Overcast out-Appled Apple
After a recent blogpost by MG Siegler about the stagnation of Apple’s Podcast app, I decided to try out Overcast.
I’ve been a very early podcast listener. No, not from the Odeo days, but not much thereafter. In recent years, Apple’s podcasting app served me well. Though that seems to be all relative. After spending a day with Overcast, it is clearly the better app to listen to podcasts.
The user interface is simpler. The controls are bigger and right there. It is easier to configure the number of episodes to keep. It is easier to set a sleep timer. I have a better overview of available episodes. Etc.
A lot of these things are subtle. For the same subtle beauty that we praise Apple, Overcast out-appled Apple.
If I have to point out a shortcoming, it is a lack of controllability of the episodes to download to my Apple Watch. When I go for a run, I don’t want to bring my phone with me.