Pocket Casts – The Best Podcast Player You Haven’t Heard Of!!!
by Jonathan Lonczak
Jul 1, 2011 11:25 AM –
Install
Pocket Casts. Podcast listening finally made easier. Stay up to date with all the latest podcasts (or netcasts if you’re Leo) with one easy to use app. Simply add your favourite podcasts, and you’ll be able to stream or download new episodes as they become available.
Features: Instant refresh: Refresh 100 podcasts in the same time it takes other apps to do 1! (our server monitors your feeds, so your phone doesn’t have to). Stream or download without file size limits, over 3G or WIFI. Background downloading. Widget (4×1) for controlling playback (tap artwork to jump back into app). Be notified when new episodes are available (optional). Landscape and large screen support. Quick skip feature, one tap of the screen and you can jump forward or back through your podcasts. Download to SD Card or phone. Search for podcasts, browse popular, browse categories or add by URL. OPML podcast import. Supports audio & video podcasts. Download resume support and more!
Price: ~$2.82
Tested on: HTC Thunderbolt, Samsung Galaxy Tablet
Content Rating: Everyone
Pros & Cons:
Pros
- Extremely easy to use and aesthetically appealing user interface!
- Robust podcast search engine!
- Easy access to podcast networks and podcasts by category!
- Auto-management of podcast library and sync!
- Stream or download podcasts!
- Resume multiple paused podcasts!
- Podcast of the week!
Cons
- Does not format properly on the larger screen of a tablet.
Features:
Pocket Casts is an excellent podcast managing application for Android devices. Pocket Casts features an excellent podcast searching manager, the ability to download or stream podcasts directly from your Android device, an extremely easy to use and visually appealing interface on your smartphone, and many additional features.
One of my favorite things about Pocket Casts is that it is extremely easy to use and visually appealing interface. It places all of the menus and navigation keys for the application at the bottom of the screen and displays your podcast info or search requests in the top portion of the screen. There are 5 navigation keys at the bottom of the screen: My Podcasts, Now Playing, Podcast Download and Sync, Podcast Search, and Settings. Each of these tabs brings up different options in the top portion of the screen allowing you to manage and play your podcasts.
The first screen that will load by default when running this application is “My Podcasts.” This screen shows a list of all your podcasts ordered alphabetically by show name along with all of their thumbnail images. The way the shows are displayed is very aesthetically appealing and provides a more fun and refined user experience then many competitors I have used; including Doggcatcher Podcast Player. When you click on a show’s thumbnail and title it brings up an episode list with a brief description of each episode of the podcast along with the option to either download, stream, or play the podcast. This makes it extremely easy for you to manage and play your podcast collection while also providing a pleasing experience for the user.
The second most important section of this application is the “Podcast Search” tab in Pocket Casts. This area of the application allows you to search for a specific podcast, find new podcasts by category, view popular podcasts, browse through podcast networks, import podcasts, or listen to the “Podcast of the Week.” I was quite pleased with the podcast searching capabilities. I was able to find all of my favorite podcasts quickly and easily and have them added to my subscription list in a matter of minutes. I have tried many different applications for podcast management including Podkast, Stitcher Radio, Google Listen, and Doggcatcher; the latter was the only other application that was comparable to the search features of Pocket Casts.
The other various options under the search setting were equally as useful. I was able to easily browse through various comedy podcasts and found one by NPR that I had never heard of before and was the American equivalent to my personal favorite, the BBC Comedy Podcast. Podcast Networks was a list of various large podcast sydicators and the shows that those companies produce such as Revision3, NPR, and the BBC. Podcast of the week is just a favorite podcast of the creators of Pocket Casts and changes from week to week.
The download manager section of the application shows a list of podcast episodes that have either already been downloaded or still need to be saved to the SD card. You can then either manage each episode individually or perform batch operations on your podcasts such as: download all, remove all, or remove all but the latest. This allows you to easily download or remove all the podcasts you wish to quickly and easily.
Next is the “Now Playing” portion of the application. This area displays a full size image of the album art of the podcast you are listening to with play controls at the bottom. Another incredible feature of Pocket Casts is that it saves your place in each of the podcasts you are listening to, allowing you to step away from your device and then pick up right where you left off on return. Pocket Casts also provides you with easy access to the “Now Playing” section of the application through notification panel controls and through a 4×1 widget for your home screen.
Finally, the application has many advanced options under the “Settings” tab. This area of the application allows you to choose where your podcasts are stored to, how often the application checks for new episodes, whether or not a podcast is deleted when you finish playing it, and reordering the podcast titles in your library. This gives you a lot of control over how the application functions and allows you to customize it based on your needs.
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Pocket Casts Now Playing
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Pocket Casts Podcast Networks
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Pocket Casts Album Art
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Pocket Casts Downloads
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Pocket Casts Podcast Search
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Pocket Casts Search 2
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Pocket Casts Intro
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Pocket Casts Settings 1
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Pocket Casts Settings 2
Usefulness:
Pocket Casts is an extremely useful application for the avid pocast listeners or for someone that is looking for a good application to begin listening to podcasts with on their Android device. The app allows as much customization as the more expensive and popular DoggCatcher Podcast Player app for a lower cost. It also presents an easier to use and more aesthetically appealing user interface than its competitors. I have used DoggCatcher for over a year on my Android devices and I am pleased to say that in my humble opinion I think Pocket Casts is a more user friendly podcast player than Doggcatcher and other alternatives.
Ease of Use:
Pocket Casts is extremely easy to use. This is the most user friendly podcast player I have used with the most options native to the Android application. It allows you to have more control over your content with less work and that is exactly what we want from an Android podcast manager.
Frequently Used:
Pocket Casts is a daily flyer for me. I used it during the majority of this review in order to play classical music to keep me focused on writing and relaxed. It has podcasts of all sizes and types allowing you to literally use this application every day for at least an hour. If you are remotely in to podcasting you will constantly be using this application.
Interface:
The interface for Pocket Casts is extremely intuitive and easy to use. The design and attention to aesthetics is exquisite, this is by far the best designed podcast player I have used on Android to date. Plus it is also extremely feature rich with many advanced features like podcast streaming and podcast resume that many of it’s competitors are lacking.
My only complaint with this application in general is that it does not format well on tablet devices. I tried it out on my Samsung Galaxy Tablet and despite maintaining it’s basic functions the application did not format properly to fit the larger screen. As a result much of the visual appeal of this application disappears on larger tablet screens and detracts from the overall user experience of the application. Once this issue is fixed and they come out with a version which supports the richer APIs for Android 3.0+ this application will be the perfect podcast player for Android.
Tags:
Android App,
Android Apps,
AndroidTapp.com App Review,
Pocket Casts,
Podcast,
Podcast Manager,
Podcast Player,
Podcast Radio,
Podcast Streaming,
Podcasts
Categorised in: Media & Video, Multimedia, Music, News & Weather
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