Hi everyone,
I have developed a free and open source podcast app, called Anytime Podcast Player, which is available for iOS and Android. I've been working on improving accessibility within the app and particularly the screen reader support, but I know there is more improvements to be made and I was recommended this forum - thank you Robert.
I would be very grateful for any feedback, tips or suggestions that can help me improve the accessibility in Anytime and make it a better app if anyone would like to try it.
It's available on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/anytime-podcast-player/id1582300839#?platform=iphone
Many thanks,
Ben.
Comments
also having battery drain
I'm using an SE 2020 iPhone running iOS 17.7 and am seeing a battery drain that although I can't prove it I believe is due to anytime. For example, between 5 and 6:00 this evening I was listening to a podcast, and I didn't notice it until later but my battery was at 54% at the beginning of the hour and was at only 9% at the end of the hour.
When listening to a podcast I open the app to where I'm in my list of podcasts, then I select one by double tapping on it and then double tapping the episode I want to listen to. I then lock my screen, and I unlock it again to skip any announcements or commercials throughout the episode that I don't want to hear.
Oh and after noticing the tremendous battery drain between 5 and 6:00 today I went into my battery settings and went down to look at what percentage of my battery each app had used in the past 24 hours and anytime was at 38%. I listened to another podcast earlier in the day so it wasn't all in that one hour but it just seems like my battery drains a whole lot faster on the days I use anytime than it does on days I don't.
Re: also having battery drain
Thanks Troy for your feedback, that's really useful.
It's quite concerning that Anytime is draining the battery so quickly. I am beginning to wonder if it's an issue between Anytime and more recent versions of iOS. Every report so far has been for iOS 17 or 18, but my test device is an iPhone 7 which is stuck at version 15 and, so far, I have been unable to reproduce this on it.
I will try and source a newer device and do some further testing. Thanks.
Trying it now
Downloading this immediately - even before leaving feedback, though, I just have to mention how grateful I am as an assistive technology user that you are here on these forums seeking feedback from the users.
Thank you and please continue the great work. It's rare to see and I for one appreciate it.
need to possibly expand the app's screen?
Hi all,
This may or may not be app related and it definitely isn't a voiceover thing, but I'm subscribed to 2 podcast feeds in anytime and when I open either feed and start swiping I can't get past the filter episodes button down to the list of podcast episodes. I know there are new episodes that I haven't listened to so can anybody help me with this problem?
Thanks, as far as I can tell anytime is the only app this is happening with.
Re: need to possibly expand the app's screen?
Hi Troy,
Would you mind sharing the two podcasts you are having problems with and I'll try here and see if I can swipe past the filter button?
Do you currently have any filters set on these two podcasts?
Thanks,
Ben.
reinstalling did the trick
I just reinstalled the app and it's back to normal.
Re: reinstalling did the trick
Glad to hear you have it fixed Troy. Please do let me know if it happens again - you shouldn't have to reinstall Anytime to fix it. Thanks.
Re reinstalling did the trick
Hi Ben,
I could be wrong but I have a feeling it was something I did to cause the problem I had although I don't know what it was. I will post here again if it happens again though.
The play screen.
Hi Ben, I honestly thought i'd download this app and then go right back to downcast but no, for a free app, it's pretty awesome!
There's only one issue so far, I can't seam to find the time scrubber, or anything like that once I play a podcast, is this a bug a feature or a voiceover thing?
DO you intend on adding things like, volume boost, and speed controls?
I'm looking forward to the background refreshes for the app.
I honestly do think i'm going to keep this app around and I might even delete downcast. I do have a question though, how do you intend on paying for the app yearly when it's free on our end?
Once this is a bit more pollished, i'd pay for this app, no questions asked.
Re: The play screen.
Hi Brad,
Thanks for the great feedback - I really appreciate that.
Anytime does have a time scrubber and supports speed controls (although not a volume boost yet) and is accessed from the main player window, so it's not a bug as such but maybe accessing the main player is not as easy as it should be?
When you start playing an episode and go back to the library/charts/download page, you will find the mini-player towards the bottom of the screen just above the bottom tab bar. This gives you quick access to the podcast description, fast forward and play/pause controls; however, if you activate it this will open the main player. This is a full screen page that gives you access to chapters (if available), show notes, the playback position & scrubber, sleep timer, speed controls and, at the bottom of the page, the transcript and queue controls. There is also an option in settings labelled "Full screen player mode on episode start" that will automatically trigger the main player window when you start playing a new episode. There is a little bug with this option in that sometimes it does not take effect until you restart Anytime - it's on my to fix list!
I enjoy building Anytime and working with the community to make it better, so I am happy to absorb the annual Apple fee. There are other costs that would be good to cover, so I do have a ko-fi page where people can donate some caffeine if they wish. After Christmas, I plan to setup the Sponsorship system on my GitHub page so, hopefully, people who make their own podcast app based on Anytime or use some of the podcast libraries I have built can send a few pounds my way.
Feedback.
Hi Ben, thanks for the response.
I honestly think it would be much easier on us if that player window just popped up by default, as far as I understand it every other podcast player does this and it makes sense, I'd never have thought to go back a page or two to find the play/pause stuff because if I play a podcast; I expect to be shown controls to do with that podcast.
If this is how the ap will be, because designing it another way will be tricky or something; i'll probably end up going back to downcast as it's a bit simpler for me to use.
Brad Re feedback
Brad,
As far as fast forwarding and rewinding a podcast with anytime, what I do is to keep my screen locked while I'm listening to the podcast and then when I want to fast forward I hit the button on the side of my phone to unlock the screen and start swiping to the right and there is a go back, a pause, and a forward button on that screen. Btw the back button goes back 10 seconds and the forward button skips 30 seconds at a time.I just recently found the other part of the player that Ben was referring to but I learned the way I do things before I found that.
Hth.
@troy
Yeah, fair enough. I do like the podcast app so will do that :)
Re: Feedback.
Hi Brad,
Yes, opening the main player window upon play is a common pattern; some apps always do this and others, such as PodcastGuru, take this approach if VoiceOver is enabled. Anytime can do this too, it's just a toggle within settings.
I think where Anytime differs is that the other apps tend to keep the bottom tab bar and mini player visible on all screens except the full player window, where as in Anytime the episode list screens are also full screen so the tab bar and mini player is hidden. I have had one other user in the past comment that it would be better if the tab bar and mini player was always visible, so I may experiment with the UI here and see what works.
Please enable the full screen window by default option in settings and let me know if this makes it easier for you to use Anytime or not.
Thanks.
@ben
I've done so, it would be nice if the full screen toggle was for all podcasts, playing, and unplayed.
Also, there doesn't seam to be a continuous play option, that would be very useful.
I really do like this app, I went back to downcast for a little bit but honestly this one is much easier to use.
Oh, also, there seam to be 2 back buttons on the settings screen.
You also can’t sort podcasts…
You also can’t sort podcasts by the newest episodes, so if one of your podcasts releases something new, you’ll have to scroll through the feeds, which are only arranged in alphabetical order.
I’m currently subscribed to 46 podcasts, most of which are audio dramas, so checking each feed individually for updates just isn’t practical.
At the moment, I check for new episodes in another app first and then download them using Anytime Player.
Re downloading episodes
What's the advantage of downloading podcast episodes versus just listening to them from the main podcast screen?
Re: You also can’t sort podcasts…
No, you can't yet; however, this is what I am currently working on. I am working on adding background updating of episodes which means I can then add additional features such as sorting in the library, notifications of new episodes etc.
It's quite a chunk of work and will take a while to complete, but it's definitely coming.
Re: downloading episodes
The advantage is that downloaded episodes can be listened to offline. When you download an episode, the audio file plus any chapters or transcripts (if available) are downloaded to your device. If you are then without connection or, if like me, you put your device into airplane mode to listen uninterrupted, you can listen to these episodes without an internet connection.
Re downloads
Thanks Ben. I don't suppose there's any way of sharing a podcast episode with a friend if I downloaded it?
The person I have in mind is an elderly gentleman who if he has an iPhone at all he's never talked about downloading apps so I kind of doubt he knows how, and he and I follow the same baseball team and occasionally there's an episode on the team's podcast feed that I think he'd be interested in.
You can't share directly…
You can't share directly with the Anytime Player, but you *can* share using Apple Podcasts.
I'm not entirely sure about how sharing works with other podcasting apps. However, I do know that when you share via Apple Podcasts, it defaults to the web player if the recipient doesn't have the Apple Podcasts app installed or is using a different platform.
thanks kool-turk
I'll check into what you told me and see if I can figure it out.
wonderful app
Hi Ben, I just want to tell you that you have an amazing app going hear, and it reminds me a lot of the Apple podcasts app, but more simplified. I like the fact that I can stream and don't have to download episodes. quick question for you, do you plan on adding rotor support?
Full screen window.
HI Ben, I enabled the full screen setting but I think it disappeared on me. I played a new podcast and I think voiceover mentioned something about full screen but I wasn't really listening and then it showed up for a couple of secconds and then disappeared back to the podcast episode list.
I really do think continuous play would be a great feature, if you're listening to an audio drama for example, you don't want to find ep one, then two and so on,, at least i don't.
I really do like this app so if you had a donate button; i'd use it no questions asked.