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Apple Has Ruined Its Podcasts App (slate.com)
Mike Pesca, host of Slate's daily podcast The Gist, writes about the recent interface changes to Apple's Podcasts app (condensed): Up until two months ago, the Apple Podcasts app was the only podcasting app I used. It gave me a nice, workable list of the shows I liked; let me know when those shows were updated; played the shows easily and without glitches; and offered the option of listening in double speed. I knew where everything was, and I thought of its shortcomings not as features the app was lacking but more like things one simply could not do with a podcast. If the Apple Podcast app wasn't great for sharing podcasts via email or text -- and it was not -- I told myself, "That just must be something that's hard for a podcast app to execute." I figured the best a podcasting app could do was to facilitate sharing the feed of a show, rather than the specific episode I was listening to. I never dared dream I could send a specific time within that episode. What sorcery is that? But sometime in the past few months, the Apple app began to fail me. Of my four basic requirements, three suffered. The list of the shows I listened to was now incomplete. There was no longer a number denoting how many episodes of each show I had on the app. The list of unplayed episodes had melded into the list of played episodes. I was offered the opportunity to browse my "Library," but access to any "card catalog" or "Dewey Decimal System" proved elusive. Apple kept pushing me toward my "recently updated" shows, but these weren't the offerings most useful to me every time I checked back in.
I agree with the statements about Apple's podcasts app - the shortcomings made me finally switch to the frequently recommended "overcast" app and after a few days of it I'm regretting not switching sooner
-a.e.mossberg
You think that's all the ruined. How about the Music App which has gone to hell since 8.3 was released. This is what pisses me off the most
I'm getting worried about Apple. I'm feeling more and more of the moz://a vibe from it.
By that I mean we're seeing Apple do more and more things that they want to do, rather than giving customers what the customers desire.
We've seen moz://a do this with Firefox. While Firefox was initially developed in a way that benefited users, and provided them with a superior browser, over time we've seen the opposite happen. Changes have been made to Firefox not based on any demand or desire from users, but rather just because moz://a wants to force through their own ideas an initiatives. The end result has been disastrous: users have fled Firefox, moving to browsers that actually prioritize giving a good user experience. Firefox's share of the market has dropped from 35% down to 5%, and this has effectively made moz://a irrelevant. Worse, we've seen one failure after another (Firefox OS, Rust, Servo, Persona, Hello, Pocket, etc.) when it comes to moz://a's attempts at creating new products and offerings.
I fear that the same thing is starting to happen to Apple. I think they may have lost focus on the user, and are now going down the same path that moz://a did, of doing what they (Apple or moz://a) want to do, instead of what the customers/users want to be done.
Please, Apple, learn from moz://a's mistakes! Don't become what they become! Put the focus back on the customers and what the customers actually want, rather than trying to force agendas or initiatives on the customers!
Wait, isn't Rust the greatest programming language ever developed? Since you are clearly wrong including it on your list, you must be a Muslim terrorist. Fuck you, Akbar.
For the past couple of years I have noticed that many pieces of software and websites are "improved" to the point where they become unusable.
Here is a useful hint. If you have an established popular product, web or software, and someone comes along suggesting a "refresh because it is getting stale" Fire them. have them escorted from premises as soon as possible. (With a few swift kicks if possible.) These people serve no useful purpose, and waste valuable oxygen. A refreshed, modern interface will NOT bring new users to your product, but the features that you thought were unimportant, and removed will drive some of your current users away.
Looking at you Slashdot.
First law of people: People are generally stupid.
Apple has been making similar changes to their tvOS. Won't go into the details here, but they're effectively trying to dumb-down the interface by stripping out useful features. Not sure what logic is driving these changes. Were people really that overwhelmed by the now-missing ability to "Mark as watched" manually?
That's not all they broke. They broke subscribing to podcasts entirely.
You can press the button. It will show you as subscribed. But then, at some nebulous point in the future, it will reset to "unsubscribed" and refuse to download new episodes.
Also I contest that up until two months ago it was capable of playing episodes "without glitches" - I've had it randomly crash in the middle of episodes for years now.
But, overall, I agree: the Podcast app on iOS is a great example of how Apple has completely lost their way as a software company. It's awful and literally unusable (I mean, if it can't download new episodes, what the hell is the point?), and Apple doesn't care.
Did it cause you to spill your latte to?
Amazon is doing the same. Just found out that they are now maintaining a "permanent record" of all your purchases, where a picture of everything purchased is shown in the list of orders. And you can only "HIDE" items, not delete them.
They are just trying to homogenize all their applications to make them as shitty as iTunes. I would have had an iPhone a while ago but for the hot mess that is Windows iTunes.
"I say we take off, nuke the site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."
I've never used a podcast app. I download podcasts on my computer and copy them to my phone.
1. It now defaults to polling every hour on the hour and if it doesn't reply at that time it gets confused. I had to manually reset every thing to checking once a week (for weekly podcasts) or every day (for anything else).
2. It tries to Sync everything. The overhead on this is a nightmare. It's like "are you sure you have the rights to view that ... how about now, did they expire ... oops it says you don't have this (thing you listened to already) let me download it again".
3. You have to both Subscribe and get Notifications. It forgets these whenever it patches itself. It assumes if you haven't listened to the podcast in a couple of days that you don't every want to listen to that podcast ... when instead it's like a music podcast and it will still be music in a week or a month.
Somebody trying to impose IP rights really really messed up. They should be fired and sent to a Greenland Ice Research station with only tropical shirts and shorts.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Overcast is maintained by a single developer and this person has decided to walk away from CarPlay support. Yes, there's a Carplay Overcast app, but it fails to launch and crashes consistently. I mean to the point that it has never worked once in the past year or so.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
Yeah, Apple wishes Adam Curry never invented the Podcast.
Early on they were using it as leverage to get the networks on board with the Apple TV, then when the networks demanded they let Podcasts die they removed all support from iMovie and GarageBand. Even got rid of iWeb. But the joke's on them. The networks held out and are still in control.
Too bad, Apple could have been bigger than YouTube if they took their collective heads out of the big ass, Tim Cook.
Courtesy of editor msmash
So it works about as well as CarPlay in general, then?
It's clear Apple doesn't give a shit about CarPlay. It's not like any of Apple's apps actually work in it either.
Shortwave is huge now, you don't even need a data plan or a phone.(I gave my phone away)
Infowars is even on tonight 4840KHz
This just in: Apple makes shitty software and devotes resources to making it worse. More news on this SHOCKING, TOTALLY UNEXPECTED development at 10 o'clock.
"By that I mean we're seeing Apple do more and more things that they want to do, rather than giving customers what the customers desire."
Apple's always done that, though. I mean, even more than most companies. See, e.g., Steve "You're Holding it Wrong" Jobs.
Pocketcasts on Android recently "improved" their Podcast app and broke several pieces of good usability. Deleting a played podcast no involves multiple taps, batch delete is gone and you can no longer hide podcasts you don't care about.
I don't know why the "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" rule no longer applies to apps. It's frustrating.
I've noticed that iTunes nearly requires a link to the cloud. I thought the idea of a handheld device was so that you didn't have to have an internet connection. That might not be so bad on the phone but it sucks on the iPod.
It was the 4s, the 5s was a compromise.
After that, they're on the usual tech plateau that all tech companies end up on.
No headphone jack, that's courageous. FaceId? Meh.
But more importantly, their software is in decline. I'll grant you APFS, that's an interesting achievement.
But removing the iTunes App Store and leaving it only on the phone? That's stupid.
Spotlight on iOS no longer shows which folder the app is in. I need that.
Bluetooth and wifi are always on? Dumb and insecure.
Apple accessories? Beat headphones are the future? Give me a break.
They always maintained a record of your purchases.
Infact every company you buy something from does, for at least 7 years. It's a legal requirement in a lot of countries.
It's the best IMO, but Apple doesn't seem to allow apps that compete with theirs.
Twinstiq, game news
It will work out fine, Microsoft will give them $150 million, and Steve Jobs will come back.
Windows, Google Applications, General applications, Android, iOS - UI developers and UI managers or UX or whatever they call themselves, they seem to get it right in one or two iterations and after that, for the most part they are *NO LONGER NEEDED* but management keep these huge teams on and they need to 'fiddle' to justify existence.
I've whined, easily 100 times across the internet about this, but people just endure it, they don't lose customers due to it, unless it's a particularly egregious screw up unfortunately.
We're looking at apps with flat colours, no dividing lines, no shading, weird animations, massive massive amounts of white space, no coloured icons, no *GODDAMN LABELLING OF ICONS*, etc. Many of those "gaudy!" things, help you easily identify what you're doing or about to do. While you may still get used to doing things with the app, I find often, I will hesitate for one fraction of a second, maybe even just .2 seconds when I'm clicking unlabeled, uncoloured icons, every.single.time, because my brain has to confirm it's right.
Problem is, when I do these functions thousands or tens of thousands of times a year, they're wasting my damn time.
and, boy, oh BOY am I glad I no longer work in first level technical support. I would be horrendously angry over the past 5-10 years, IMMENSELY so. Being able to describe the GREEN SQUARE icon on the left, in the BOX next to the RED CIRCLE ICON and the icon is LABELLED "GO" is vastly easier than: ..white, like all the other icons, it's going from right to left, yeah it's kind of in the middle of nothing, it's up the top left, no the other top left, no really sir it IS there. You say it isn't? Can you describe what you see? Lots of white eh, any words? No words oh........ what icons are there? ... yes .. an odd shape ok put your mouse over it so we can get the tooltip name for it,......... oh you're on a touchscreen ....... ok ..well ummm "
"No, click the arrow, yes, it's
Seriously these changes are mind-bogglingly bad for end users and first level support, but as we all know, saves them money having a translation team, doesn't it?
I loathe it.
...taking an app that's popular and easy to use and fubarring its UI to the point that it drives users crazy. If it's not a word it should be.
Never let a lack of data get in the way of a good rant.
I have an Alpine iLX-007 and it works great with all the Apple apps, including the podcast app. I have been extremely pleased with this headunit and Carplay implementation.
$5 / month hosted VPS on linux = awesome!
The new UI for the Podcasts app is really awful, but I can chalk that up to the general dumbing down of user interfaces everywhere. My big problem is just basic functionality...you can't have a bunch of podcasts (even in the same feed!) play one after the other, so you have to mess with the phone when one ends to start the next one. This kills usability for me, because I really don't like touching the phone while I'm driving. I'm not usually in 5 MPH traffic crawling along...it's usually 45-55 MPH heavy traffic with traffic lights, crazy aggressive drivers and one second with your eyes off the road can mean an accident.
I don't mind UI changes when they make the app more functional. I can't stand changes that hide functionality or take away working features. Someone should put an idea in Jony Ive's ear to have a small hidden switch on the back of new iPhones...one side is "consumer" and the other is "reasonably tech-friendly" and it allows app developers to make 2 versions of their app. (Hey, I'm going to file a patent and sell it to Apple for a million bucks.)
Apple ruined so many things recently that focusing on a single one greatly reduces the extent of the "problem".
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Nonsense. That's not a legal requirement. They would have to ban cash.
I'll admit this had never even occurred to me until my grandmother started developing glaucoma and other visual issues. She's legally blind now, but perhaps clearer UIs would have enabled her to learn podcasts/audiobooks while she still had some decent sight.
The real problem started when you used an Apple product to try to do a thing. See, if you don't do it precisely the way their engineers and marketing department designed or want to do something slightly different or additional, it's not going to work and you're going to be unhappy...like this example.
Wtf? You still get an invoice and record of sale regardless of payment method. Are you stupid?
Oh wait, there's no mod for that. Too damn bad, 'cuz there should be.
And apples followers dont help any. Their collective attitude seems to be " if you dont like what apple is doing; your not the kind of customer apple wants".
Unfortunately the only vision Tim Cook has is to keep Apple making money. I don’t think Cook gets really involved in decisions like Steve Jobs did. Jobs obsessed about all the details because Apple was a reflection of him. I think it’s Tim Cook’s hands off approach that has let this stuff slip by.
The podcast app in iOS 11 was the first time I seriously considered downgrading iOS. (Turns out thatâ(TM)s not so easy. )
This app now sucks. 6 taps to do what took 2 before.
>Steve also seemed to eventually come around to the correct idea after he missed though
yeah, it only took 853 years to add a 2nd mouse button
what a cvnt
crapple makes crippleware for vain fvcking idiots, and steve "hand" job's only skill was making morons feel superior
A huge gripe of mine is that the podcast playlists node was removed. The playlists that I've created in iTunes still sync to my iPhone, but there's no way to play the damn list. The removal of the Podcast Playlists node has presented itself with the last 3 major releases, then it appears later. Still waiting....sigh.
getting incredibly stupid. Interfaces have lost their common sense flow probably designed by the folks who were caught in the dumming down of america in the late 90s/Early 2000s.
Tunein Radio - Had a great interface years ago, now it's completely idiotic.
Iheart Radio - Has become VERY evil. Slowly disabling regular Podcast functionality to push you to their app so they can spy on you AND no longer let you download podcasts. This is impressively evil.
It's certainly a legal requirement in Europe for a company to keep a record of all its financial activities for that long. I find it unlikely that the USA doesn't.
Thos financial activities include everything you have bought off them.
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
I gave up on the apple podcast app a week into its initial release. It was really a mess initially and I am not surprised it has gone down hill. I searched for a replacement. Downcast https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/downcast/id393858566?mt=8 is all I have used for years, well worth $4.
Did I miss something? This was a Podcast Aggregator or even a "Podcast app". It was not for podcasting.
The word is analagous to "broadcasting". A podcast app is more comparable to a Tivo or even a VCR. Neither of those would often be acused of broadcasting.
A few years ago, I was polled to ask if I had ever tried podcasting. I haven't but I do listen to a good number of podcasts. The result of the poll was that podcastts are silly because nobody listens to them as roughly 0% of people do any podcasting. If that sort of error happens here, how can we clear up the error?
I'll see your Constitution and raise you a Queen.
Yeah, this has been going on for awhile, I think the inmates (i.e., the "creatives") are running the asylum. Lots of app updates for the sake of changing things that aren't broken, and a lack of fixes for things that clearly don't work (I'm looking at you, iTunes).
Just junk food for thought...
The final straw for not believing Apple to be any good, re. privacy and security, was when Apple in a US congress hearing not only bent over backwards to both answer questions and otherwise being helpful in a FBI investigation, the panel solicited for Apple's representative there to talk to them afterwards and the man agreed. Making me think Apple has indulged in all sorts of things that would enable secret investigations, or more concretely, doing things that is variations of providing backdoors into Apple products.
Apple didn't ruin the podcast up. They ruined the entire f__king platform.
iOS 11 is probably the single worst release they've ever put out. They're already at 11.2 after only 3 months, my bluetooth has become frustratingly unstable, the apps are definitely more wonky...
I'm beginning to regret buying my iPhone 7 earlier this year. I never imagined that Apple would screw up iOS so badly. But here it is. Apple is supposed to sell premium devices with premium experiences. That's why they charge premium prices, because that's the social contract that has been established.
If Apple doesn't pull it's head out of it's ass, and quickly, I think this is going to be my last iOS device.
You mean the cash register receipt? That's not tied to any other purchase.
The new app is universally hated. I’ve been reading bad reviews everywhere. In the App Store itself there are no bad or good reviews, apparently the reviews have been disabled. How can apple fumble something so bad? During the beta tests my feedback was constant about all sorts of problems with the UI and the workflow. It does not work as simply as it used to, or the way it should since the old way wasn’t perfect either but at least it was usable.
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