Our Verdict
On Wednesday , Marco Arment let go thepodcast - encounter app Overcast , his anticipated major return to the Io App Store after selling his popularInstapaperread - it - afterwards app last year . The app was teasedlast September , its growing has beendetailed on Arment ’s pop podcast , and now it ’s out there for everyone to taste . For the last few month I ’ve been using a prerelease version , and I ’ve number aside impressed .
Overcast ’s primary silver screen boast a single list with playlists on top , podcasts below .
These days , there are multitudinous good podcast - play apps out there — it ’s aUI playground , like Twitter apps were back in the day . FromDowncasttoPocket CaststoInstacasttoCastroto Apple ’s ownPodcastsapp ( not to mention podcast - aggregation apps likeStitcherandSwell ) , each app takes a somewhat dissimilar approach . That make sense , because dissimilar people take heed to podcasts in different ways — and all those apps rightly have their fan . ( If you practice your iPad for podcasts , Overcast is n’t for you yet — it presently runs only on the iPad in iPhone emulation mode , though Arment says a Universal version that also runs natively on the iPad interface is planned . )
Let ’s start with the basics : Overcast is barren , though feature - limited . “ I desire to offer a better alternative for the mass market place , so it must be free , ” Armentsays in a program line on the sunless site . For a $ 5 in - app purchase , however , exploiter can unlock legion additional features , include : financial support for downloads over cellular , have that alter or improve sound output ( more on those below ) , and outright play list and sequence in play list ( there ’s only one play list , containing 5 installment , by default ) .
Overcast ’s Now play screen features a live visualiser at the bottom of the podcast art .
The Overcast interface is simple , operable , and reset the result of measured design . ( It does n’t gibe the ocular panache of the pretty podcast app , Castro , but Castro pays for that flair by being tough to employ . ) The main screen boast a simple list , break up in two : play list at the top and podcasts at the bottom . As you might expect , you’re able to tap on a podcast , then tap on an episode to commence playing it . When an installment is playing , that information is displayed ( along with a small Seth of playback control ) at the very bottom of the windowpane .
I listen to a lot of unlike podcasts and always need another episode to begin playing once the last one concludes — specially when I ’m driving and ca n’t choose another episode manually — so for me , playlists are the most important feature of any podcast app .
Overcast ’s approach to playlists is impertinent : Not only can you choose specific podcasts to add to a play list ( or the inverse , choosing specific podcasts to ban ) , but there ’s a Priority Podcasts feature that lets you narrow which podcasts float to the top of the play club .
This two - tier approach is a somewhat close couple to how I listen to podcasts : I have a few go - to podcasts that I want to heed to as soon as they arrive , and then there are podcasts I take heed to when the top names are all played .
clouded play list options .
But with all this mechanisation , there ’s also tractableness : you may edit out playlists to lean episodes in any order and tally and delete episode freely . In Overcast I still retrieve myself doing playlist criminal maintenance based on my own notion , but in world-wide the episodes I desire to listen to are at the top and the other stuff is at the bottom , which is how I like it .
One of my preferent feature of Overcast is its ability to modify and improve sound recording . Just about every podcast app allow you switch the speed of podcast playback , so you may ( for instance ) polish off an time of day - long podcast in 45 minutes . I ’ve never been a rooter of those features , because they loosely add artefact to the sound ( it fathom like a serial of clicks to me ) that drive me nut . Overcast does the salutary line of work of pep pill - revision I ’ve heard , and now I take heed to many podcasts on slenderly high than 1x upper .
Separately , Overcast offers a Smart Speed feature that intelligently remove silence from podcasts , contract episode even if you do n’t pick out to hear at a high speed . ( you may also employ the two feature simultaneously for even more metre saving ) .
Overcast ’s sound configurations can be edited on a per - podcast basis .
The app ’s Voice Boost feature is a single button that alter a podcast ’s audio , contract and equalizing it to contribute it to a more consistent volume . I ’ve found that Voice Boost makes some quiet and badly recorded podcasts I hear to more listenable , but decreases the quality of others . fortuitously , clouded lets you adjust Speed , Smart Speed , and Voice Boost preferences on a per - podcast base — so you could accelerate up slow talkers , boost quiet talkers , and even slow down speed talkers .
Overcast ’s social - based passport
The app ’s podcast directory is also powered by social medium , optionally using your Twitter score to discover episodes that people you make love are commend . It ’s an interesting theme , though it remains to be seen how utilitarian those testimonial are for most people . There are also legion inclination of recommended podcasts separate by genre , and you’re able to look for any podcast under the sun . ( revealing : During the app ’s beta - testing process , I suggest a couple of category for the podcast directory , and those category are presently listed in Overcast , though the lists are updated dynamically and will doubtless change over prison term . )
My biggest ailment about Overcast is that its advance to download is a bit too simplified . There is , wisely , a electric switch that keeps the app from download podcasts via cellular association , so it does n’t chew up your information allowance . But there ’s no manner to force a single installment to download , nor is there any concept of streaming an sequence . If you ’re out and about and want to listen to a new episode of your favorite podcast , you must : pause all the other queue downloads , toss on cellular downloads , watch the installment download , flip the cellular - download option back off , and then insistence play .
Overcast podcast suggestions .
It ’s also worth noting that Arment has said on his podcast that he intend to make Overcast limited to Io 8 only once Apple ’s operating arrangement update ship this twilight . If you ’re using a equipment that wo n’t be stomach on iOS 8 , or you ’re project on give that update a pass , you will not be getting succeeding Overcast update and may want to steer clear .
I ’ve used just about every iPhone podcast app out there , most of them for fairly big amount of clock time . clouded is the one I ’m last to wedge with — for now , anyway . The podcast - app blank space keeps changing and is quite competitive , but cloud-covered best fits the mode I listen to podcasts today . Your fuel consumption rate may vary , which is why it ’s great that Overcast is available for gratuitous rather than being a $ 5 purchase rightfulness off the squash racket .
The app ’s options screen even link to five other podcast apps , in eccentric Overcast is “ not for you . ” That ’s a neat motion toward independent app developers . It ’s always deserving keeping an middle on the frightful innovation happening in all of these apps , which are evolve almost as quickly as the culture medium of podcasting itself . But for now , Overcast ’s cute orange icon is the one sitting in my iPhone ’s dock .
