@JohnPhilpin @maique Castro is working fine for me, too. And I switched back to Castro just yesterday because you lot were talking about it and I had grown disgruntled with Overcast. 😂
@gpittman Castro feels nice, and it's grown on me. I do miss Overcast's web player. Castro does allow me to send the episode link and listen on a browser, but then I have to go back to the iPhone and archive that one. It annoys me more than it should, but I miss having the "done" tick on an episode I've listened to... All this talk about players, I just downloaded Pocket Casts again, and they to allow me to mark an episode as done, as well has having a macOS player, and web player as well.... Hmmmmmm.... Why do I check all these software conversations ??
@maique I hear you. I had just comfortably settled into using Castro, and now I have two other podcast apps installed on my phone, including the original Apple app! 🤦🏼♂️
@crossingthethreshold I just miss having a web player, that's all. And now I'm testing the subscription on Pocket Casts. I haven't even tried the stock app, no one seems to recommend it. A friend of mine I talked to this weekend said he was using it, and I believe he's the first one I know. Also he asked me what I was using, so he might be looking for a change... Hahahah. What do you think of it ?
@maique The stock app is my least favorite out of all that apps that I have tried. It feels unusually messy to me for an Apple app, and unnecessarily complicated. Having said that, I feel as though I can handle it better after a few months on Castro.
At the moment I happy to just have podcasts on my phone. If I want I can stream them through a speaker. I am almost afraid to try a web or Mac app in case I like it and that gets added to my wish list (and more app hunting)! 😁
One thing that I do like about Castro which I cannot find in another app is the ability to like a single podcast episode on a podcast that I am not subscribed to. So for example, if you recommend an episode of a podcast and I don’t subscribe to the podcast, I can star that episode to listen to later.
@crossingthethreshold Thanks for the thorough reply, sir!
Pocket Casts also allows you to listen to, download and star single episodes of shows you’re not subscribed to, by the way. I still find it messier than Castro, but a single subscription, and at half of Castro’s price, will give you iOS, macOS and web. Not a bad deal, in my opinion. I still have eight months left on Castro, but subscribed for a month. Not totally on board, but I could see myself using this one.
@gpittman @maique so in less than 48 hours I too had got frustrated with Overcast ... so completely deleted castro and then reinstalled ... and then loaded podcasts from backup ... all is now working ok.
Filed in the switch it off and switch it on bucket
@maique kind of jumping into this conversation here as I see some are talking about Pocket Casts. I have used it for quite a few years now at a time when I had both IOS and Android phone and that was the best I could find to keep them in sync. It has bee a while since I used Overcast (which was my player of choice) but I do remember it taking me some time to fully enjoy Pocket Casts and now I am happy with the App still for a lot of what you have already mentioned most importantly sometimes finding a single episode of a podcast I can quickly download to listen to.
@maique Thank you for that regarding the staring of single episodes. I'll give it a look later. I’m on the Pocket Casts rabbit hole right now, but think that I might try and month’s subscription like to you, to give it a go. I am in a similar place to you with Castro, but maybe trying them side by side will give me a better perspective.
@ericmwalk Jump right in! And thank you. It’s a very decent app, for sure. Not big issues. Still finding Castro’s workflow easier for me, that triage is something else. I can get used to Pocket Casts, the learning curve is not steep at all, but I will/would always miss the Inbox/Queue from Castro.
@maique @ericmwalk @crossingthethreshold
have to say the castro triage is really very good - because i am subscribed to too many podcasts - but choose episode by episode which I listen to - can pocketcasts improve on that?
@JohnPhilpin @maique @crossingthethreshold I guess I don't really know how Castro works as I have never used it. I am guessing that Pocket Casts doesn't do what you are looking for specifically. I have some Podcasts that I for sure want to listen to automatically download and get added to my queue of up next. Then for other Podcasts I browse in each every now and then and see if something looks interesting and then I will add it to the queue. So that is kind of how I use the app to maybe tackle what you are talking about but I am guessing Castro is more systamatic.
@ericmwalk @JohnPhilpin @maique Thank you all for your input on this conversation. I am going to try Pocket Casts and see if it works better for me than Castro. The keeper for me with Castro, as others have said, is the triaging of backlogged podcasts.
@kulturnation if there is an ‘Overcast’ - OF COURSE there is a ‘Downcast' - will take a look - thankyou
@kulturnation turns out I must have had it before - went to downlaod and got the little cloud ... so trying again - switched on icloud synch and piles of my podcasts are arriving ... let’s see - thankyou for the recommendation …
@kulturnation would be a great if there was an EASY way to synch OPML files across different apps - in fact if you could point any app to THE OPML file you want to use - so as you add and subtract podcasts in one app - that file gets updated and the other apps are synched on 'command’ ... i know ... i know - first world problems!
@maique I’m driving myself nuts with podcasting apps. Castro still feels best for me with its triage features. I am beginning to appreciate having Mac based apps as well. I went back to the Apple app (again). How are you getting on with Pocket Casts? Is it your new home?
@crossingthethreshold So far, yes. I've spent the past days sitting at the computer and using Pocket Casts app for that. With Castro it was a bit trickier, this one feels great. I could still use the iPhone for podcasts, but the idea for this month is to use Pocket Casts. Feels weird on the phone, Castro is king there, but on the laptop this is a good one.
@kulturnation I tried that approach and failed - this with far less devices!!!!
I want what I want when I want it wherever I am
It looks like downcast is going to give me the best desktop exp to manage podcasts whic sync to phone where I listen to podcasts
Oh interesting ....
”Owned by a consortium of public radio stations in NPR, WNYC Studios, WBEZ Chicago and This American Life, we believe in great stories and are focused on helping publishers grow their audience.
From pocket cast web site
@kulturnation It's interesting that you mention missing radio, I have thought the same thing recently. I used to listen to radio all of the time. I guess that it is still accessible, but for some reason it does not feel the same to me. And like you I disappear down the rabbit hole of reading reviews, etc when I hear of different software, and then nine times of ten I end up back where I started! 🙄😆 @johnphilpin
@maique I have been through Pocket Casts, the Apple app (again) and on with Castro. After all of that, and reading what has been written about Pocket Casts being sold, I have circled back to Castro on my phone and if I want to listen to a podcast on my Mac, I'll use the stock app (I don't have too many podcasts at the moment). @johnphilpin
@crossingthethreshold I'll probably keep using Pocket Casts on the desktop for the remainder of the subscription (it's really handy), and still using Castro on the iPhone (hard to let go).