Of the many podcasting apps available for iOS, Overcast on iOS is one of our favorites. Programmed by Instapaper and The Magazine founder Marco Arment, it’s a slick podcasting app with some unique tricks up its sleeves, like smart speed, voice boost, and variable playback speed. We love it. There’s only one problem. It’s been iPhone-only. At least until now.
The latest update of the Overcast Podcast Player brings a bunch of major features to the app: iPad and CarPlay support. That means you not only can enjoy Overcast on your tablet, but if you have a car that supports it, you’re all set.
Here’s what’s new in the latest update according to the official app update notes:
What’s New
Overcast is now universal:
iPad support
Rotation
Carplay
Plus a lot of small improvements and fixes.
Podcast apps are arguably more useful on the iPhone than the iPad, but that in-car support is a huge win for commuters everywhere. Personally, though, I’m still using Castro, my vote fot the most beautiful podcasting app on iOS. What do you think? Should I switch to Overcast? Let me know in the comments.
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John Brownlee is a writer for Fast Company, and a contributing writer here at CoM. He has also written for Wired, Playboy, Boing Boing, Popular Mechanics, VentureBeat, and Gizmodo. He lives in Boston with his wife and two parakeets. You can follow him here on Twitter.
6 responses to “Overcast, the best podcasting app, now works on iPad and CarPlay”
Whoops John the App is called “Overcast”
John, check the title of this post. It’s “Overcast,” not “Overplay,” and yes, it’s fantastic. SmartSpeed is absolutely amazing and saves a lot of time without chipmunking or anything sounding odd at all. It’s saved HOURS for me in the time I’ve used it. (It tells you how much time it’s saved for you.) Plus, Podcast playlists—which I thought were unnecessary when I first started using it—are a fantastic way to manage your listening the way Marco has implemented it. Really great.
I like Overcast quite a bit, but am wavering between it and Downcast due to Overcast’s lack of gesture controls, which for me is essential since I listen mostly while driving.
I bought both the desktop and mobile versions of Downcast and couldn’t be happier. I can create or edit subscriptions and playlists on one and have them show up on the other. Settings, positions within a podcast and more are synced as well.
And playlists are a GREAT way to listen to podcasts. It’s like my own little private radio station that plays only stuff I like and (thanks to Downcast’s priority settings) knows to play the most important podcast first when I fire it up.
Well worth the $13 combined that I spent!
The lack of streaming is a deal-breaker for me. When the app was released, Marco said that it was coming when iOS 8 was released. We’re now at 8.1 (soon to be 8.1.1) with no sign of streaming. I’ve sent an e-mail inquiring about it, but so far it has been answered with crickets.
I may be sorry that I purchased the full version of Overcast, because I can’t fully commit without the option to stream my podcasts. I’m afraid this might end up like Sparrow. I purchased that program because the developers promised that push notifications were “definitely coming”…. until they were bought up by Google. Push notifications never came.
I totally agree. The streaming is a total deal-breaker for me as well.
Although I do have podcasts that I subscribe to, I do a lot of random listening to podcasts, just one episode of a podcast I’ve never listened to because someone recommended I listen, or because I’m educating myself on a particular subject, and that means spur of the moment “I wanna listen to this!” and streaming begins.
I’ve sadly wanted to listen to podcasts that way on Overcast and immediately remember why I haven’t listened IN Overcast.
Great app. Love it. Want to use it more, but….I’m a Castro girl all the way. It gets out of the way and I can just consume podcasts like I want to consume them.