Poor Apple Podcast App

[Harry_The_Bustard 67]

The version which shipped with iOS 9 is dismal - perhaps in part due to the way I consume podcasts - i.e. by capturing them in iTunes and synchronising them across to my iPhone. Then again it's not unusual as Tom Jones would say.

 

First up - and this is a problem I recall from the previous version - why, oh, why does it put them on in a random order when first set up? With thirty-seven in my case it was painful to have to manually sequence them alphabetically - that by far being the best way to have them. Using "Search My Podcasts" is an option but that's hardly quicker when the list is in sequence and I simply want to find a particular source.

 

Secondly, it's so damn slow... after synchronising it taking an age to update the contents... it crawling along in front of one's eyes. I may have a lowly 4S but I expect better.

 

Last and certainly not least is the player "window" - the tiny slat just above the menu with fiddly controls being a nightmare to use - the full-screen controller, available when that's tapped upon, being far better.

 

Oh, and there are howling bugs in there - not least the appearance of the names of other podcasts in certain chapters - also the "Not Subscribed" banner being improperly rendered at times.

 

I've reported these matters to Apple via their Feedback service.

Edited October 10, 2015 by Harry_The_Bustard

[MacTetra 1]

I have used Downcast & Pocketcasts but have now gone back to Apple's Podcast app, the sync has greatly improved (had major problems with Downcast sync). Also, I use the integration with iTune on my Mac (I'm paralysed from the neck down and iTunes is the easiest way to organise my podcasts). I agree that downloads can be slow but stability to me is overall better than the third party apps I've tried.