1/23/2024 0 Comments Downcast app for desktop![]() Also, some of the buttons are spread out in the window in odd places. They don’t seem to fit with the rest of the app. I’m no designer, but something about the forward and skip buttons feels off to me. The interface could also use a bit of polish. The 1.0 release has a number of known bugs that they’re working on fixing soon. (I’ve seen this bug on several occasions, though efforts to reproduce it intentionally have failed.) The CEO of Jamawkinaw Enterprises, Seth McFarland, told me that However, as I sit here playing with Downcast, I switched from one podcast to another, then switched back again, and Downcast lost my place, which is a pretty serious bug. Instacast, even in beta, was supremely polished, and worked smoothly and reliably. By comparison, Instacast offers only a handful of fixed playlist options.ĭespite those niceties, Downcast doesn’t yet match up to Instacast’s level of refinement. While this feature is a bit overwhelming on an iPhone, it’s phenomenal in the Mac version. You can create smart playlists to include as many or as few episodes as you wish, and include or exclude video podcasts, downloaded podcasts, partially played podcasts, and all-new podcasts. Like its iOS counterpart, Downcast for Mac features powerful playlist creation tools. Downcast has a clear advantage over Instacast when it comes to keyboard control. When Downcast isn’t in the foreground, you can play or pause with the F8 key, skip 30 seconds back with the F7 key, and skip 30 seconds forward with the F9 key. Instead, you can play or pause a podcast in the app by hitting the Space bar, and skip forward or back 30 seconds by pressing Command and either Downcast ignores the Mac’s media keys entirely. Even when enabled, using media keys to control Instacast is spotty - sometimes it works and sometimes it launches iTunes by mistake. A bug in OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion means that you have to enable the Gatekeeper security feature in order to control Instacast playback from the keyboard (which, to be fair, isn’t a major liability - for most people, Gatekeeper should be enabled). Instacast stubbornly tries to use the Mac’s media keys to control playback, which leads to all kinds of problems. While syncing between Downcast’s versions was initially very spotty, after an update to the iOS client, it seems to work pretty well, though you have to wait a few seconds after pausing either app for the sync to occur.ĭowncast has some nice advantages over Instacast. If I just wanted to listen on my Mac, then iTunes, which inexplicably doesn’t sync with Apple’s own Podcasts app over iCloud, would do just fine. The 2-minute skip is particularly nice for long podcast advertisements.īut the most important thing about these apps is how well they sync with their iOS brethren. As in Downcast for iOS, you can skip back 30 or 15 seconds, or skip forward 30 seconds or 2 minutes. Will Downcast for Mac be able to win back my affections?įans of Downcast will be pleased to see many of their favorite features in the Mac version, especially the multiple skip options. While Downcast was my original pick for podcast listening on the iPhone (see “ Five Alternatives to Apple’s Podcasts App,” 22 December 2012), Instacast’s excellent Mac app eventually won me over, thanks to its syncing capabilities (see “ Instacast for Mac Fills the Desktop Podcatcher Gap,” ). 1675: Apple “Wonderlust” event, OS security updates, Apple CSAM pullback, Mozilla car privacy report, iPhone weather apps, bike tour iPhone photos, do you use the iPhone 14 Pro Always-On display?įollowing on the heels of Instacast, the popular iOS podcast client Downcast from Jamawkinaw Enterprises is now available on the Mac for $9.99.1676: OS dates, iPhone 15 lineup, Apple Watch Series 9 & Ultra 2, USB-C AirPods Pro, USB-C cable advice, more from Wonderlust.1677: iOS 17.0.2 for iPhone 15, OS security updates, new AirPods features, restore Slack sidebar, Orion HDMI display app, Apple carbon neutrality reactions. ![]() 1678: macOS 14 Sonoma available, two portable laptop stands, iPhone Always-On display poll results, which Web browsers do you use?.#1679: iOS 17’s Check In, iOS 17.03 addresses overheating, Mac browser popularity, Arc adds AI features, do you use Finder tags?. ![]()
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