Downcast vs. overcast

By Thomas Byskov …, 9 August, 2015

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

Hi!

I've used Downcast as my podcatcher of choice since last summer, but I've also found that overcast would be a good alternative. Why should I consider Overcast over Downcast? The only thing I've heard so far is that speeding up podcast playback is much better in Overcast, but are there any other benefits? Best regards Thomas

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Comments

By Jesus R on Tuesday, August 25, 2015 - 05:31

Hi, I would also like to know this. I've been using downcast, which is still being updated and really haven't seen the need to switch to overcast. I tried it, but I couldn't get a lot of the features that I was used to in downcast. The feeds, and viewing the other shows whenin them if there was more than I have downcast to download automaticly for example. Does overcast sync settings, play position, ETC over iCloud? I have downcast on my iPhone and iPad and love that it does this.

By Tina on Sunday, October 25, 2015 - 05:31

I have both Downcast and Overcast on my iPhone 6. I'm not sure which one I really like, since both feature sets are so similar. Any thoughts? Thanks.

By KE7ZUM on Sunday, October 25, 2015 - 05:31

I love over casts' smart play feature and the syncing to a website. I don't like the you can't dowload all at once though in a podcast or make all as played. I did contact the dev about this though.

By Brooke on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - 05:31

One thing I've learned recently that Downcast can do, is import media from other sources. For example, I have an audiobook in Dropbox, and I was able to connect Downcast to my Dropbox and import the audiobook, then play it on my phone using Downcast. Does anyone know if this is something that's possible in Overcast? If it is, I haven't figured it out yet; if it isn't, that'd be a major difference.

By jrjolley (not verified) on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - 05:31

In reply to by Brooke

Overcast, despite it's great sound options does not do video so I am personally stuck with Downcast for some podcasts such as the ones from screencasts online. Use both if you can manage it. I don't think Overcast lets you import anything either, Arment does things his own way by not using apple technologies so he relies on home-growing his solutions - bit stupid IMO but that's how he works.

By Thomas Byskov … on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - 05:31

Thanks so much for your comments.
So basically the major thing that Overcast does is that it has good playback adjustments like remove silence and some other algoritmes for playback speed?
@brooke: How did you import an entire audiobook from Dropbox to Downcast?
I have a huge collection of files that are so big, that Voicedream can't handle it and it sounds like a good option to import it as another podcast feed for Downcast. :) it sounds so cool!

Best regards Thomas

By DPinWI on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - 05:31

It doesn't get much love, but iCatcher is my choice. It's fully accessible, has continuous updates, a responsive developer, and is easy to use. I have tried them all, and keep coming back to it.

By Brooke on Wednesday, November 25, 2015 - 05:31

I've only done it once, but I'll try to post the steps. Once your books are uploaded into folders in Dropbox, go to Downcast. Once in the More tab, go to the Tools button, and then to Import Media Files. There should be a button at the bottom of the screen called Storage Providers. Once there, if you've set up your Dropbox with Downcast, you should see Dropbox listed. Find the folder with the files for the audiobook, and once in that folder, you can go through and double-tap each file. The frustrating thing is that you have to do this with each file, until you have them all. Then you can give the new podcast a title, hit the Select All button to select all the files you've just linked, and click the Import button. It took me some trial and error, I originally missed a few files and had to repeat the process once, just from messing up the first time. But it worked, and it was great listening to the audiobook that way as opposed to using the built-in media player.