Tag Archives: podcasts

Instacast

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I’ve recently been using a different podcast player on my iPhone to Apple’s “iPod” app, called Instacast.

I’ve tried a few podcast players on the iPhone, but nothing until now has come close to matching the built-in software (which itself isn’t anything special – it’s just solid).

Instacast (made by Vemedio) feels like a polished product (the other apps’ I’ve tried did not).

Here are what I consider to be the pros and cons of this app, followed by a few feature requests that would for me take this far beyond anything Apple has done to date.

Pros

This isn’t a complete feature list, it’s a list of the features I appreciate.

  • You can lock your phone or exit the app whilst a video is playing and you still hear the audio. I’ve been eager for Apple to do this for some time.
  • You can sync podcasts without the need for iTunes or WiFi (ie. it works over 3G).
  • Of the shows you subscribe to, as well as the shows you’ve downloaded, you’re also able to stream shows straight from the net. There are a few key shows I must hear, and so I download (aka Cache) these when they’re released, but for the rest I’ll just stream there and then, or download just in time for my trip home from work. This helps to free up space on my phone and means I can sub to more shows (including video feeds) without any disk space price to pay.
  • It makes it easy to filter the shows you’ve cached from the shows you’ve simply subscribed to.
  • It includes the show notes when you’re listening/watching a show, including the all important hyperlinks. That’s turned out to be surprisingly useful when listening/watching to a show.
  • It provides a chronological order of the newest shows you’ve subscribed to (a “river of shows”).
  • In-app subscription with a decent selection of podcasts to choose from.
  • It makes it relatively easy to move from iTunes to Instacast via the importing of an OPML file.

Cons

  • I miss being able to subscribe directly via my desktop PC.
  • As the option is there to stream or download on demand, I find myself subscribing to more podcasts ‘just in case’. This has resulted in a longer and messier list of subscribed shows. I’m starting to feel like I’m missing out on some shows because it’s harder to get an overview of what I have available.

Feature Requests

  • There are some shows I want to watch each week, whilst there are others that I could skip a few weeks of and not care. Instacast (like Apple’s own software) treats all podcasts equally. I’d like to be able to tag podcasts/feeds, allowing me to organise my podcasts in a similar way I manage my RSS feeds (most importantly with a “Must Read” tag).
  • You can have the app auto cache (ie. Pre-download) podcasts, but from what I can tell this is all shows or nothing. That would soon fill up my disk space with shows I don’t really care about. It would be nice to have it auto cache only certain shows or certain tags (see above).
  • I’ll sometimes jump from podcast to podcast. One afternoon I’ll be in the mood to listening to The Talk Show, but in the morning I might be more in the mood for The StackExchange Podcast. It would be good to have a timeline of what I’ve been listening to recently so I can easily jump back to a previously incomplete show.
  • And of course, my killer feature (as mentioned a few posts back) would be the ability to start a podcast on my iPhone, stop it and the pickup where I left off using a different device (eg. my media pc).

At the moment I’m a very happy Instacast user, and I think it has great potential. It’ll be interesting to see if Apple have anything to announce at WWDC 2011 this Monday that might bring me back.

My Ideal Podcast Player

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Sync. That’s the key to my ideal Podcast player.

I’d like it so if I listened to a podcast on one device (eg. my iPhone), stopped it and then started it again on another device (eg. a media PC) it would play from where I stopped it.

I’d say streaming would be ideal for this, but right now the mobile internet isn’t stable enough. So perhaps it’s downloaded on to the device and every x number of seconds (or when ‘stop’ is pressed) it checks in to a central service to notify it of how far into the podcast I am. It also does the same when I’ve finished listening to it.

I realise that having it downloaded AND available on several devices is a push, so it might have to be streaming.

And a web interface (both full and touch) would have to be available (that way you can be sure you can access it from a desktop/laptop/media PC and a mobile device). Although ideally over time you’d have native apps (eg. iPhone app, Android app, Boxee app etc).

Podcast Player Pro is a start, but it appears to be desktop web only (ie. wouldn’t work on the phone).

The Podcatching Dream (for me at least): Cloud Sync

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I listen/watch podcasts in various ways. Mainly via my iPhone, iTunes on my desktop PC and Boxee on a media PC.

The problem I get is I start listening to a podcast on the way home from work on the phone, but before it finishes I’m home.

I then want to listen to it either on the desktop or on the media player. The problem is, they don’t always know where I’m at in the podcast. Granted, it doesn’t take a huge effort to jump to a certain point in the podcast (ok, it potentially can with Boxee due to it’s streaming nature) but it would be neat if the applications knew where I was in terms of each podcast.

Going from the iPhone to iTunes tends to work following a sync. Although strangely it doesn’t work (for me at least) the other way round.

Boxee is completely out of the loop. To try to get around that I installed iTunes on the media PC (thereby completely ignoring Boxee) and enabled ‘HomeShare’ in iTunes. I was hoping that the two instances of iTunes would pass along the meta data required to know how far into a podcast I was. Nope.

So my ideal, would be a place on the internet/cloud which stores the point at which you’re in a podcast, which any podcast playing software can (and does) read from. As a side effect you’d also have one repository of the podcasts you subscribe to. So next time you find a new podcast to listen to, you don’t have to subscribe to it both in iTunes* and Boxee (they’be both read the list of subscriptions from this central repository). Same for removing them etc.

So far I’ve not found a way to achieve this, and due to the closed nature of iTunes and even ignoring that the sheer amount of work involved, I’m not in a position to develop it either.

* Let me be clear. I don’t think for a second that even if such a service did exist that Apple would support it. Maybe if they provided a means to write plugins for iTunes it could happen.

5by5 – Well worth a listen

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I’ve started listening to 5by5 a bit more lately. 5by5 is similar to TWiT in as much it’s a podcast network run by a single man. Rather than Leo Laporte, it’s Dan Benjamin.

The mood is far more relaxed than TWiT. It reminds me of the Stack Overflow podcasts. There are plenty of decent shows, with quality presenters and excellent guests.

From a presenter point of view, among others you have:

  • John Gruber of Daring Fireball, who co-presents The Talk Show. They basically chat about what’s on their minds. It’s mostly Mac related but they have a strange nack of turning any topic interesting (such as Wookiees, and Dr No (I normally couldn’t care-less about James Bond)).
  • Merlin Mann of 43 Folders, who co-presents Back to Work, a productivity show of sorts.
  • Marco Arment – creator of Instapaper – who co-presents Build and Analyze. This show is mostly about Mac development. Again, not something that really interests me, yet it’s always interesting.

In terms of guests, the show Pipeline alone has had some good guests:

The good thing is, I’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of listening to the 19 shows on the network. The bad news is, I don’t really have the time to either.

http://5by5.tv/talkshowTa

Recommended Podcasts – 2 Added

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I’ve added 2 podcasts to the Recommended Podcasts page of this site. As well as that, I’ve added an ‘On The Cusp’ section to the page which simply lists the podcasts I listen to occasionally, but not often.

The 2 recommended podcasts added are:

The NSFW Podcast

As far as podcasts that make me laugh out load go, this one is tops. Hosted by {en:Brian Brushwood} and Justin Robert Young, it’s essentially a podcast equivalent of 4Chan, but a much more pleasant one. In spite of the NSFW name, it’s very much safe for work. However it does cut it close at times. Like 4Chan, it’s quite capable of starting its own Internet Meme.

As dull as it sounds, usually every week they host a ‘zany’ game show of sorts. Although on occasions the gameshows can be a genuinely good idea, the bits I like is just the general banter between the hosts and the guests, and also the general Internet culture it’s based around. This isn’t a podcast I can stick on in the background as it’s usually far to entertaining to ignore.

Framerate

Currently this TWiT produced podcast is only in ‘beta’. As a result it’s only available via YouTube.

Hosted by Brian Brushwood (of NSFW) and Tom Merrit (Tech News Today), the theme of the show is ‘anything video’. This includes TV shows, movies and YouTube clips. Considering I don’t watch many movies or US tv series, it’s a credit to the two hosts that I find the show so interesting. Mind you, it helps that it’s a show created with a geek-slant to it, with plenty of references to films and tv shows I have watched. It’s also been good to see a show develop from it’s very first alpha episode where they literally sat around and talked about what they’re going to talk about in the show. Mmmm meta.

Idea: Google Reader in Boxee

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We’ve now got a decent media PC in the living room that displays video correctly. As a result I’m using {en:Boxee} a lot more than I previously did (as in I actually use it).

Friends Activity

One of my favorite features is that it lists the videos that your friends and the people you follow have posted on {en:Facebook}, {en: Twitter} and {en: Google Buzz}.

This results in a nice mix of music (Facebook), geek (Twitter) and fun stuff (both).

Usually when people post videos I rarely watch them. The viewing expierence on both my iPhone and desktop PC isn’t the best. I’m simply not used to watching and enjoying video on them.

However, on the big screen tv whilst sat on the sofa, it all makes sense and is a good way to kill 20 minutes.

Google Reader

It made wonder what other services would make a good source for video. Most of the content I read is via {en:Google Reader}. However, as with Facebook and Twitter I can’t sit there and watch the content the various sites post. So I figured wouldn’t it be neat if Boxee pulled in my Google Reader feed (this could be all items or particular categories) and display the videos that feature in that feed.

Boxee Fail

Then the penny dropped. I remembered that the second best feature of Boxee is the way it manages RSS feeds. Using a web based GUI accessible via your favorite browser, you can easily add podcasts that can then be viewed via Boxee.

All I had to do was insert a feed I’ve shared via Google Reader and I should have the functionality I want. However, when I attempted to do that it failed stating it could not detect a feed.

Bummer.

If I find the time I might have a crack at creating a Boxee app that does it. If I do create such an app, or find a different solution I’ll post it on this blog.

Podcasts I Enjoy

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I first started listening to {en:Podcasts} a couple years back. I started off with BBC 6 Music’s Music Week podcast. It was ok, but nothing special. It didn’t really encourage me to listen to any others. It didn’t help that the BBC don’t have rights to play music in Podcasts, which for a music podcast is a bit of a drawback.

But over time as I read more blogs I started to find podcasts that more than just offered something different to listen to on the way to work. They became things I had to listen to, eventually resulting in me listening to much less music – which is my one negative about Podcasts.

I <3 Podcasts

There are a couple factors to podcasts that make them ideal for someone like me.

  • First off they’re convenient. They’re the {en:digital video recorder|PVR} series link of the audio world. Subscribe to an {en:RSS feed}, sync your MP3 player every so often and the podcasts are there for your listening pleasure, where ever you are. Add the fact that the {en:iPhone} has a reasonable speaker and I can stick it into my pocket and listen to an podcast whilst wondering the house (eg. doing the dishes, getting Stan changed for bed etc) without having earphones on.
  • Because it’s relatively cheap to produce a podcast, and because anyone can do it, you tend to get very niche shows (similar to the way you can get blogs so niche you wouldn’t dream of an old media company creating a magazine to cover the content the blogs cover). Regardless of the BBC’s public service mandate, they wouldn’t get away with creating the niche content I get to listen to thanks to podcasts.

So what do I listen to?

Here’s what I’m subscribing and listening to right now. I’ll say now, it’s a completely tech orientated list. One day I’ll venture beyond tech, but right now I don’t find the time to listen to all off these each week.

If you want to subscribe to all of these, simply import this OPML file into your Podcatcher.

This list is in a particular order. When I’ve got an episode of each, this is the order in which I’d listen to them:

This Week in Google

Truth is, I prefer the Stack Overflow podcast (see next) but this podcast covers the latest news regarding Google and ‘the cloud’, and as it covers topical events, it’s better to listen to it sooner rather than later. Part of the {en:TWiT.tv (network)|TWiT Network}, and hosted by Leo Laporte, Jeff (“this news is going to change everything!”) Jarvis, Gina Trapani, and some interesting guests, they discuss news items that interest me and usually include some good insights and tips.

The Stack Overflow Podcast

At the time of writing they’re in the process of changing the format to god knows what. I liked it just the way it was, but they may manage to better it. The podcast is intended to cover news regarding the site {en:Stack Overflow} (a Q&A site for programmers) and is hosted by the site owners {en:Jeff Atwood} and {en:Joel Spolsky}. It’s essentially a {en:Skype} conversation between the two. The concept is bad – and I’ve no idea why I even tried the podcast – but truth is, I find it a fascinating listen – my favourite listen in fact. As well as discussing the site (which incidentally is an excellent resource for any developer), they discuss issues concerning development and running a web site. Sounds dull but they somehow manage to make it interesting, amusing and entertaining. I’ve heard other development shows which really are as dull as you’d expect.

Rebooting the News

Another ‘skype conversation’ podcast. This time between the influential {en:Dave Winer} and equally influential {en:Jay Rosen}. Dave Winer is the (co-)creator of {en:RSS}, Podcasting, {en:OPML} files and more besides. He’s an opinionated, paranoid chap, although he’s right more often than not. That said, his views are annoying me more as time passes. Jay Rosen is a “press critic, a writer, and a professor of journalism at New York University” (taken from {en:Jay Rosen|Wikipedia}). Together they discuss the impact technology (and in particularly the net) has had on the world of news and journalism. It can be a bit hit and miss (more hit to be fair), but when it’s great it really is great. Inspiring in fact. The interesting thing about podcasts is you can gauge how much you’re enjoying them based on how soon after their release you listen to them. Sad to say I’m finding this one is slipping down the priority list. That said, the last episode was great. It restored my faith.

This Week in Tech

Where as Rebooting the News is slipping down the list, This Week in Tech is creeping up. Traditionally one I’ll have on in the background (I’ll listen to my favourite podcasts walking to work (where they get the most attention) and the not as good when doing housework etc – in the background), I’m really starting to enjoy TWiT. Just like This Week in Google, TWiT is hosted by Leo Laporte. He’s joined by different guests each week as they discuss the tech news from the week that’s gone. It’s never overly serious but usually entertaining. The TWiT Network must be an inspiration for podcasters. Started by former Tech TV presenter Leo Laporte, he now has an entire network of webcasts and makes a decent profit in the process. To reword a tweet by Jeff Atwood (of Stack Overflow), Leo Laporte stopped working for the man and became the man.

This Week in Startups

Hosted by {en:Jason Calacanis}. He’s quite an easy character to hate, but if you can bare him you can sometimes actually appreciate him too. This show is all about starting up a business, along with startups themselves. Unfortunately I rarely find the time to listen to it, but when I do I wish I listened to it more often.

FLOSS Weekly

I use to listen to this weekly, but again I struggle to find the time. This show is also on the TWiT Network and again hosted by Leo Laporte. Each week it covers a different Open Source project/company, and has a member of that project/company in for an interview. As with Rebooting the News it can be quite inspiring. I tend to pick and choose the episodes I listen to now depending on the project/company they are covering this week.

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There are other shows I dip into, but these are the ones I listen to regularly. Remember that you can import these using this OPML file.

If off the back of that list you know of any podcasts I’d enjoy, please let me know in the comments.

HuffDuffer: File Under “Why didn’t I think of that?!”

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In the past year, I’ve been enjoying online media more and more. My favourite way to consume it is via a {en:Podcast}. I struggle to sit in front of a PC and just watch/listen to something. I have to be doing something. The slight exception to this rule is the media PC we have in the living room. It’s rarely used (so just as well it’s hosting this blog too), but when Becky is out I’ll sometimes crash out on the sofa and watch/listen to a podcast. But listening to a podcast via my iPhone suites me better.

The problem with this is if I stumble across something I want to listen to (eg. an interview is mentioned in a blog post) I have to add the postcast/rss feed containing that interview to my iTunes. Sounds simple enough, but (as I’m not always at my desktop PC) this often involves me sending an email to my {en:Evernote} account, which adds it to my Evernote Inbox. Then the next time I’m at my desktop PC (which hosts my iTunes library) I (may) check my Evernote Inbox, notice that I have a podcast to sub to and then subscribe to it in iTunes. That’s a pain, even ignoring the fact I probably just want to hear one episode – not all the other episodes that download with the podcast.

So in it’s spare time, my brain has been churning over the idea of being able to note a podcast episode I want to hear and have it appear on the homepage/new tab page of my media PC’s web browser.

I’ve been going about it all wrong though. Sure, I listen/watch some podcasts via the living room TV. But where I really want to hear it is on my iPhone. Considering I’ve given this quite a bit of thought, it begs the question: “Why didn’t I invent HuffDuffer?!”

What is HuffDuffer?

HuffDuffer enables you to create your own Podcast using other people’s podcasts. More specifically, if you find a link to an MP3 (and I assume other audio formats) you can click a bookmarklet/Firefox Extension and it will add it to an RSS feed which you can then subscribe to (just the once). It’s billed as a social way to find new content (ie. you can search other people’s podcast lists), but from my point of view it’s a great way to easily get things on to my iPhone. Apart from syncing my iPhone, the only thing I need to do to get an episode on my iPhone is click the bookmarklet.

I’m genuinely annoyed my brain didn’t think of this – we’ve had words. I’m sure it taken some time for them to get it right, but to create a rough version of this that just works for me (ie. without the social features) should be a weekend project at most, and it meets my requirements.

Missing Feature

There is one more feature I’d like them to add. It’s the same feature I’d like just about any web service that enables you to submit content to add: the ability to add an episode using email.

Why is this so important to me? Because the iPhone’s Safari is the complete opposite to Firefox (ie. you can’t customize it) and because bookmarklets are a pain to set up in Safari, email does a good job of replacing the many extensions that enable you to add something to a web service at a click of a button/bookmarklet. With the Huffduffer extension installed, in Firefox on the desktop I can right click on a link to an MP3 and select ‘Add to HuffDuffer’. On the iPhone I can’t do that. There is no way to add content to HuffDuffer via my iPhone, which is a shame as that’s where I do most of my browsing.

However, almost every app on the iPhone has the ability to email. It would be nice to email the URL to an article to a HuffDuffer address setup for me, and for HuffDuffer to add any linked MP3s to my podcast.