I switched to Apple Podcasts a while back, and canceled my overcast subscription. It expires in a couple of months.
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The thing is, thatās not really the kind of podcast that MPU is. They donāt generally do extended discussion about individual apps unless theyāre doing a show about that app specifically - and they already did that with Overcast in June.
Unless it somehow comes up organically during a guest segment, the most logical way for it to be discussed would be for them to have an episode about podcast clients in general. I donāt believe theyāve done one of those recently - and that would actually be really interesting.
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Same here, Overcast had a good run, but the new rewrite killed it for me.
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I think YouTube only counts if youāre talking about video podcasts.
Nobody who currently uses Overcast, Castro, etc. is seriously considering replacing it with YouTube.
Itās an apples-to-oranges comparison.
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I agree. But those of us that have been listening to Mac Power Users, etc. since the early days are apparently now a tiny minority.
Anecdotally, lots of people put podcasts on in the background on Youtube and listen to them Audio only.
There are also supposedly lots of podcasts which are added onto Youtube audio only.
It takes all sorts!
I donāt see the point of downloading a Podcast to have it on in the background, Iām either going to listen to it, or Iām not.
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I am weary of this trend because Podcasts are the lone holdout of mostly unalgorthimed content.
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Itās why I read articles in Reeder and Podcasts in Overcast. I can choose what I see and what has a chance to get my attention
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I donāt doubt it. I think for the ābackgroundā people, āpodcastā is replacing something like talk radio. Much of which, rather than being āradioā now, is actually just Internet audio. Kind of like how some people just have the TV on in the background, all day, every day.
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Fair point, I just know they have usually been up front if an app they liked made changes that made the stop usng but its usually a show topic not just a general chat.
Good luck finding a single tech podcast that will tell Marco the truth about his overcast rewrite.
(This wasnāt carefully stated and needs to be clarified. I do not mean that people will be dishonest about Overcast. I mean that many tech podcast hosts consider Marco a friend. They are more likely to say nothing rather than to call out a friend in a public forum - I hope most of us would treat our friends that way. The reasons for Overcast being the way it is can be sympathetic reasons. It can also be true that those of us who had the price raised and app quality decreased arenāt unreasonable to be frustrated and - given Marcoās recent comments - now to have moved on.)
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If they didnāt like it, I agree - theyād say so. But AFAIK the hosts of MPU donāt have any problems with the Overcast rewrite. They seemed to mostly like it on the show they did when it rolled out.
Iām personally growing tired of the pile on Overcast right now. Iāve used every single Podcast app of note, from iCatcher, Downcast, Google Podcast, Apple Podcasts, Castro, Pocket Castsā¦ā¦and many more. Overcast, even with itās issues, is still far better for what I need.
Car play is a dumpster fire for all third party apps, Marco has talked about this as have so many other folks. Take this one up with Apple.
Same with Apple Watch, show me a good solution, Overcast is the best of bad bunch.
The app is stable and largely bug free, crashing is far far far better since re-write.
A small group of users are having an impactful issue with the sorting of playlists, specifically with the priority. I use this feature, many others do, without issue. Yes this sucks and I hope that Marco might acknolwedge this one and find a path to solution. Or remove the priority feature.
As to complaints about changes in UX, I would offer that Overcast is still far ahead of other Podcast apps for almost everything in terms of core user experience. No one is saying it is perfect, certainly could be improved (for example trying to scroll chapters is comical, especially if they have links).
This is an app that most people donāt pay for, and those who do are paying US$1.29 a month. The dev has been open about the journey to get the whole codebase to āmodernā standards, to those who suggest he shouldnāt have attempted a re-write, do you honestly feel that maintaining a legacy code base and integrating into Swift is at all reasonable, it just isnāt, I really donāt think he had a choice.
So if you are a happy Overcast user, who appreciates the work it must have taken to get the app sorted and ready to take forward, leave a good App Store review. Marco was honest that it was either get the app sorted or give-up, Iām glad he didnāt give upā¦ā¦sadly many others appear to feel differently by the look of it.
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I still use it as I donāt have many of the issues others go on about, and the sound is so much better. I tried Apple Podcasts but itās not built for someone who listens like me. One quibble with your long post, Pocketcasts and Apple Podcasts do seem to have the watch experience down better but it works well enough.
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Iām glad this is your experience, genuinely so. It is not mine at all. There are many others on Reddit and Slack with the same bug-filled experience. Itās more than just sorting lists. Itās basic stability and usability.
The developer said itās āin a really good place.ā Those of us who are frustrated with the current state disagree. He also posted that heās taken a few months off from the app and isnāt sure when heāll get back to it. Right after he raised the price.
This isnāt real data but, experientially, most of the people I interact with who are unhappy with the current state of Overcast are long-time paying subscribers.
Getting a Spotify-like āyear in reviewā was not a good trade for losing basic functionality and stability.
I wonāt post about Overcast here anymore as it apparently creates an impression of āpiling on.ā Iāve moved on to another application and cancelled my subscription.
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Iāve had no issues except for a weird bug that brings back podcasts I delete.
āAs a rule, man is a fool. When itās hot, he wants it cool; When itās cool, he wants it hot. Always wanting, what is not.ā
ā Benjamin Disraeli
People have always complained about anything, or everything. Iām sure doing so makes some people very happy.
But Marco doesnāt seem to be concerned. He just purchased a restaurant, which has always been considered a risky proposition. So he must feel financially secure.
Ultimately Marco will determine Overcastās future. Regardless of what people say.
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I understand that I might be coming across as a blind Overcast supporter. With the hope of showing some open mindedness, I thought Iād share that I have both Castro (I subscribed and moved to Castro for a bit post re-write, but went back) and Pocket Casts betaās installed and configured on my iPhone, and use them frequently just to see how things are going.
Iām always looking for better, as Iām a bit addicted to Podcasts, Overcast isnāt perfect, but IMHO itās the best by a quite a way for what I need.
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Good quote and good points.
In this case, perhaps another Disraeli quote also is apt āThe secret of success is constancy to purposeā
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