Reviews for the Podcasts App

I know I just wrote a post about the Podcasts App from Apple. I'm back on board after a while away. I like it.

This post is different though. See, I tried and tried in Podcasts version 1.1.1 to get my podcast Playlists from iTunes to work in the Podcasts app. When I finally couldn't figure it out, I gave up and found Downcast. With the help of the Internet I found a few reviews of Podcasts version 1.2 and learned that Playlists are back and Apple has worked out this new feature called My Channels. I've played with it again. It took some time, some getting used to, and more than one sync between iTunes and between iCloud. Now it is running smoothly.

I went back and updated my less favorable review of the app on iTunes hoping it would help turn the ratings around, even just a little. I started reading reviews about the app freezing, not being able to sync playlists, and not being able to play programs in anything except reverse chronology. Well, they are just flat out false.

The App freezing is because you have a ton of subscriptions and it takes time to sync all of that between iCloud and the host website for all of your subscriptions. Get one started and let the app do its thing in the background.

Playlists are there. What you need to do is sync your playlists with iTunes, the same way you have done it hundreds of times before. Then open the Podcasts app and switch to My Channels. There are two default channels to help you figure out how to make your own custom channels. You'll also see an entry for iTunes Playlists. This works like iPods of old worked. They are still organized in the Playlist Folders that you created in iTunes. They are also in the same sort order that you created for them in iTunes. Sort on whatever you want and these playlists will be set correctly.

Playback order is something that Podcasts version 1.2 has given more choices for than ever before and definitely better than Downcast offers. First you can do a newest episode first order. You can also do a manual order of the My Podcasts listing. We already mentioned that iTunes Playlists can do any number of sorts and they stay in order in Podcasts version 1.2 Now under My Channels, episodes are grouped with the program that they came from and are included in this particular channel The order of the podcasts can be newest first or match the order you've selected in My Podcasts. (Yeah, you may have to play around with this one to really understand what that means. It is pretty cool and what I use for most of my channels. The other great thing is that the order of episodes within any given channel can be specified.

With all of this ordering stuff and podcasts in or out of a channel, I was curious and concerned. I've got some podcasts that I'm behind on. I've had a couple times where iTunes stopped downloading episodes because I hadn't been listening to it. Then I listen to one and they resume with a flood of downloads, so that naturally means they are all together and I've got a clump of episodes for a particular show. Have you ever had a cupcake where the mix hadn't been completely mixed before baking? Then you bite in and there is a clump of something. It isn't good, just like it isn't good to get a marathon of episodes that you have a medium interest in. (Admit it. That is why you got behind on listening to episodes in the first place.) Well Apple has figured this out too. You can specify in My Channels that for a particular program you want the most recent 2 or one or all episodes. That way if you are behind, you can listen to a few episodes and then the channel moves on to the next program. The next time you open the channel, it will sync with your subscriptions and a few more will be waiting for you. You can work off a backlog without having to listen to 15 straight episodes of a particular program. I'm going to use this feature a bunch.

As I was reading the reviews in iTunes, I thought they were for previous versions. Many of the complaints were for the very things that I couldn't get to work in the previous versions of Podcasts. I switched to all versions and back and still these reviews exist. Many of them even call out iOS 7 in the text of the review. It is clear that people have updated the app with iOS 7 and still don't know how to use it. Instead of spending some time with it or doing some research, they are running back to iTunes complaining because it doesn't do something that it most certainly does do.

In the end I'll never fix this. I just hope everyone reading this post takes some time to find things they like about a product before they submit a customer review. The good news is that Apple allows you to update your review, as I did, after the product has improved or you learn something new that you didn't know before.

I've seen some of the different articles written about iOS 7. One of the points I read is to remember that with any upgrade that changes the look and feel of a product, often the features you loved before are still there. They are probably just moved to some other place. Take a little time to search in unexpected corners or do a few Internet searches. If the feature was that good, like podcast playlists, others are using it too. Maybe one of them has already found where it moved to and they can show you how to get back your gem of a feature.