Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts • Hacker News Board

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#101

Post by joshstrange » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 2:44 PM UTC

fokinsean wrote: post #94

dreamcompiler wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I'm thoroughly conditioned not to tolerate commercials any more and when one comes on, I turn off the source. This is why I don't listen to podcasts any more. If Netflix had commercials, I'd drop my subscription yesterday.

It's not too difficult to hit the "Skip forward 15 seconds" button a few times.

Yes, Overcast, at least, lets you configure your prev/next buttons and I have mine set to 15 seconds. I know based on the podcast about how many times I need to mash the next button when I hear "We are sponsored this week by...."

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#102

Post by joshstrange » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 2:45 PM UTC

erreJulian wrote: post #93

shrikar wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sorry guys I am indexing content slowly. If you can provide me the name of the podcast I can index immediately. Also, will be providing feature to submit podcasts on the site

I'm kinda surprised not to find the Accidental Tech Podcast in the Tech section.

That was what I looked for first as well and was surprised to see so much Twit garbage (really guys, your ad reads are HELLA long) above Relay.fm content.

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#103

Post by tsuresh » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 2:49 PM UTC

drewg123 wrote: post #65

The feature that I'm looking for in a podcast service (especially one that calls itself "Like Netflix") is ad-free content. I'd be happy to pay a monthly fee not to hear yet another ad for the same darned things over and over and over again on my favorite podcasts.

There is Stitcher Premium[0] that does exactly this.

[0]: https://www.stitcher.com/premium

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#104

Post by tehbeard » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 2:54 PM UTC

supernovae wrote: post #82

Make a PWA webapp of this available on the Windows store, you will find a niche to fill devoid of good podcast apps. Make service workers that allow for download/offline sync and i think you will do well. Obviously put it on ios/android as well but i think you'd find a good home with your simple design on ms store. Announce your app on neowin, mspoweruser and such too.

lack of CORS headers on most podcast file stores (making cross origin fetches a black box of mystery errors) and the lack of a background audio API puts a damper on any sort of PWA podcast app currently.

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#105

Post by wenbin » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

yakk0 wrote: post #88

The search is horrible. I searched for my podcast by keyword and by name, as well as some other podcasts I listen to and none came up even related to any of the shows I was looking for.

Try this: https://www.listennotes.com

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#106

Post by drewg123 » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 2:59 PM UTC

fokinsean wrote: post #94

dreamcompiler wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed. I'm thoroughly conditioned not to tolerate commercials any more and when one comes on, I turn off the source. This is why I don't listen to podcasts any more. If Netflix had commercials, I'd drop my subscription yesterday.

It's not too difficult to hit the "Skip forward 15 seconds" button a few times.

Its not too hard, but it is still something that I'd pay to avoid. I spend an hour or so rowing in the mornings, and hitting the skip-forward on my headphones takes me out of my rhythm.

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#107

Post by bdcravens » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 3:04 PM UTC

If you're going to appear to change state, save state. Nifty on the fly search is nifty I suppose, but when I click through, then use back arrow, you shouldn't take me to beginning, losing all of my search results. Stop breaking the browser people. (this is as much a rant about this same pattern I've seen elsewhere as it is a knock against your site)

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#108

Post by drewg123 » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 3:06 PM UTC

tsuresh wrote: post #103

drewg123 wrote: post #65

The feature that I'm looking for in a podcast service (especially one that calls itself "Like Netflix") is ad-free content. I'd be happy to pay a monthly fee not to hear yet another ad for the same darned things over and over and over again on my favorite podcasts.

There is Stitcher Premium[0] that does exactly this. [0]: https://www.stitcher.com/premium

They have a caveat "Some shows record their own ads which Stitcher cannot remove". It would be nice if they marked which shows were actually ad-free. It would be even nicer if they put auto-skip markers over the "unremovable" ads. We've had that technology for TV for more than a decade (comskip.exe, MythTVs comflag, etc).

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#109

Post by bdcravens » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 3:13 PM UTC

yakk0 wrote: post #88

The search is horrible. I searched for my podcast by keyword and by name, as well as some other podcasts I listen to and none came up even related to any of the shows I was looking for.

Yeah, I searched "Ruby" - got almost a full page of results for random podcasts (perhaps they had a guest named Ruby at some point?) until I saw an actual podcast about Ruby.

"Docker" - 1 result, about a personal brand podcast

From a quick inspect, looks to be just a SPA sending all search through Algolia, as opposed to a search geared toward podcasts specifically. (my understanding is that you can customize the indexes setup in Algolia, but with podcasts, I assume the naive approach is to just throw all the RSS text at it and assume that's adequate)

Re: Show HN: Podflix – Like Netflix for Podcasts

#110

Post by bastijn » Tue, Sep 25, 2018, 3:15 PM UTC

toyg wrote: post #96

bastijn wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not denying that proper suggestions is a great service. I am questioning if it is enough to build a product around. Especially when people do not yet know they have an issue or are missing it. Netflix, Spotify, Apple music, they all share a common thing that made them great: give access to content not previously available for a fixed price. Your service doesn't. That doesn't mean there isn't a product here, it do…

I think it's a bit cruel to compare multi-billion-dollar businesses with a lone guy doing his thing. None of those services started small. It's a fact that there isn't yet a good recommendation engine for podcasts out there. There are tons of clients relying on a few (relatively dumb) directories. The first service that can crack that particular nut, could easily become a lifestyle business or even get acquired. Not…

I'm not criticizing the current state. Sorry if it felt that way. I'm suggesting to change the communication of what the product is about and have a good thought about what is the USP of the product. This is why I said that there may be a product but the way it is brought now is not what triggers me to use it or feel I need it. Maybe suggestion is enough to build a product around, who knows, but right now I came in expecting a service like netflix and it wasn't which made me close the product after a few seconds.

The title literally suggests me to compare the product to netflix.