[psmith2.0]

I heard one was coming in iOS 6, but I guess they didn't want to wait.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles...ne_ipad.ht ml

As a 5by5 hound, this is nice.

[Yontsey]

I, for one, very much welcome this standalone app. Makes using podcasts faster and more efficient.

[psmith2.0]

Have you seen the little bit of animation on the panel where you listen to your show? Along with those spinning gear in iOS 6's software update panel, they've got a reel-to-reel tape machine playing, with the tape spinning as the show plays, and a little rabbit/turtle switch, etc.

[Brad]

Excellent. Downloading now.

I hope the playback UI is specially tailored to podcasts. Despite the variable speed scrubber in the Music app, I have a heck of a time jumping through the timeline of some podcasts. It looks like this new app has a "jump forward 30 seconds" which is exactly what I need for skipping the stupid intros that so many podcasts have.

[thegeriatric]

Fantastic. Downloading now.

[psmith2.0]

That new iPhone needs to come. I need that new row for additional icons (Podcasts, Passbook and whatever else)...

Gruber says this was originally going to be part of the WWDC keynote, but there wasn't enough room. Odd they didn't just release it that day anyway, keynote hype or not. What's the difference between now and two weeks?

Surely they didn't think it would overshadow any iOS 6 or hardware news.

[cosus]

Better than that stupid forced update they made few weeks ago. All my iOS devices were making weird noises and dancing... hell my aTV tangled its self in its own cables it was dancing so vibrantly. Oh yeah, then my AT&T iPad decided it was a Sprint device.

[cosus]

Wait, I thought that the iOS 6 podcast program was to make podcasts. Can GarageBand for iPhone/iPad make podcasts? How can you host/upload podcasts?

[psmith2.0]

I can't get past the ugly icon.

It looks odd in some way. Don't know if it's the image/graphic, the coloring or a bit of both.

[kieran]

I tried this out for a few minutes yesterday, but I'll be sticking with Instacast.

The switching to the store to get subscriptions really bothered me.

[psmith2.0]

It's a little clunkier than I would've imagined. Not a deal-killer, just takes some getting used to. And the responsiveness of the buttons seems to be a bit hit-or-miss. I have to push the play and pause buttons several times before anything happens. And forget easy, predictable scrubbing. Are my fingers suddenly just too pudgy, or did Apple go with really small elements, tap targets, etc.?

[Yontsey]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 It's a little clunkier than I would've imagined. Not a deal-killer, just takes some getting used to. And the responsiveness of the buttons seems to be a bit hit-or-miss. I have to push the play and pause buttons several times before anything happens. And forget easy, predictable scrubbing. Are my fingers suddenly just too pudgy, or did Apple go with really small elements, tap targets, etc.?

After using the app for a few times, I agree with everything you said. They seemed to over fluff it when I don't see why they don't just have a standard music-type playing format instead of the reel-to-reel stuff.

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 It's a little clunkier than I would've imagined. Not a deal-killer, just takes some getting used to. And the responsiveness of the buttons seems to be a bit hit-or-miss. I have to push the play and pause buttons several times before anything happens. And forget easy, predictable scrubbing. Are my fingers suddenly just too pudgy, or did Apple go with really small elements, tap targets, etc.?

I'm still baffled as to why Apple hasn't implemented OS X's dock magnification feature (and cut/paste magnification in iOS) into timeline scrubbing.

[Chellovek]

Originally Posted by kieran I tried this out for a few minutes yesterday, but I'll be sticking with Instacast. The switching to the store to get subscriptions really bothered me.

+1!

[Yontsey]

I have a real issue with scrolling through the podcast. It's very herky jerky and doesn't respond well. Sometimes it'll go from 9min to 5min to 2min. Needs overhauling already.

[psmith2.0]

This thing is getting murdered in the iTunes user reviews! I'm talking John Gruber/new Talk Show levels of hatred and 1-2 stars galore.

[Brad]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 It's a little clunkier than I would've imagined. Not a deal-killer, just takes some getting used to. And the responsiveness of the buttons seems to be a bit hit-or-miss. I have to push the play and pause buttons several times before anything happens. And forget easy, predictable scrubbing. Are my fingers suddenly just too pudgy, or did Apple go with really small elements, tap targets, etc.?

Yeah, the new app is pretty mediocre. I have the same problems as Paul here. The playback buttons are too small and sometimes seem to need to be pressed twice to activate.

[psmith2.0]

Here's what happens to me, constantly: a podcast will start, I'll want to manually scrub to the middle of the show or someplace. I can't. But once I start trying to move the little red play head thing (so thin and impossible to grab), playback stops but the pause icon remains and I can't get playback to start.

Definitely the most buggy, unintuitive and half-asses Apple release I've ever seen. I could overlook it all if it was labeled a beta like Messages or Siri.

But for a finished product, from Apple no less, it's quite a step down.

Hope they're taking all the reviews and well-founded criticism to heart and are working in a solid update...

[psmith2.0]

Deleted. Useless piece of crap. Tried for four minutes to play a podcast. Literally. Four minutes. Unresponsive (couldn't get the episode square/tile to click, and the two times I finally did, it crashed the whole app. Hands-down the worst, most useless and frustrating app I've ever seen in five years.

That it's from Apple - and, despite all the valid complaints and one-star reviews with no update or fix after nearly two weeks - is just weird.

Not one time was using this app a reliable, predictable experience. Always involved 2-3 restarts to simply PLAY A PODCAST. And if I did get something to finally start playing, it was a 50/50 shot any of the controls (pause, scrubbing, etc.) would even work.

This morning was the final straw. When you can't do the simplest, most basic thing such an app is meant to do - play a podcast episode - then something's really messed up.

I'll revisit this if/when Apple sees fit to issue an update that makes this thing act like a real app from a real company. Until then, back to the Music app, which works perfectly.

[Axl]

While they're at it, change the name "Podcast" to "Broadcast".

[Bryson]

Missed this thread last time. I too have deleted the Podcast app. It freezes for minutes at a time on startup - I assume because it's trying to download a bunch of podcasts all at once - and is entirely unresponsive. It also doesn't come up with controls if you double-click the iPhone home button like the music app does. I sincerely hope this gets a Lot better in iOS 6.

[psmith2.0]

I've not encountered one person who likes, or has kept, this app on their device. Like I said, I think they had an intern contest or something. This is so unlike Apple, releasing something this buggy and spotty (and maddening). It is truly worthless, in its current form.

Hell, I could've done a better job and I don't know the first thing about iOS development.

[Yontsey]

It pops up for me if I double click home. I have switched to Instacast though. Great app.

[Yontsey]

Looks like the Podcast app is getting an update today.

http://www.macrumors.com/2012/07/25/...e-later-today/

[Yontsey]

...annnnnnd believe it or not, this app still blows dicks. Just updated and launched and it sat for over a minute without being responsive.

[Bryson]

Downloaded and tried the new version. Well, I guess this is technically "improvement" - the app is now merely shit, rather than a festering pile of pustulent shit. Still unusable.

Very unlike Apple. This is worse than the first beta of Messages for the Mac.

[psmith2.0]

Originally Posted by Yontsey ...annnnnnd believe it or not, this app still blows dicks. Just updated and launched and it sat for over a minute without being responsive.

When did Apple start baking in such fellatio-centric code into their wares? Because over in the Mountain Lion thread, Partial let it be known that Safari 6 apparently "sucks a bag of dicks" (which was truly news to me).

Is there any tea-bagging involved with the new iWork updates, because, if so, that's gonna affect my upgrade decision...

[Yontsey]

Tea-bags are optional

[psmith2.0]

Hey, guys...just wanted to remind everyone what a piss-poor, WTF?! "solution" this Podcasts app still is.

That is all. Carry on!








Seriously, now that we kinda have to use it (with iOS 6), it truly is the most convoluted, baffling piece of software I've ever used. There is nothing straightforward or obvious about it (finding, downloading, organizing or playing). Each of those major (important) categories sucks an unbelievable amount. And then when you break it down to the smaller features/functions contained within each of those larger categories, guess what? Those suck too! This app pretty much does nothing right or sensible. I'm surprised it even launches half the time (and I've had trouble with that too, to be honest).

I still think it's a inside 1 Infinite Loop practical joke that somehow made it out into the world, and Apple is simply too ashamed (or afraid of the PR blowback) to cop to it.

"Just let 'em think that's the real one...shhhh."

[Bryson]

It's actually a LOT better than it was when it first came out, to be fair.

I use it pretty heavily now I'm on iOS6, and I find it OK. Not great, but not unusable as it was when it first shipped. It's pretty much killed the last reason to sync my phone with my Mac, though.