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Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

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Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#41

Post by Samuel_Michon »

pwelch wrote: post #31

I found the Music app painful to use for my podcasts. Not sure how much better this will make it. On the other hand I purchased Instacast and it is one of the most used apps on my phone.

Same here. I downloaded the Podcasts app, but it's so limited that I'll continue using Instacast. Same deal when Reading List came out; I'm still a happy Instapaper user. I think it will actually have advantageous effects for third party podcast apps: more people will get acquianted with podcasts and when they need something more powerful, they know where to look for it.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#42

Post by ajanuary »

theguycalledtom wrote: post #37

So,in the future, iOS will no longer have built in podcast support? iPhone users will now always have to download a separate app to get podcasts? This is a huge set-back for the podcast medium. There is so much friction convincing potential blue water podcast listeners to subscribe to podcasts. Haters are going to automatically say "podcasts are a niche, they have a small audience" so who cares? Well, before Apple pu…

Personally I hope they do more apps as app store downloads. I don't want a stock app and I want a different calculator app. They can come pre-installed, but I want to be able to delete them and redownload them as necessary.

Podcasts weren't particularly visible before. I may be remembering wrong (I've changed the tab order in my own app) but Podcasts were hidden under the "More..." tab.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#43

Post by smackfu »

I use Downcast every day, not even as an advanced user, but just because I need to download podcasts on-the-go. This sucks in comparison.

* Catalog (aka Store) is very slow and clunky. Takes 5-10 seconds to flag episodes as "Downloaded" after I click on a podcast I have episodes for.

* Clicking download button takes 4-5 seconds to react. Progress of download is not shown in store, but only in Library.

* No connection between podcasts you downloaded and those in the store. So if you want to get more episodes, you need to search again. Why?

* No way to add podcasts by URL.

* Descriptions are cut-off after a line or so with [...], even if you press the "i" button.

* No position indicator. Oh wait, it's hidden behind the cover image and you need to tap to switch. And that's the default view every time.

* The position indicator has buttons at either end. They don't do anything. Or do they?? They're certainly really small.

* Some of the stuff hidden behind the cover image is a button. Some of it is just shiny bits of the reel-to-reel. Guess which is which from a foot away!

* Only fast speed is 2x which is too fast. Only slow speed is 1/2x which is too slow.

* The share buttons everywhere just link to the podcast in general, not the episode.

* Generally sluggish on an iPhone 4.

Honestly, this seems like the kind of stuff Apple is supposed to be better than.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#44

Post by dmishe »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #8
dmishe wrote: post #5

It's broken, probably an accident release.

In what way is it broken? Edit: I've noticed one bug so far with the search UI (search bar moves over the navigation bar after a search) but apart from that it's working fine.

Search doesn't work, UISearcBar X button is misaligned, when you focus out from search the cancel button goes inside uisearchbar

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#45

Post by glhaynes »

glhaynes wrote: post #19
Lewisham wrote: post #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 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"?)

Following up to myself, sorry:

If skeuomorphism is helpful, it's not generally because it gives familiarity with specific controls—we've all dealt with frustrating virtual knobs. It's that it gives a "face" (or, if you'd prefer, a "brand") to an app, which for some makes it more approachable. Lack of user confidence is often a major usability issue.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, it can visually differentiate sections within the app, making it easier to navigate and feel comfortable with the app's modes of operation. Users often get lost within a maze of twisty dialog boxes all alike. The real world tends to have many visual cues and context indicators that help people mentally build and organize hierarchies — for me, at least, it’s hugely easier to remember people if I have an image to associate with that string, i.e. a face to put with that name.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#46

Post by theguycalledtom »

ajanuary wrote: post #42
theguycalledtom wrote: post #37

So,in the future, iOS will no longer have built in podcast support? iPhone users will now always have to download a separate app to get podcasts? This is a huge set-back for the podcast medium. There is so much friction convincing potential blue water podcast listeners to subscribe to podcasts. Haters are going to automatically say "podcasts are a niche, they have a small audience" so who cares? Well, before Apple pu…

Personally I hope they do more apps as app store downloads. I don't want a stock app and I want a different calculator app. They can come pre-installed, but I want to be able to delete them and redownload them as necessary. Podcasts weren't particularly visible before. I may be remembering wrong (I've changed the tab order in my own app) but Podcasts were hidden under the "More..." tab.

Ok, if someone tweets to you "Check out this cool podcast" and provides a direct link, how many steps does it take for you to subscribe?

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#47

Post by jsz0 »

theguycalledtom wrote: post #37

So,in the future, iOS will no longer have built in podcast support? iPhone users will now always have to download a separate app to get podcasts? This is a huge set-back for the podcast medium. There is so much friction convincing potential blue water podcast listeners to subscribe to podcasts. Haters are going to automatically say "podcasts are a niche, they have a small audience" so who cares? Well, before Apple pu…

Hard to say. It may come bundled with the final release of iOS6. I think they just wanted to get it out the door now for whatever reason. The app uses a number of new UI metaphors and includes elements of the iOS6 App Store redesign so perhaps they are just testing the waters a little here.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#49

Post by smackfu »

kylec wrote: post #29

Breaking the podcast functionality out into its own app is interesting, but the 50MB limit for cellular downloads means that it's still completely useless for me.

Yeah, the average podcast I listen to is around an hour to 90 minutes, and that ends up being 45-70 MB.

Re: Apple Releases Dedicated iOS Podcasts App

#50

Post by smackfu »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #18
ZanderEarth32 wrote: post #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…

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…

I don't understand why they put in poor implementations of advanced features though. Like the speed dial only has two options, too fast and too slow. Why include that at all?
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