I love podcasts passionately, which is why this is my must-have app

Date:
Sun, 20 Aug 2023 19:00:54 +0000

Description:
Overcast is hands down the best iOS app for podcasts

FULL STORY ======================================================================

If theres one thing I like more than excellent words, its when those words
are said by excellent voices. As a book writer and broadcaster whos also recorded an audiobook, its fair to say I have an interest in audio storytelling, and as a result, Im in headphone heaven whenever Ive got an amazing audiobook or provocative podcast to listen to. YouTube schmewtube : give me the audio-only option every time. Homescreen heroes

This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn't live without. Read them all here .

Because I really care about this stuff, I also care a lot about what I use to listen to my podcasts. Good enough isnt good enough, so at home its a set of AirPods Max and on the subway, its Bose QuietComfort II earbuds ; in the car, the EQ is carefully tweaked so I get the maximum bang with the minimum boom. And that fussiness extends to my app choices, which is why I use Overcast.

Ive tried lots of podcast apps. Some of them have more features. Some of them have sillier names. But Overcast is laser-focused on what I want a podcast
app to do. Heres why you should go to Overcast.fm and get it. Overcast makes it easy to get your podcasts just-so thanks to its useful customization options (Image credit: Future) The free version isnt rubbish

Many podcast apps come in two flavors, a paid-for version and a free one. And most times the free one is awful. Not here. The only difference between Overcasts free version and the paid version really boils down to just two things: a tiny tiny tiny banner ad at the bottom of the screen and the
ability to upload your own audio. The fun stuff is all here. Speaking of which... The fun stuff is fun

There are two absolute killer features in Overcast that I love to bits. The first is Smart Speed, and like many podcast apps, it enables you to listen faster to a podcast. But unlike many podcast apps, it doesnt do that by turning eminent authors into Alvin and The Chipmunks. It dynamically shortens the silences in talk-based podcasts (it cant do it with podcasts that use
loud backing music, but I dont listen to those) so you get the speed without actually speeding up the vocals. Its brilliant. And theres also a speed adjuster if you want to do that too.

Also brilliant is the other feature I care about, Voice Boost. Its something
I particularly like in the car where the roar of the traffic, the rumble of the tires, and the sound of my dark thoughts can easily overpower too-weak audio and thats a problem because that audio is often poorly mixed so when I turn it up to hear the quiet bits, theres suddenly a bit so loud it makes Anthrax at full tilt sound like an ASMR video. Voice boost ups the volume without letting any of it get too loud, and thats brilliant in any kind of noisy environment or for any podcast where the person doing the recording appears to be doing their first day on the job.

These arent the only good features. Theres a sleep timer, lots of
notification options, great Apple Watch support, and very useful offline listening. But Smart Speed and Voice Boost are my favorites. It works on my Mac

M-series Mac? Overcast works on that too. Heres a pic. Overcast is also available in the Mac App Store (Image credit: Future) Its made by one guy

I think one of the reasons I like Overcast so much is because its the work of one guy, Marco Arment. Marco has very clearly made the app he wanted to have, and it just so happens that thats the app I want to have too. And more importantly, Marco didnt want to stuff his app with third-party trackers or other dodgy code. And I dont want that either. Its really flexible

The other thing I like about Overcast is that its really easy to build custom playlists by selecting specific podcasts, deciding which ones are priority, setting the sort options, and then excluding episodes you dont want. And then you can color code them, which isnt important but is somethingI really like. The app makes great use of color throughout to help you spot new episodes and identify podcasts that appear to be hibernating. And its Siri Shortcuts support is superb. Overcast has superb Siri support (Image credit: Future)
Its good to share

Last but definitely not least, I like Overcasts sharing option. Sharing a podcast is hardly a new feature, I know, but Overcast does it differently:
its Share Clip feature enables you to send a 1-minute clip of the current episode using the iOS share sheet and it includes clip editing tools so you can send exactly what you want to send. Its a really handy way to avoid the what the hell is this? response to sent links. It's super cheap

Overcast is $9.99/8.99 per year. Not per month. Per year. Thats an absolute steal.

Download Overcast from the App Store here .



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/computing/websites-apps/i-love-podcasts-passionately -which-is-why-this-is-my-must-have-app


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