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Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

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11–20 of 105 posts

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#11

I assume that Music will still support podcasts? I'm miffed that videos were moved to an entirely different app; I'm subscribed to the TED talks video podcasts, but have to launch an entirely different application to listen to them (and yup, I listen to 99% of them as I'm walking around instead of watching them.)

It won't. Podcasts are removed from Music in iOS 6.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#12
Apple's highly questionable and deeply unfortunate skeuomorphism kick continues unabated. Now we're treated to a radio dial which died out in 1995, and playing podcasts presents a reel-to-reel, which died out in god knows when.

It's completely bizarre. I guess podcasts are a form of talk radio, but tying them to some ancient radio technology that anyone under the age of 18 will have never touched is mental. They're even called podcasts: they arose because of the popularity of the iPod! Insane.

Apple really need to sort their designers out. I wish we could somehow have Microsoft's new Metro design aesthetics on Mac OS X and iOS, then I could have the best apps and OS design, and the best UI to use with them.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#13
Cool app in a lot of ways, but its conceptual hierarchy seems weird to me so far — the main section that you're presented with upon launch (the "Library") has a tab bar at the bottom split between "Podcasts", showing podcasts you've subscribed to and/or downloaded episodes from, and "Top Stations", showing popular podcasts on the iTunes Store. So far so good.

But then there's also a "Catalog" button at the top-left that "flips the app over" (a la iBooks) and shows you a general store-browsing interface. The corresponding button to get back—which, I'll note, is on the opposite side in that view!—is labeled "Library".

tl;dr: There are Store interfaces in both the Library and the Catalog, seeming to break the conceptual hierarchy, and thus annoying me.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#14
Just gave it a shot, and I wasn't impressed in the least. These types of apps are where Apple really fails. It's like they don't use the same designers they do for any of their other products on these small apps.

The interface is lousy, and very similar to the Music app. Discovery doesn't seem very useful either.

This might be useful for a 'light-weight' user and listener of podcasts but this doesn't even come close to apps like Downcast in terms of features.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#16

I assume that Music will still support podcasts? I'm miffed that videos were moved to an entirely different app; I'm subscribed to the TED talks video podcasts, but have to launch an entirely different application to listen to them (and yup, I listen to 99% of them as I'm walking around instead of watching them.)

It won't. Podcasts are removed from Music in iOS 6.

[deleted]

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#17

Apple's highly questionable and deeply unfortunate skeuomorphism kick continues unabated. Now we're treated to a radio dial which died out in 1995, and playing podcasts presents a reel-to-reel, which died out in god knows when. It's completely bizarre. I guess podcasts are a form of talk radio, but tying them to some ancient radio technology that anyone under the age of 18 will have never touched is mental. They're e…

I think it's clear now that Apple likes skeuomorphism. They've been using it in the design of their products for the last few years. I presume it is helpful to less technical people (especially on device like the iPad which is attracting a lot of new and older computer users).

They use this same radio design on the iPod nano radio (the first nano with a video camera). On that it's actually inconvenient and hurts the design. In this case I don't thin it really impacts either way.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#18

Just gave it a shot, and I wasn't impressed in the least. These types of apps are where Apple really fails. It's like they don't use the same designers they do for any of their other products on these small apps. The interface is lousy, and very similar to the Music app. Discovery doesn't seem very useful either. This might be useful for a 'light-weight' user and listener of podcasts but this doesn't even come close…

I think Apple is probably targeting the light-weight users and trying to attract new users. Advanced podcasts features are something relatively few people care about. I listen to several podcasts daily and 99% of the time I just press play. I don't care about setting speed, bookmarks, or any of the other featured apps like Instacast (which I use) offer. It's great that these apps are still available on the store and good for the developers that Apple hasn't just killed their business with a free alternative.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#19

Apple's highly questionable and deeply unfortunate skeuomorphism kick continues unabated. Now we're treated to a radio dial which died out in 1995, and playing podcasts presents a reel-to-reel, which died out in god knows when. It's completely bizarre. I guess podcasts are a form of talk radio, but tying them to some ancient radio technology that anyone under the age of 18 will have never touched is mental. They're e…

I dunno, I think it's kinda fun. The app has some personality. I can certainly appreciate that some people don't like this style of design, but there are a lot of people who do, too. (Perhaps part of why we don't hear as much from them is because most of them don't know the word "skeumorphism"?)

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#20

Apple's highly questionable and deeply unfortunate skeuomorphism kick continues unabated. Now we're treated to a radio dial which died out in 1995, and playing podcasts presents a reel-to-reel, which died out in god knows when. It's completely bizarre. I guess podcasts are a form of talk radio, but tying them to some ancient radio technology that anyone under the age of 18 will have never touched is mental. They're e…

I think it's clear now that Apple likes skeuomorphism. They've been using it in the design of their products for the last few years. I presume it is helpful to less technical people (especially on device like the iPad which is attracting a lot of new and older computer users). They use this same radio design on the iPod nano radio (the first nano with a video camera). On that it's actually inconvenient and hurts the…

My biggest issue with this design, unlike say, the leather bound Address Book, is that it's tied to a technology that the generation Apple would like to appeal to have never used. It's akin to changing the App Store to having hand written floppy disks. All the teenagers that Apple would love to attract have no attachment, or perhaps not even an idea, about the object Podcasts is designed about.

I agree that it probably is helpful to less technical people, but only when those items they call back to are ones the user is familiar with. Choosing a reel-to-reel is a terrible decision. 11 year olds today will have never known a world without an iPod. The iPod is the music player. At least Apple didn't try an iPod within an iPod, I suppose.

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