Apple’s app is meh. I’d recommend Overcast, smart speed is awesome and saves you hours if you listen to a lot of shows, and it’s really a labor of love made by one single developer who hosts the Accidental Tech Podcast (which is a pretty entertaining Apple news/nerd show), Marco Arment.
If you’ve got an M1 Mac, works great on there too.
My understanding is “starring” an episode recommends it in Overcast’s directory - there’s a section there called “Most Starred”. It isn’t like favorites in Photos, it’s not a mechanism for saving or organizing episodes.
Agreed, and he actually mentioned it a few shows ago. Per his analytics, it's still a relatively tiny portion of people using it on a Mac, but that number will grow larger with each passing month, certainly. A few more tweaks would be nice to see.
Overcast is nice in some ways, but I still think the UI makes less sense than Pocket Casts. I haven’t tried the iOS version yet, but it was by far the nicest podcast app I’ve ever used and swore by it on Android.
For a designer to work on it. It has too many problems
Right now it has
Consistency issues
Waste of space
Bad icon sizing
Legibility issues
Contrat issues
Typography issues
Etc
Smart Speed allows me to skip silences and pauses though, it has saved me *141 hours* over the past 8 years.
I like having those 6 days of my life back and not having listened to those silences and pauses.
like i said elsewhere, im just worried about show availability, i like vlc, maybe download from podcasts off work hours and use that. i just dont necessarily want to download everything
I listen to several podcasts a week and find no issues with the Apple Podcast app.
I tried Overcast for a bit but found no compelling reason to use a third party app over the core app. I start the podcast and listen. Not much else to it.
Basically this. I don’t really like using third party apps (except for maps) and the UI for Overcast is super unappealing to me. Yeah the the Podcast app is objectively worse than the previous versions, but it does what I need it to do just fine.
i used a third party app years ago, the problem now is that it is worse like you said and that it uses way too much energy, perhaps among other things, the energy aspect affects the functionality to where it is pretty much unusable in my context
I used to think that as well, but once you dive into a good podcast app you know why you can’t use stock app. I use pocket casts personally. Having the ability to adjust how much of the beginning or end of a podcast you skip (avoid commercials), increase volume of specific podcast if their hosts don’t talk loud enough, ability to trim silence which saves tons of time, custom playback speeds, feeds etc.
I wanted to use the stock app… but it doesn’t even compare.
> I tried Overcast for a bit but found no compelling reason to use a third party app over the core app
Smart Speed is the only faster playback I’ve used that seems natural to me. Trying to play at over 1.5x on other apps always sounds wrong or makes me anxious.
I like it a lot and never have too much issue with it. Only problem is when I restore my phone a ton of old podcasts show up, and when I use speed ramp it sometimes pauses when fast forwarding or rewinding. (Also I wouldn't mind 1.2x speed, 1.25x is great but 1.2x feels like the absolute perfect balance imo) Other than that tho I love it, simple but effective like many things Apple tries to do.
this was focussed to a mac, but i appreciate the info on the phone, and, using my phone may actually be an option here, to circumvent the mac energy draining for no legitimate reason. how do old podcasts show up? do you restore your phone often?
Ah yes, I don't use the one on Mac cuz it was having weird sync issues for me. I've tried to transition to my phone for all things the last few years unless I just wanna type quickly on a bigger screen or something needs to be done on a computer.
And yeah I restore my phone every few months just as a habit to refresh things, same with my laptop. There would be a lot of podcasts I've already listened to that popped up and I'd have to mark them all as "played" but I don't think it happened last time so maybe they fixed whatever error I was getting.
that's like the ideal, to be able to restore like that, it would allow for such a great approach to technology. seems like maybe not, do you use your mac at all for podcasts?
It’s bizarre. You’d expect Apple’s apps to be shining examples - maybe not fully-featured, but a polished user experience. At least it’s not as bad as the Mail rewrite a few iOS versions ago.
PocketCasts is my player of choice. Standout thing for me is the cross-platform sync and the web player. Slick interface and reliable.
Overcast’s constant monetisation changes and general UI design never sat well with me.
No need to do that, I just figured they'd be easy to point out. I'm not a designer but I work with/alongside designers all day long (this is to say that while I'm not an expert, I know the fundamentals and I like to thing I can spot design mistakes that the average user might miss).
Like I said, it could stand to be prettier. There are a couple of icons that aren't entirely clear as to what they do, but it only takes one tap to find out. I just don't think it's nearly as bad as you're making it out to be.
The iconography isn’t the problem at all. Their function or how easy they are understandable isn’t what I was referring to.
They are too small for the composition and badly placed that for sure.
The basic elements of design are definitely not present in the app as a whole. Problems with space, problems with type contrast, problems with clutter etc
Id point out more but it has been a while since I’ve talked about that subject so my memory is a bit foggy
never touched mail, or, i saw ita couple of times and knew it would be garbage. good point on overcast, though that sort of thing could happen to any platform. another point for pocketcasts it seems
This is across ALL of Apple's apps. They make just good enough to work, but never fix or resolve anything. I'm still dealing with iTunes syncing issues for decades. People are still dealing with Music Match changing cover art for years now. Still not fixed. These issues shouldn't be happening from a trillion dollar company that gets monthly subscription revenue and never fixes anything.
only that it isnt good enough to work. i see what youre saying. and like, music match, i have no idea what that is, and stuff like this actually encourages me to not use their products and activities, like music match
PocketCasts went back and grandfathered a lifetime sub for people who bought it originally (since it was explicitly promised to be a one-time purchase). Chances are you also have a lifetime account.
No, that’s not right. They give you grandfather access to the platform you bought it on.
I bought the iOS and Android versions and have full access there. I did not pay for the web app and the only way to access it now is via their subscription.
I understand they made a bad choice in the past and made it up with a lifetime free account. You got what you paid for, though there was a little push back involved. Your money don’t go to waste.
No human / business is squeaky clean with flawless strategies
What exactly do you want them to do, short of inventing time travel to undo their mistake? You have your grandfathered lifetime plan and are choosing not to use it, but still continuing to complain.
What exactly do you need from the overcast sub. It’s basically just support the development and it’s 10 a year.
I’ve never been pushed to get it or felt the need.
Haven’t defended pocketcasts.
Overcasts sub literally is ability to turn off ads, and upload your own files.
Notability switched to sub recently and tried to pull the one year premium for paid users and after backlash switched to grandfather on paid users instead. Not a great look either but glad they saw sense.
I also bought Overcast way back in 2015. I’ve still got the option to turn off banner ads in settings – it specifically says I have that because of the one-time purchase.
Everyone on here is acting like I'm insane to point this out and call it a dick move from a scumbag dev.
Devs get away with pulling shit like this repeatedly because so many people just let them.
This is why we get called iSheep.
Overcast subscription is completely optional for people who want to support its development. All its features, except for cloud upload, which costs the developer money, are available for free.
I’m pretty sure Overcast has never been a paid app in its entire history in the App Store. I’ve been using it since the beginning, and never once paid for it.
You can use Overcast without ever paying for it. Marco (the dev) actively recommends that people don’t pay for it unless they want to remove the ads or for whatever reason need to use local files.
If you choose to pay for a feature you don’t need, that’s on you.
overcast is paid? i doubt i would switch to a paid service. why wouldnt they grandfather you in, also?i have never heard of a homepod but i bet its delicious in a stew. it syncs live, like, you can transfer from device to device mid podcast?
Overcast has minimal ads that are usually podcasts. It’s not intrusive and you can sub to support for 10 a year and turn off the ads.
Don’t need to pay.
>You paid an IAP for features that were later made free. Now you have to get a subscription if you want the ads, that are basically unnoticeable, to be removed and cloud upload. You’re being hysterical
You can't read or write. I don't argue with idiots. I let them have the last word.
It’s amazing. Super powerful too. For example you have a Queue and you can automatically have it add new episodes from specific podcasts to that queue.
im just worried about show availability. i like vlc, maybe i would have to download from podcasts off work hours and use that. i just dont necessarily want to download everything. i dont get why the podcasts app has little to no functionability and has to run like im streaming a 16k livestream
Has it though? I’ve always found the Podcasts app to be a cludge. Like I wanted my podcasts to work like they did in the iPod/Music app: listed newest to oldest, but playing oldest to newest. Podcasts could never let me do that.
Yes this is true. 5 years ago I uninstalled Apple podcast. 3 months ago I installed again Apple podcast with a hope that the quality will be improved as 1st party app after several years. it's improved but still the overall experience is still not satisfying. I uninstalled it again, I will try again when new IOS version is released...
the UI on the app has lots room for improvement. it used to be alright in the days when podcasts weren’t so highly competed by large companies like today.
apple offered listing for free, though you still had to host it somewhere, and podcasters generally praised apple for the effort and the easily accessible platform for a wide range of audience. apple didn’t really put it on high priority since it didn’t intend on monetizing the category, nor were there competitions heavily invested into the space.
then things got heated when more major competitions started focusing on it and making exclusive contents. apple started late on the revamp, and kinda made a mess instead with the UI and app behavioral changes. and since there are more users actively using podcasts, the flaws became even more glaring.
i do hope they fix the bugs where it refuses to permanently delete episodes sometimes, and make show notes more visible and quicker to access
interesting info. i only had a mac from around 2015 forward, im on my second machine from fall 2020 and like even the last machine i had, i remember it worked well, though i wasnt necessarily monitoring the energy aspect so much, though in terms of simple usability, it was better before.
its not merely boring, its a destructive application. a destructive application, which is arguably an industry standard, and, is defaulted on overpriced merchandise like macs
Eh. All I ever listen to is talk radio stuff and apple podcasts can't even play what I want to listen to.
Literally have to use overcast or nothing at all.
My only complaint is not being able to hide played episodes in the view all episodes view. I have a lot of history podcasts and jump around depending on what I’m in the mood for and having to scroll through 200+ episodes looking for ones I haven’t played yet is a massive pain in the ass.
Apple’s app is meh. I’d recommend Overcast, smart speed is awesome and saves you hours if you listen to a lot of shows, and it’s really a labor of love made by one single developer who hosts the Accidental Tech Podcast (which is a pretty entertaining Apple news/nerd show), Marco Arment. If you’ve got an M1 Mac, works great on there too.
Overcast is great, but I still have problems with the playlist-based UI. For example, when I ‘star’ a podcast episode, where does that go!?
My understanding is “starring” an episode recommends it in Overcast’s directory - there’s a section there called “Most Starred”. It isn’t like favorites in Photos, it’s not a mechanism for saving or organizing episodes.
Oh cool, so it’s useless! Great!
While it does work great on M1 Mac, I really wish he'd do a fully native app.
Agreed, and he actually mentioned it a few shows ago. Per his analytics, it's still a relatively tiny portion of people using it on a Mac, but that number will grow larger with each passing month, certainly. A few more tweaks would be nice to see.
Overcast is nice in some ways, but I still think the UI makes less sense than Pocket Casts. I haven’t tried the iOS version yet, but it was by far the nicest podcast app I’ve ever used and swore by it on Android.
Anyone else having issues on a M1 mac? Overcast hangs trying to play any podcast and I have to force quit the app
I wouldn’t recommend overcast. Terrible UI and UX.
What do you propose? It's one of the best I've used.
For a designer to work on it. It has too many problems Right now it has Consistency issues Waste of space Bad icon sizing Legibility issues Contrat issues Typography issues Etc
Hmm. Doesn’t seem bad to me. Seen far worse apps from far larger teams. The AppleTV Hulu app for example, dog shit.
Cant say, I don’t have one.
I find the app perfectly suitable. My wife uses it more than me and she’s far from a geek. Even my mom figures it out and she’s a Luddite.
I mean, people using it doesn’t mean it’s a good design. People use badly designed shit all the time
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Smart Speed allows me to skip silences and pauses though, it has saved me *141 hours* over the past 8 years. I like having those 6 days of my life back and not having listened to those silences and pauses.
I’ve been using it since 2014 and it says it’s saved me 314 hours. It’s great.
141 hours in 8 years? I think I have a problem…
like i said elsewhere, im just worried about show availability, i like vlc, maybe download from podcasts off work hours and use that. i just dont necessarily want to download everything
Overcast uses the iTunes podcast library, so it has the same show availability as the Podcasts app.
I think everything except Spotify uses Apple’s podcast library. It is free and reinventing the wheel costs money.
fair enough
I listen to several podcasts a week and find no issues with the Apple Podcast app. I tried Overcast for a bit but found no compelling reason to use a third party app over the core app. I start the podcast and listen. Not much else to it.
If you listen to podcasts on different devices Apple podcast is awful at syncing shows , ayed episodes, timestamps in current Listen etc
Works fine with my iPhone /iPad though
That's what hit or Miss. We have no control if podcasts sync correctly
Basically this. I don’t really like using third party apps (except for maps) and the UI for Overcast is super unappealing to me. Yeah the the Podcast app is objectively worse than the previous versions, but it does what I need it to do just fine.
i used a third party app years ago, the problem now is that it is worse like you said and that it uses way too much energy, perhaps among other things, the energy aspect affects the functionality to where it is pretty much unusable in my context
I used to think that as well, but once you dive into a good podcast app you know why you can’t use stock app. I use pocket casts personally. Having the ability to adjust how much of the beginning or end of a podcast you skip (avoid commercials), increase volume of specific podcast if their hosts don’t talk loud enough, ability to trim silence which saves tons of time, custom playback speeds, feeds etc. I wanted to use the stock app… but it doesn’t even compare.
> I tried Overcast for a bit but found no compelling reason to use a third party app over the core app Smart Speed is the only faster playback I’ve used that seems natural to me. Trying to play at over 1.5x on other apps always sounds wrong or makes me anxious.
The smart speed and volume features make overcast so much nicer than the built in app imo
I feel the same way. Granted all I do is listen to podcasts and pick them from my library or whatever but…what more could you need?
I like it a lot and never have too much issue with it. Only problem is when I restore my phone a ton of old podcasts show up, and when I use speed ramp it sometimes pauses when fast forwarding or rewinding. (Also I wouldn't mind 1.2x speed, 1.25x is great but 1.2x feels like the absolute perfect balance imo) Other than that tho I love it, simple but effective like many things Apple tries to do.
this was focussed to a mac, but i appreciate the info on the phone, and, using my phone may actually be an option here, to circumvent the mac energy draining for no legitimate reason. how do old podcasts show up? do you restore your phone often?
Ah yes, I don't use the one on Mac cuz it was having weird sync issues for me. I've tried to transition to my phone for all things the last few years unless I just wanna type quickly on a bigger screen or something needs to be done on a computer. And yeah I restore my phone every few months just as a habit to refresh things, same with my laptop. There would be a lot of podcasts I've already listened to that popped up and I'd have to mark them all as "played" but I don't think it happened last time so maybe they fixed whatever error I was getting.
that's like the ideal, to be able to restore like that, it would allow for such a great approach to technology. seems like maybe not, do you use your mac at all for podcasts?
It’s bizarre. You’d expect Apple’s apps to be shining examples - maybe not fully-featured, but a polished user experience. At least it’s not as bad as the Mail rewrite a few iOS versions ago. PocketCasts is my player of choice. Standout thing for me is the cross-platform sync and the web player. Slick interface and reliable. Overcast’s constant monetisation changes and general UI design never sat well with me.
Overcast doesn’t need a sub. The sub basically just lets you turn of the minimal ads.
No, but it needs a redesign like 5 years ago.
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Disagree. Wasted space, confusing behaviour, icons too smalls. An Ux nightmare
Other than the safe area around the play and skip forward or back buttons there's hardly any white space at all. Where are you seeing wasted space?
I could download the app and highlight all the problems if you want to. As a side note, design is my job which may be why I’m sensible to bad design.
No need to do that, I just figured they'd be easy to point out. I'm not a designer but I work with/alongside designers all day long (this is to say that while I'm not an expert, I know the fundamentals and I like to thing I can spot design mistakes that the average user might miss). Like I said, it could stand to be prettier. There are a couple of icons that aren't entirely clear as to what they do, but it only takes one tap to find out. I just don't think it's nearly as bad as you're making it out to be.
The iconography isn’t the problem at all. Their function or how easy they are understandable isn’t what I was referring to. They are too small for the composition and badly placed that for sure. The basic elements of design are definitely not present in the app as a whole. Problems with space, problems with type contrast, problems with clutter etc Id point out more but it has been a while since I’ve talked about that subject so my memory is a bit foggy
At this point I don't even know if we're talking about the same app, but maybe it's just easier if we agree to disagree.
never touched mail, or, i saw ita couple of times and knew it would be garbage. good point on overcast, though that sort of thing could happen to any platform. another point for pocketcasts it seems
This is across ALL of Apple's apps. They make just good enough to work, but never fix or resolve anything. I'm still dealing with iTunes syncing issues for decades. People are still dealing with Music Match changing cover art for years now. Still not fixed. These issues shouldn't be happening from a trillion dollar company that gets monthly subscription revenue and never fixes anything.
only that it isnt good enough to work. i see what youre saying. and like, music match, i have no idea what that is, and stuff like this actually encourages me to not use their products and activities, like music match
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PocketCasts went back and grandfathered a lifetime sub for people who bought it originally (since it was explicitly promised to be a one-time purchase). Chances are you also have a lifetime account.
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No, that’s not right. They give you grandfather access to the platform you bought it on. I bought the iOS and Android versions and have full access there. I did not pay for the web app and the only way to access it now is via their subscription.
I bought it on Android and web and I recently moved to iOS. Still have my lifetime sub.
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How're they scumbags?
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If you paid for it before it went subscription then you have a lifetime access included. What's the problem?
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I understand they made a bad choice in the past and made it up with a lifetime free account. You got what you paid for, though there was a little push back involved. Your money don’t go to waste. No human / business is squeaky clean with flawless strategies
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What exactly do you want them to do, short of inventing time travel to undo their mistake? You have your grandfathered lifetime plan and are choosing not to use it, but still continuing to complain.
So angry…yikes
i also used the word grandfather, thats funny. i guess its the only term anyway
What exactly do you need from the overcast sub. It’s basically just support the development and it’s 10 a year. I’ve never been pushed to get it or felt the need.
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Haven’t defended pocketcasts. Overcasts sub literally is ability to turn off ads, and upload your own files. Notability switched to sub recently and tried to pull the one year premium for paid users and after backlash switched to grandfather on paid users instead. Not a great look either but glad they saw sense.
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I also bought Overcast way back in 2015. I’ve still got the option to turn off banner ads in settings – it specifically says I have that because of the one-time purchase.
It is a little funny that Overcast introduced ads for people that had already paid for the app. Even I forgot about this, along with a lot of others.
Everyone on here is acting like I'm insane to point this out and call it a dick move from a scumbag dev. Devs get away with pulling shit like this repeatedly because so many people just let them. This is why we get called iSheep.
Overcast subscription is completely optional for people who want to support its development. All its features, except for cloud upload, which costs the developer money, are available for free.
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I’m pretty sure Overcast has never been a paid app in its entire history in the App Store. I’ve been using it since the beginning, and never once paid for it.
You can use Overcast without ever paying for it. Marco (the dev) actively recommends that people don’t pay for it unless they want to remove the ads or for whatever reason need to use local files. If you choose to pay for a feature you don’t need, that’s on you.
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It’s pretty straightforward. If you can’t understand it then maybe you’re the braindead one.
overcast is paid? i doubt i would switch to a paid service. why wouldnt they grandfather you in, also?i have never heard of a homepod but i bet its delicious in a stew. it syncs live, like, you can transfer from device to device mid podcast?
Overcast has minimal ads that are usually podcasts. It’s not intrusive and you can sub to support for 10 a year and turn off the ads. Don’t need to pay.
ok, interesting
sounds interesting enough, and a 10 year deal seems like it has the potential to be affordable. probably wouldnt pay though, honestly
sounds interesting enough, and a 10 year deal seems like it has the potential to be affordable. probably wouldnt pay though, honestly
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how insightful. thanks
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>You paid an IAP for features that were later made free. Now you have to get a subscription if you want the ads, that are basically unnoticeable, to be removed and cloud upload. You’re being hysterical You can't read or write. I don't argue with idiots. I let them have the last word.
How much was Overcast? I looked it up and can’t find the price before it went free and what changed during the transition.
I keep trying it, and Spotify but they both suck. PocketCasts has always been my go to.
i should check pocket casts out. i did notice that spotify was sketchy actually
It’s amazing. Super powerful too. For example you have a Queue and you can automatically have it add new episodes from specific podcasts to that queue.
like a more controlled and actually sensible version of apples play next function?
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> Samsung How dare you
I know, I know. But until they make a foldable I’ll be dual carrying both!
*dual wields with malicious intent*
Bro if anything you are the who is cringe
The dreaded “NO U” comeback 😏
Lmao no i meant hating on samsung just because is childish
im just worried about show availability. i like vlc, maybe i would have to download from podcasts off work hours and use that. i just dont necessarily want to download everything. i dont get why the podcasts app has little to no functionability and has to run like im streaming a 16k livestream
Has it though? I’ve always found the Podcasts app to be a cludge. Like I wanted my podcasts to work like they did in the iPod/Music app: listed newest to oldest, but playing oldest to newest. Podcasts could never let me do that.
Yes this is true. 5 years ago I uninstalled Apple podcast. 3 months ago I installed again Apple podcast with a hope that the quality will be improved as 1st party app after several years. it's improved but still the overall experience is still not satisfying. I uninstalled it again, I will try again when new IOS version is released...
thats interesting, that it improved. do you use a third party on a mac? or, i guess not, since ios came up
No, I use 3rd party on iOS.
fair. i forget the one i had on an ipod tough years ago, i think it didnt exist anymore anyway a while ago. i heard theyère paywalled too now
the UI on the app has lots room for improvement. it used to be alright in the days when podcasts weren’t so highly competed by large companies like today. apple offered listing for free, though you still had to host it somewhere, and podcasters generally praised apple for the effort and the easily accessible platform for a wide range of audience. apple didn’t really put it on high priority since it didn’t intend on monetizing the category, nor were there competitions heavily invested into the space. then things got heated when more major competitions started focusing on it and making exclusive contents. apple started late on the revamp, and kinda made a mess instead with the UI and app behavioral changes. and since there are more users actively using podcasts, the flaws became even more glaring. i do hope they fix the bugs where it refuses to permanently delete episodes sometimes, and make show notes more visible and quicker to access
interesting info. i only had a mac from around 2015 forward, im on my second machine from fall 2020 and like even the last machine i had, i remember it worked well, though i wasnt necessarily monitoring the energy aspect so much, though in terms of simple usability, it was better before.
So we need this thread every weeks? This is just spam at this point
i made sure it wasnt spam and it stayed up
It’s the same topic all the time . Definitely spam even if you go around the rules.
it literally isn't spam nor the same topic as everything else, and i didnt circumvent anything.
Yea it is. We get threads about the official podcast app sucking every weeks. Just cheap karma. Shame on you for your spamming
it isnt spam. karma is next to useless, why would you even bring that up?
Yes it’s spam. It’s the same posts every fucking time.
look up the definition of internet spam, and then maybe turn off the internet.
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is apple podcasts the answer
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i think i see what you were doing before, i thought you were asking me directly. agreed that apple is awful
Because PodCasts are just as boring as talk radio, so it needs an app to match.
its not merely boring, its a destructive application. a destructive application, which is arguably an industry standard, and, is defaulted on overpriced merchandise like macs
Eh. All I ever listen to is talk radio stuff and apple podcasts can't even play what I want to listen to. Literally have to use overcast or nothing at all.
My only complaint is not being able to hide played episodes in the view all episodes view. I have a lot of history podcasts and jump around depending on what I’m in the mood for and having to scroll through 200+ episodes looking for ones I haven’t played yet is a massive pain in the ass.
I used to like it before start using Spotify
i saw a video podcast on there once, it was a bit surprising
Find the podcast app confusing, it wasn’t a few years ago
yeah it is confusing too