![]() I talked about this a bit in my recent article about the state of podcast apps on iOS 7: But as it turns out, Instacast's recent 4.0 update sadly resulted in a step backwards in usability. I’ll definitely be getting a credit card with this meme image as the design.If someone had told me a month ago that Pocket Casts was about to usurp Instacast's spot on my iOS dock, I would have looked at them like they were crazy.įor as long as I could remember, Instacast was the podcast app 1 that I felt provided the best overall experience on the App Store, and the one I recommended to everyone else who asked. Its all just today’s limitations of the web as a platform. Some low-budget podcasts rely on slow distribution servers and require a full minute of caching before you can play them. The episodes stream from their originating servers and aren’t downloaded to your computer or streamed by Shifty Jelly. Not all browsers support the same codecs so the experience may not yet be flawless everywhere. Being able to play and sync directly from any of my workstation or laptops will be a significant improvement.Īs a webapp, it’s a bit limited in terms of audio codecs and browser support. Setting it up to stream to one of the house’s more capable devices is always a pain. Using my mobile phone for playing audio while at home have always felt a bit silly. It looks like I will no longer be so heavily relying on a mobile app to listen to podcasts in my own home. The synchronization features works with the mobile app, subscriptions and episodes update like they should, you can increase the playback speed, and the current playback position is continuously pushed to your mobile so you can continue listening on-the-go. I’ve only tested the webapp for one day so far. I also want to recommend the service itself. Pocket Casts has all the controllers you would expect from a good podcast player – in a webapp! This should be a good sign to anyone building webapps: you can ask me for a one-time payment assuming you’ve a reputation of delivering quality software. I find the pricing fair, given the increased value of a platform neutral and portable app versus one locked to one platform/ecosystem. The webapp at 9 USD is a bit pricier than the mobile apps. Without even testing the service first! I must say i like the one-time payment model over subscription. However, the nice little design detail on their payment button won me over right away. Paying per-platform instead of paying once to have the service on any platform irks me a bit. I was somewhat hesitant to pay for the same app on a new platform. Which have probably been the single best app investment I’ve ever made. ![]() Shifty Jelly, the Australia based developer behind Pocket Casts, have already gotten 4 USD from me for their excellent Android app. ![]() Anyone who would recognize the meme would know exactly what was expected of them. The cheekiness yet appropriate use of this Internet meme in this context completely bypassed my brain’s purchase decision making center. Fry, the show’s protagonist, is so overwhelmed by the awesomeness of a new tech product that he interrupts a sales clerk trying to explain the realities and drawbacks of the product with the catchphrase: “Shut up and take my money!” The one-time payment button features an Internet meme from the Futurama TV series. Pocket Casts’ greeting screen to new users of its webapp gives the choice of a free trial or making a one-time payment for the service upfront. After logging in with my account, I was greeted by the below welcome screen. I did not get going with the webapp right away. A desktop/web version that can synchronize my podcast subscription and episode playback positions with my mobile phone sounded almost too good to be true. I’ve been using the Android app version for several hours every day for several years. I decided right away to give the webapp a try. I just found out there’s a new paid webapp version of this gem too. I’ve been using Pocket Casts as my preferred podcast player for years now.
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