Apps I Love: Instacast
I listen to a lot of podcasts. My collection seems to expand and
contract based on new and increasing interests at any given point, what
shows are new and interesting and which are losing my attention and need
to go away from me. Through these seasons, one thing remains: all my
podcast listening happens with Instacast.
Instacast first came out for the iPhone, then the iPad, then a universal
app for iPhone and iPad and now for the Mac. While I’ve really enjoyed
it on my phone and iPad for a while, it really has sprang up to be one
of my favorite apps in the recent months with the Mac version. I listen
to podcasts while I work (it seems like I’m one of the rare breed of
developers who can do this, but sometimes I do have to turn them off)
and have clamored for a Mac version for a long time. Now that it’s here,
I’m so glad that I’ve stuck with Instacast all this time.
The thing that seals the deal for me is that Vemedio (Developers of
Instacast) built their own cloud sync service that launched with 3.0 for
iOS back in December. It’s been rock solid, way better than their iCloud
sync that worked occasionally. That maddening inconsistency meant that I
had to remember my playback position when switching from iPad to iPhone
and back. And that sucked big time. Now, I can start a podcast on my way
to work, pause it when I get there and resume right where I left off at
my desk on my Mac. It’s seamless and brilliant.
On the Mac, I love the integration with the media keys on Apple’s
keyboards. If I’m listening to something and need a break from it or
someone comes in to my office I can tap a button and the podcast stops.
It’s a far cry from my prior solution which was to have my iPad playing,
need to double tap the home button and press the playback button on the
lock screen.
If you listen to podcasts on your Mac, iPhone, iPad or any combination
of the three you definitely can’t go wrong with Instacast. Check it out
today.
I listen to a lot of podcasts. My collection seems to expand and contract based on new and increasing interests at any given point, what shows are new and interesting and which are losing my attention and need to go away from me. Through these seasons, one thing remains: all my podcast listening happens with Instacast.
Instacast first came out for the iPhone, then the iPad, then a universal app for iPhone and iPad and now for the Mac. While I’ve really enjoyed it on my phone and iPad for a while, it really has sprang up to be one of my favorite apps in the recent months with the Mac version. I listen to podcasts while I work (it seems like I’m one of the rare breed of developers who can do this, but sometimes I do have to turn them off) and have clamored for a Mac version for a long time. Now that it’s here, I’m so glad that I’ve stuck with Instacast all this time.
The thing that seals the deal for me is that Vemedio (Developers of Instacast) built their own cloud sync service that launched with 3.0 for iOS back in December. It’s been rock solid, way better than their iCloud sync that worked occasionally. That maddening inconsistency meant that I had to remember my playback position when switching from iPad to iPhone and back. And that sucked big time. Now, I can start a podcast on my way to work, pause it when I get there and resume right where I left off at my desk on my Mac. It’s seamless and brilliant.
On the Mac, I love the integration with the media keys on Apple’s keyboards. If I’m listening to something and need a break from it or someone comes in to my office I can tap a button and the podcast stops. It’s a far cry from my prior solution which was to have my iPad playing, need to double tap the home button and press the playback button on the lock screen.
If you listen to podcasts on your Mac, iPhone, iPad or any combination of the three you definitely can’t go wrong with Instacast. Check it out today.