Overcast, Marco Arment’s excellent podcast player that I reviewed back in July and that became my favorite way to listen to podcasts on the iPhone, has been updated today to version 1.1. The new version, which I’ve been testing on my iPad Air 2 and iPhone 6 for the past couple of weeks, brings a welcome iPad interface, further optimizations for iOS 8 with bug fixes, and a new landscape mode on the iPhone.
Posts tagged with "podcasts"
Overcast 1.1 Brings iPad App, New Landscape Mode
Connected: The Pasta and The Pizza and The Sauce→
This week, Federico, Myke and Stephen follow up on the history of the iPod, then discusses software and hardware that are helping them get in better shape.
On this week’s episode of Connected, I briefly touch upon the launch of Perspective Icons 2, then, after some follow up, we talk about how wearables and iOS apps are helping us achieve healthier lifestyles.
The story about the apps I’ve been using for the past couple of months will become a longer article/series for the site, but, in the meantime, you can get the episode here.
This episode of Connected is sponsored by:
- Blogo: Blogging made easy
- OmniGraffle from The Omni Group
- Igloo: An intranet you’ll actually like, free for up to 10 people.
Connected: Mindset of 2001→
Federico, Myke and Stephen discuss the origin and evolution of the iPod.
In the first episode of Connected, we take a look at the history of the iPod and consider the impact of Apple’s music player on entertainment, consumer technology, fashion, our lifestyles, and more. It’s a special episode not only because it’s the first one – it includes several audio clips from Apple’s iPod keynotes, plus a variety of relevant show notes. I remember how the original iPod got me interested in Apple and technology, so we had fun doing research for this one.
Get the episode here.
Sponsored by Igloo, TextExpander from Smile, Squarespace (use code WORLD for 10% off), and Omnifocus 2 from The Omni Group.
Introducing Connected and Virtual on Relay FM
When I wrote about the end of The Prompt and Directional last month, I noted that I was “thrilled about the future”. Today, Relay FM has officially launched, featuring the first episodes of our new podcasts: Connected and Virtual.
Core Intuition on Indie Development→
I particularly enjoyed this episode of Core Intuition about the App Store, being an indie developer, and building customer expectations over time.
Manton and Daniel have been building software, iterating, and experimenting for years, and they understand that, like any other business, instant success is welcome but rare, while stable growth takes time, constant effort, and hard work.
Highly recommended episode.
Overcast Review
When I received the first beta of Marco Arment’s new app, Overcast, back in May, I didn’t think I could use an iPhone-only podcast client with no iPad version and no streaming support as my daily podcast listening solution. Overcast, available today on the App Store, is launching to high expectations and hype for what Arment, best known for creating Instapaper, founding The Magazine, and co-hosting the Accidental Tech Podcast, has been working on since his reveal in September 2013.
Two months after putting Overcast on my Home screen as a vote of confidence and using it to listen to podcasts every day, I don’t want to go back to any other podcast app I’ve tried before. In spite of lacking iPad and OS X versions and some features from popular podcast apps, the listening experience in Overcast and its approach to podcast discovery have been so thoughtfully implemented and cleverly engineered, I find it to be a superior choice for my listening habits.
The End of Our Podcasts and A New Challenge
Today, my friend and co-host Myke Hurley announced that he’s leaving 5by5 to pursue new goals and be independent again. From his blog post:
Today I am announcing that I will be departing 5by5 on July 16th 2014.
The last 18 months have been a tremendous experience, but it is time for me to move on to new things. I have new goals that I want to tackle, and to be able to do this I need to be independent again.
unSherlocked→
Great follow-up by Dr. Drang on our episode about Sherlocking:
In the fall of 2005, Apple added direct podcast support to iTunes. To normal people, this was what put podcasting on the map. Instead of fiddling around with RSS URLs, third-party apps, and special playlists, users could now find and subscribe to podcasts very easily from within iTunes itself. There’s been a lot of criticism of how Apple has allowed iTunes to grow into an unwieldy behemoth of an app, but I don’t think anyone complained about the addition of podcasts. It was both useful and well implemented.
The Apple ecosystem has changed a lot since 2005, but the essence of Sherlocking is the same: sometimes Apple’s solutions cover the basics, leaving room for third-party developers to thrive; other times, they really sherlock a third-party product with a much better integrated solution. As Drang notes, though, Apple’s podcast Sherlocking in 2005 didn’t have the same result with the Podcasts app in 2012, which has left plenty of opportunities for developers of third-party podcast clients.
iTunes 11.2 Released with Podcast Improvements
Alongside OS X 10.9.3, Apple also released iTunes 11.2 today, bringing a variety of new features to enhance the browsing and listening experience for podcasts in the app. Read more