Managing your podcasts can be a complicated thing.
Shows and episodes can exist in different states and use cases. Do I listen to every episode of this show? Most episodes? Just dip in and out every once in a while? How can a UI accommodate this?
Do I download? Stream? Per episode? Per show? Sometimes one, sometimes the other? What about tools to manage my download queue? Maybe I have lots of bandwidth at the office, but I have 1mpbs at home. I've yet use a podcast app (I think I've used them all) that has a playlist setting to exclude certain shows. I've been unable to to create a playlist that has the "All Shows" feed from popular networks, doesn't make other playlists (based on episode state) unmaintainable.
Settings at the global level. Settings at the playlist level. Settings at the show level. Settings at the current playing episode level...
Downcast, with it's Windows-like feature set and UI, has given me the most power. I have complaints with it (Bloated UI; I want PocketCasts's playback speed slider and "skip first X seconds" feature), but every other app seems to go in the "less is more... until it's not enough and I go back to downcast" direction.
Overcast has some smart features. (What about an "alert me of any appearance of my favorite guest, whatever the show" feature)? I hope it convinces people that there is still room to grow.
I've also found that Downcast has given me the most control over my podcasts.
One thing I haven't found yet, though, is a client that offers a playlist or podcast level setting where I can say I want to download the oldest unplaced episode for a show. iTunes has such a sync setting for TV shows, for example, and it would be very handy for podcasts where I'm working my way through an archive.
There is probably a limited audience for such a feature, however, so I'll probably have to keep waiting.
Agree with your comments on Downcast except its Mac version. It's somethings that is unusable for me - high CPU usage, sync problems (iOS version has them too), app freezing, etc.
Hope Overcast will make other clients better. I'm going to migrate to Overcast for the time being.
Why doesn't everything just stream as with music and video? I hate the "subscribe" concept. I just want to browse around an listen stuff here and ther. Maybe bookmark some favorites.
Shows and episodes can exist in different states and use cases. Do I listen to every episode of this show? Most episodes? Just dip in and out every once in a while? How can a UI accommodate this?
Do I download? Stream? Per episode? Per show? Sometimes one, sometimes the other? What about tools to manage my download queue? Maybe I have lots of bandwidth at the office, but I have 1mpbs at home. I've yet use a podcast app (I think I've used them all) that has a playlist setting to exclude certain shows. I've been unable to to create a playlist that has the "All Shows" feed from popular networks, doesn't make other playlists (based on episode state) unmaintainable.
Settings at the global level. Settings at the playlist level. Settings at the show level. Settings at the current playing episode level...
Downcast, with it's Windows-like feature set and UI, has given me the most power. I have complaints with it (Bloated UI; I want PocketCasts's playback speed slider and "skip first X seconds" feature), but every other app seems to go in the "less is more... until it's not enough and I go back to downcast" direction.
Overcast has some smart features. (What about an "alert me of any appearance of my favorite guest, whatever the show" feature)? I hope it convinces people that there is still room to grow.