Speaker 1: The release of iOS 12 didn't bring much to us from the OS side of things, but it did cause us to receive a new version of my favorite podcast app. So today let's take a look at version 5 of Overcast, arguably the best podcast app for iOS. So today we're taking a look at Overcast, a free podcast client for iOS and Apple Watch with a web client. If you're looking for a Mac app, there isn't a native one, but I did make a tutorial a while back on how to create one using Fluid, which you can watch by clicking the card above. If you aren't up to doing that, there's a third-party client called Podcasts Menu, which you can install by clicking the link in the description. Now let's get into the app. After setting up Overcast and subscribing to a few podcasts, this is how the app will look. At the top, you'll have Overcast settings, your download queue, the add new playlist buttons, and the podcast directory. We'll get into all of these in a bit. There's also a search bar that you can use to search through all the podcasts that you subscribe to. Under the menu bar will be your playlists, unplayed podcasts, and all of the podcasts that you subscribe to. Let's play a podcast. Find the show you want to listen to, then pick an episode. You can choose in Overcast settings whether you want new episodes to stream or download. When a podcast is playing, you'll see a mini player at the bottom of your screen. To expand it, either tap the chevron or podcast art. Going top to bottom in the player, you'll have the share button, which lets you share the whole episode, the episode at the current play point, or if the episode is chapter markers, share the episode at the beginning of the current chapter. In the center, you'll have the podcast art. When you swipe to the right, you'll have access to the effects pane. It's in this view that we have some of Overcast's best features. Smart speed and voice boost. Smart speed removes silences in podcasts and is a total game changer. Overcast keeps track of how much silence gets removed from all the shows you listen to, and in my time as an Overcast user, smart speed has saved me 259 hours of my life. That's over 10 days worth of silence removed. I guess that reveals the sheer amount of podcasts I listen to. Anyway, back to the player. The second effect here is voice boost. This is a feature for those podcasts that have great content but not so great audio. It helps by leveling out and EQing the audio so it's easier to hear. I've also found this feature helpful for when I'm in loud environments and would like voices to stand out more. One effect I would like to see added to Overcast is a stereo to mono toggle. This would be helpful for older shows that either have the hosts panned to separate sides or simply have unresolved editing issues such as all the sound being panned into one channel. Under smart speed and voice boost are the playback speed slider and a toggle that lets you save the way you set up your effects for certain podcasts. For example, when I listen to tech shows, I like hearing them at two times, but when I hear audio dramas or short stories, I want to hear those the way they were intended to be heard, at normal speed. Swiping to the left of the podcast art takes us to the podcast episode's description slash show notes. Here you can see any links or images the podcaster has provided. When they're available, podcast chapters will be one swipe to the left of the show notes. Each chapter has its own progress bar and will display any custom link and art if available. At the bottom of the player is a sleep timer, audio output selector, and recommend button. We'll talk about what happens to your podcast recommendations when we get to the podcast directory. Let's close the player. Right now, we've been playing this episode from the podcast slash show view. Here you can see the podcast title, description, website, provider name, and upload frequency. At the top of this view, there's a search bar that you can use to search the show's feed for specific episodes. Under all the podcast information are three tabs, unplayed, all, and settings. Here you can adjust the show's specific settings, like how to sort the episodes, whether or not to subscribe to all new episodes, how many unplayed episodes to keep before not allowing any more to be added, and whether or not to send notifications for new episodes. These notifications are interactive, so if you get an alert from your favorite show saying that there's a new episode, swipe it to the left, select view, and tap play or add to queue. Big tech week, Mike. Speaking of notifications, Overcast has a widget, if you're into that sort of thing, and features Siri shortcuts integration if you want to build shortcuts for your widget or for useless Siri. You can set this up by going to Overcast settings pane, tapping shortcuts, finding the control that you want Siri to be able to perform, and recording yourself saying the control trigger. You can use the recommended phrase or make your own. I recommend using the provided phrase unless you want to do something cool like this. Hey Siri, play the best podcast on earth. Or if you want to get really advanced with this, you can do something like Federico Vatici from MacStories.net.

Speaker 2: Upgrade. As well, a new iPhone 10 model that they'll probably just call the iPhone 10, the new iPhone

Speaker 1: 10. If you want to learn how to do that, I'll leave a link to his article in the description below. Now if you're like me, you probably don't want to think about what podcast episode is going to play next. That's where playlists come in. Most of the time you'll want to use a smart playlist. Smart playlists automatically update themselves to include the latest episodes of podcasts that you ask them to include. You can choose how to sort these playlists, either by newest to oldest or oldest to newest. As I said in my previous review, I would like to see an option to sort playlists by episode time length as that is how I primarily consume podcasts. Once you create your playlist, you can rearrange the order if desired or mass delete episodes. If you're new to the world of podcasts or are always looking for new shows, check out Overcast's directory. At the top, you can search for a show or add one manually by RSS. If you've signed into Twitter and Overcast settings, you'll be able to see podcast episodes recommended by people you follow on Twitter, along with the most recommended podcasts by all Overcast users. Under these are bundles of podcasts in certain categories such as comedy, film and TV, and tech. Under the bundles are collections. These are groups of podcasts from certain providers such as Gimlet, Relay FM, Radiotopia, etc. Overcast has a bunch of settings you can mess with when you install the app, like customizable seek buttons or dark slash black mode. But one thing I want to go over before the video ends is Overcast Premium. Yes, Overcast is free, but is ad supported? Don't let that turn you away though. These are not huge, distracting, virus filled or spammy ads. Overcast ads are only for other podcasts that it thinks you'll like. I've actually discovered some great podcasts through those. Ads will only display in the directory and in the now playing screens. If you don't want to see ads, you can purchase Overcast Premium for $10 a year, which also gives you the ability to upload your own files into Overcast. As a podcaster, I use this feature to test my episode's audio and chapter markers before releasing them to the public. In conclusion, Overcast is my favorite podcast client and, like I said at the beginning, arguably the best podcast client if you're looking for one that has an easy to use interface, nice playback controls, and time saving effects. Overcast is free with a $10 yearly subscription to remove ads and add uploads. It's available for all iOS devices, features CarPlay support, and has a native Apple Watch app, which has offline playback. To download Overcast, tap the card above or the link below. To learn more about all the features I talked about, especially the Apple Watch app, check the description below. Since we're talking about podcasts, why don't you go check out mine? Each week on Rocket to Anywhere, my sister and I sit down to discuss one topic, usually a show or movie, and sometimes even have guests. It's available on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, and anywhere else podcasts are available.