch was on the charger (so not instant playback, but playback nonetheless).

 

[perezr10]

100% cannot be the reason. If wireless transfers were too slow, than Apple Music wouldn't be available to stream "40 million songs" as the ad says. Most podcasts are at lower bitrates than high-fidelity, albeit lossy compression, m4a music files. This could have been implemented even with Series 0 the same way playlist syncing was happening on WatchOS 1-3. You should have been able to tell the watch that these podcasts are ones I subscribe to and it should have synced over bluetooth when the watch was on the charger (so not instant playback, but playback nonetheless).

I’m not following your argument. The problem isn’t how complex the audio is, the problem is getting it onto the watch. Are you suggesting that Apple implement podcasts that work fairly good only on LTE watches and everyone else do overnight syncs that take hours? Because outside of the Series 3 it’s going to take hours for all the other watches.

 

[matrix07]

I’m not following your argument. The problem isn’t how complex the audio is, the problem is getting it onto the watch. Are you suggesting that Apple implement podcasts that work fairly good only on LTE watches and everyone else do overnight syncs that take hours? Because outside of the Series 3 it’s going to take hours for all the other watches.

Think Podcasts will come and it will be for LTE watch only, like Apple Music. We have no sign yet from Apple though but hopefully.

 

[DesertSilver]

I’m not following your argument. The problem isn’t how complex the audio is, the problem is getting it onto the watch. Are you suggesting that Apple implement podcasts that work fairly good only on LTE watches and everyone else do overnight syncs that take hours? Because outside of the Series 3 it’s going to take hours for all the other watches.

The argument that we’re making is that you can already sync songs, many many GB’s worth. You’ve been able to do that since the original AW was released, I believe. So how would podcast be any worse than syncing songs, whether it’s with an LTE-enabled AW or not?

And WatchOS 4.1 is not limiting Apple Music to only LTE watches either so...

 

[musicpenguy]

I’m not following your argument. The problem isn’t how complex the audio is, the problem is getting it onto the watch. Are you suggesting that Apple implement podcasts that work fairly good only on LTE watches and everyone else do overnight syncs that take hours? Because outside of the Series 3 it’s going to take hours for all the other watches.

Apple could make it Series 3 only and would not be a crazy thing to do either ...

 

[bradbomb]

I’m not following your argument. The problem isn’t how complex the audio is, the problem is getting it onto the watch. Are you suggesting that Apple implement podcasts that work fairly good only on LTE watches and everyone else do overnight syncs that take hours? Because outside of the Series 3 it’s going to take hours for all the other watches.

My Series 0 and Series 2 watches sync a 122 song playlist in under 20 minutes when on the charger. Thats more data than any one of my podcasts. And on those it can also stream through WiFi if away from the phone. On the Series 3, it can stream thru LTE or it can sync while on the charger and on WiFi or connected via Bluetooth which ver 4.1 has a top transfer speed of around 24 Mbps. Definitely not an overnight affair

 

[perezr10]

My Series 0 and Series 2 watches sync a 122 song playlist in under 20 minutes when on the charger. Thats more data than any one of my podcasts. And on those it can also stream through WiFi if away from the phone. On the Series 3, it can stream thru LTE or it can sync while on the charger and on WiFi or connected via Bluetooth which ver 4.1 has a top transfer speed of around 24 Mbps. Definitely not an overnight affair

Transferring music via Apples own music app and transferring podcasts via a 3rd party app are very different activities. Have you tried transferring a 50mb file from a 3rd party app? Whether on the charger or not, I guarantee it won’t be under an hour.

Even 122 songs in under 20 minutes is lightning fast for Music. Are you sure about that? My Series 0 or 2 couldn’t do it that fast.
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The argument that we’re making is that you can already sync songs, many many GB’s worth. You’ve been able to do that since the original AW was released, I believe. So how would podcast be any worse than syncing songs, whether it’s with an LTE-enabled AW or not?

And WatchOS 4.1 is not limiting Apple Music to only LTE watches either so...

I agree with you. However, music is different from podcasts. People tend to transfer it once and forget it about forever. Podcasts are much more dynamic and the transfer function becomes much more frequent. If it takes a long time at night it’s no big deal. And transferring via Bluetooth 4.0 on the Series 0 & 2 is way too slow. Bluetooth 4.2 on the Series 3 is much faster but barely acceptable for only diehard podcast listeners. People waiting on the patio for their podcast to finish transferring so that they can go run are gonna get ticked off.

I’m not defending Apple’s decision. I just see the hardware limitations as too great to get podcasts until Series 4. I would like to know why Apple didn’t put Bluetooth 5 on the watch in sync with the new iPhones. Transfers would then happen in seconds versus minutes for iPhone 8 and X owners.

 

[musicpenguy]

I transferred a 189MB podcast file to my Series 3 in 26 minutes, a long time, but an extreme example for file size - most podcasts are just a few minutes. Apple could as a first party have faster times and LTE streaming would work well.