![]() At the bottom of the main screen are buttons to refresh the feeds and change settings, as well as one to go to the download screen. The main interface is nice and clean: a list of podcasts with a link to downloaded episodes at the top, although for some strange reason, not all downloaded episodes would show up there. A nice touch is that its podcast directory is browsable by provider, which is very handy if you are a fan of podcasters extraordinaire Dan Benjamin or Leo Laporte, or you want to see what NASA, NPR, or HowStuffWorks are up to. And Podcaster has come a long way since we reviewed it back in 2009. PodcasterĪlthough the program was initially rejected by Apple for "duplicating built-in functionality," Podcaster's developer kept at it until the app was accepted into the App Store. This makes it easy to move from one podcast application to another. Of course Apple's built-in functionality also lets you do all of this with various degrees of ease ( except for visiting show note links), but each of these four apps add some additional functionality.Īll four podcatchers, as well as iTunes, support import and export of an OPML files, which is basically just a list of podcast subscriptions. When you go do something else, your playback position is remembered when you return, and it's possible to speed up playback for audio podcasts. During playback, you can use a scrubber to jump to a different point in the program or skip back or forth by a certain number of seconds. They'll all show you show notes embedded in the podcast feed and let you visit links, if any. You can peruse individual episodes from your subscribed feeds and then download the the ones you'd like to listen to or watch later, or begin to stream them immediately. Podcaster, iCatcher, Pocket Casts, and Instacast, which all cost $2 in the App Store, all present you with a podcast directory where you can search for podcasts and then subscribe (for free!) to the feed. We also examined Stitcher Smart Radio, which promises to let you listen to content "without syncing or downloading," for those of us who can't be bothered with such mundanities. We looked at four "podcatcher" applications for iOS. Last but not least, you have to manually check for new episodes and download them individually.Īs such, an opportunity for third party developers was born. Second, there's a delay of up to two hours before new episodes become available. First of all, it only works for podcasts that are listed on Apple's podcast directory. Unfortunately, this feature is also riddled with limitations. This is fine on (non-touch) iPods, but iPhones and other iOS devices are more capable and no longer need to be tethered to a computer in order to download new podcast episodes. ![]() Within the Apple universe, the original model for listening to podcasts (or watching them) was to download them with iTunes on the computer, sync them to an iPod, and then listen on the go. Podcasting combines two somewhat revolutionary elements: podcasts can be produced by anyone, and you can listen to them on the go without taking away time from other activities. This lets me keep up with developments in philosophy, economics, science, and technology, not to mention entertainment with things like the stories from flight attendant Betty and relationship advice from Dan Savage. I now listen to podcasts when walking to and from work, cooking, doing the dishes, etc. (Watch the video if you're unfamiliar with podcasting.) Why would I want to download MP3 files of people talking? But then former Apple CEO Steve Jobs demonstrated the usefulness of podcasts when he introduced podcast support for iTunes and the iPod at WWDC 2005, and I was sold. When I first heard about podcasting, I didn't get it.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |