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Overcast — The powerful, simple podcast app from Marco Arment
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@rrhoover Related: Marco's XOXO talk on fear and competition (where he introduced Overcast)
@bthdonohue showed me Overcast on the Product Hunt Radio show last week (episode not yet published). I've been a long-time Stitcher user but it's not because I particularly love the app. It works but IMHO, it's filled with so much unnecessary features and extra taps. I think it's time I finally made the switch.
The coolest thing about Overcast, I think, is that Marco started it by writing an audio engine, then built the app. The central feature seems to be around skipping empty space in podcasts (in addition to a nicely crafted app) and to make that happen, he wrote his own engine called Castaway
Thanks for the background info @zackshapiro - can't wait to try this app out, totally agree with @nbashaw
Looks pretty nice so far.
The only podcasts I'm subscribed to on it right now are Product Hunt (duh) and Happy Monday. Any suggestions for some others I should add?
@_ryangilbert YES! Here are a few I've been listening to for years:
This Week in Startups with @jason (here's my interview from a few weeks ago)
- This Week in Tech with @leolaporte
- This Week in Google with @leolaporte, @ginatrapani, and @jeffjarvis
- Freakonomics
And a few others but those are my favorites. What should I add to my rotation?
@rrhoover Here's my list....
Interview shows, typically on pop-culture stuff:
-the BS Report, Here's the Thing, Radiolab, WTF with Marc Maron, Nerdist, Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, The Tim Ferriss Show
More work oriented:
-Product Hunt, The Design Dudes, Debug, a16z,
And specific episode recommendations here:
http://awesomepodcastepisodes.qu...
@jamesepember it's an acquired taste and I don't listen to every show, but he's a great interviewer. (ps: I skip the 10 min rants that start the show, but I'd bet some people think that those are the best part).
Recent shows that I liked: Shepard Fairey, Lena Dunham, David Huntsberger, Marc Spitz (not the swimmer)
@mijustin haha! I would have listed it if it was still happening! Are you going to revive it? :D
Been beta testing this for a while, and like usual Marco delivers a simple and powerful experience for podcasting. Given that I'm developing on Instapaper, it's interesting to see Marco's new app. I recognize a lot of the images and icons from older versions of Instapaper, and I can see places where Marco has learned from some mistakes and improved user flows. Also Marco's decision to make Overcast freemium is pretty interesting, since he was a big proponent of paid apps. The business model seems to be reflection of the broader market trends, where free apps with IAP are able to monetize better than paid-up-front apps.
I was very interested in this after seeing Marco discuss it at XOXO last year. I had an infuriating relationship with Apple's Podcast app. I downloaded and paid for Overcast. I've been using it for a few days actively and my assessment is a resounding... meh.
I think if anyone other than Marco put this app out it would be considered on par with other solutions. Maybe I was expecting too much but the design and features are nothing that blow me away. It is a very functional and stable Podcast app.
i listen to about 10 podcasts regularly and most of them are professionally produced so voice boost and pauses isn't really an issue.
One feature I can't believe isn't there (or I haven't figured it out) is Mark as Played/Unplayed.
@jlax after several days of using Overcast my assessment is similar. It's an improvement on Podcast but a slight one.
I do find that voice boost improves the playback from my device (iPhone), which often distorts playback from well produced podcasts, but I could live without it.
Agree on Mark Player/Unplayed. I also love the auto-delete feature in Podcast and I haven't found it in Overcast.
One feature I would love to see is a discovery engine similar to Swell baked right in.
@jlax unfortunately have to agree, especially with the part about high expectations. I don't think this version of Overcast is getting me to switch from using Downcast.
Curious Jon, what are the 10 pods in heavy rotation?
I'm a loyal Instacast (http://vemedio.com/products/inst...) fan, using it across devices is pretty great. Not sure what features would get me to switch - HOWEVER the "pause-skipping" is quite compelling. Will download and give it a go.
Impressed.
PS. @_ryangilbert @rrhoover Also have a look to the “Recommendations From Twitter” section (connecting your account), it will show episodes recommended from people you follow on Twitter.
Great to see Marco back with a new take on audio. I think this is going to be a big blue ocean space as wearables heat up.
@davemorin tangent: are there any audio-based products you've seen recently that are particularly innovative?
I just switched from Podcasts.app -- I'm sold.
I just found, also, that it has a web app so you can listen on your computer too.
The features of skipping through pauses and voice boost sell it for me. For me they're the most frustrating aspect of listening to podcasts throughout my day.
Huge Overcast fan. Made the switch from the Apple podcast app in the fall and haven't gone back; the main draw is the notification/process for downloading new episodes. I also like the way you can download one episode and not subscribe and it shows that you're not subscribed. Some of the bells and whistle like speed of listening sound cooler than they are.
Now, if someone just fixed the podcast discovery problem.
This is my favorite podcast app hands down! The ability to create your own lists of podcasts makes it easy to binge and consume content any way you want. Also, very easy to search for and add new podcasts without leaving app.
Pros:Organization
Cons:none
Lex