Overcast for iOS reached version 4.1 today, adding a handful of noteworthy features to the popular third-party podcast player.
First up is Smart Resume, which aims to reduce the impact of playback interruptions. With the new feature enabled, podcast playback jumps back a few seconds after the podcast has been paused, to help remind the listener where they left off in the conversation.
Smart Resume, which is on by default, also intelligently adjusts playback so that it resumes in the silences between spoken words wherever possible. Users can control the feature from Overcast's Nitpicky Details menu.
Also new in v4.1, Overcast can now be set to auto-delete podcasts 24 hours after playback is completed. Previously, episodes could be auto-deleted either immediately after listening or not at all, but now users can leave a day-long delay before their removal, and the threshold for deletion will be paused during extended offline periods such as long-haul flights.
Elsewhere, passwords for private podcast feeds can now be entered into the Add URL screen (rather than via HTTP Basic Auth) and a number of bug fixes have been implemented, which should result in less download fails and playback stalls, and no glitches when resuming playback after quitting in the background, amongst other improvements.
Lastly, iPhone rotation support has been removed from Overcast 4.1, due to the function's extremely low usage coupled with the burden of peculiarities that comes with coding in support for iPhone X displays.
Overcast 4.1 is available as a free ad-supported app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]
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Top Rated Comments
Of course, if you create your own RSS feed in a text editor you can manually add entries that point to mp3 files you've uploaded somewhere publicly accessible, then subscribe to that feed as a podcast. All for free. Your call!
The smart-resume is something I've recently been wishing for (both Apple Maps and Google Maps will pause the audio before talking, but sometimes it can throw you off when it resumes - especially through runs of "in 1000 feet, take XYZ exit" "take XYZ exit now" "keep left to stay right" "merge onto..." (sometimes I really want maps to have a "just announce the exit once" feature).
[doublepost=1521062386][/doublepost]Overcast is one of a tiny handful of apps for which I pay a subscription. It's $10 a year. I have no problem paying for good software (and the alternative pricing scheme of yearly "Overcast 2.0! $10... Overcast 3.0! $10..." purchases isn't any real improvement over just giving Marco $10 a year with the expectation that he'll keep improving the app). It's not so much that particular features necessitate a cost, as simply making a few top features only available to those who pay. And he does run some back-end servers to cataloging everything and sending out notifications, etc., so there are ongoing costs to him.
The app improves substantially on Apple's Podcast app. If you can't/don't appreciate the difference, you're not the target market for it. If you're doubtful but curious, you can run it ad-supported (his own non-screaming ad network, not the 3rd party ad network crap seen in most ad-supported apps) to see how it works. If you just want to complain about any software that costs money... I'm not really looking to have that debate.