Apple recently released a new Podcast app for iOS. The rumors are that this will replace the podcast functionality in the regular iTunes Music app. I listen to a good deal of podcasts so I thought I would give it a whirl.
So far, not so good. After just a few weeks, I’ve already gone back to the old way of doing things. The app looks nice, but it’s missing some important functionality.
So what’s the problem?
- Frequent Crashing – I realize this is just a test run and this one should be resolved by the time the next version of iOS is released. The reality though is that this is a disappointment. I’ve heard a few people complain about being disappointed by this already. When I open the app and it doesn’t do anything but dump back out to the home screen, that’s not a great feeling.
- Frequently Unresponsive – If I open up the podcast app while I’m driving, it had better acknowledge that I’m touching the screen. Instead, it doesn’t really do anything for a few seconds and then recognizes all of the taps at once, sending the app into a tailspin.
- Playback Order – I subscribe to a few different podcasts and I like to listen to them chronologically. When I begin a listening session I prefer to start with the oldest episode I haven’t listened to yet. I listen to the oldest episode first and work my way towards the present. Unfortunately, the new app works the other way. It wants to listen to the newest and work backwards. As I finish an episode, it automatically goes the opposite direction and so I have to stop the audio and open the app (dealing with the issues above) and find the next podcast. This issue could be solved easily with a toggle in the Settings.
- User Interface – This is not Apple’s prettiest offering, but I can deal with that. However, it’s not the most intuitive. The interface is drastically different from the iTunes Music app we’ve been using for years. I’m all for improving upon existing functionality, but this seems like change for the sake of change. A large portion of the screen is now dedicated to a visual of a reel to reel instead of the episode description we had in the iTunes Music app. What’s the point of this?
These are just a few gripes off the top of my head, but the most important to me is the playback. If that doesn’t change, I’m going to be looking into some alternatives.