I am looking for a new podcasts app

By Daniel P, 29 September, 2017

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hello!

I am listening to podcasts on my iPhone for years now, but I really must say that I hate Apples latest redesigned podcast app.
I know that there are lots of other podcast apps around, e.g. Overcast ETC. However, since I always was satisfied with Apples standard app I have not tried any other yet. Maybe someone can recommend me a good alternative which is accessible. What’s more: Is there any podcast app which is able to import podcasts from the Apple podcast app. I have subscribed a lots of podcasts and would really prefer if I would not have to subscribe all of them manually again.

I would be very grateful for some hints.

Kind regards from Daniel!

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Comments

By mehgcap on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 04:57

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

I really love Overcast, and here's why.

  • It is free, with the ability to pay if you enjoy it and want to support it
  • it includes a speed control, which has great-sounding audio at higher speed, and a feature that removes silence
  • speed and other settings can be adjusted, letting you keep audio dramas at normal speed while cranking up interviews, for instance
  • it's easy to view unplayed or all episodes
  • the app as a whole is logical and easy to use, once you get used to settings being in an unexpected place
  • the app is fully accessible, and has been so for quite a while

All that said, I don't know about importing. Overcast can import OPML files, but the question will be whether you can get such a file for your existing podcasts from Apple Podcasts.

By Eileen on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 04:57

For anybody who finds Overcast to be fully accessible, I would be keen to hear how you access the area of the Now Playing screen which shows the podcast notes and chapter list.

I listen to a lot of podcasts which use chapters, and it's been driving me crazy not being able to find and use the chapter list to see what's coming up and move straight to those which interest me.

This used to be easy to find in Overcast, but I haven't been able to get to this since the developer made some changes to the design of the Now Playing area.

I have been told that for sighted users the Now Playing area consists of 3 “panels”, and what I want is on the third of these (the first shows playback controls and the podcast artwork; the second has settings and playback controls). I think that I can reliably swipe through everything on the first two of these panels, but I have yet to find any thing that will take me to the third.

So, if somebody would please let me know the trick to getting to that third panel, you will make me a happy Overcast user again.

By DPinWI on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 04:57

After trying a the major options, I settled on iCatcher. Here are some highlights that make it the right choice for me.

Fully accessible.
Actively developed by a responsive author.
Logical layout.
Many customization options including a set of sounds or spoken alerts for podcast refreshing and downloading activity.
Many playlist configuration options.
Up to 2.5 times playback speed, set by podcast feed.

And lots more.

As with most other podcast apps, iCatcher can import OPML files to preserve your podcast subscriptions.

By mehgcap on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 04:57

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

The show notes in Overcast are accessed by double tapping an episode, then double tapping again on the "info" item. I don't know why VO users can't access the notes in the playback screen, but this method will work. Enjoy.

Thanks mehgcap, but it's typically whilst listening to a podcast that I want access to the chapter list - to know what's coming up ,check the duration of a chapter, and double-tap to go straight to any chapter that interests me. All of this was possible in earlier versions of the app. I guess that I will simply have to wait and hope that the developer's upcoming update of the app for iOS 11 will require him to rework the Now Playing screen, and that the result is accessible.

By Tree on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 04:57

Last year when I moved to Windows from mac I tried to use downcast for a while. I ended up staying with itunes and the default i o s podcast app, but downcast seemed like a usable option. It is one of the few choices that has a desktop option, which is essential for me. From what I can remember, I liked some things about the desktop app, more so then the i o s app. In the end downcast was not able to handle my large library, so that is something to consider if you are subscribed to a lot of podcast. Of course, I was subscribed to almost three hundred podcasts, so it might work fine for more typical users. The default i o s app crashes several times a day with my library, .

Just out of curiosity, what do people not like about the new i o s podcast app? I am staying away from i o s 11 for as long as possible, but podcasts will be an important consideration for me if I think about upgrading at some point.

By mehgcap on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 04:57

Member of the AppleVis Editorial Team

I forgot to say that, while Overcast has no desktop app for any platform, it does have a web player. Visit overcast.fm to check it out. I haven't used it so have no idea of its accessibility, but it is there if you need a desktop solution.

By Pyro2790 on Tuesday, October 10, 2017 - 04:57

I can't recommend overcast enough. it definitely meets all of my podcast needs and has some great playback and speed adjustment functions. I have used other podcast apps in the past and they don't seem to have a simple interface that overcast does. I do not have the latest version running as I wait to hear if newer versions of applications have voiceOver issues so I can't confirm the chapters issue reported earlier in this thread.