Who wants to pay for podcasts? Thought so... Well, Amazon thinks people will have no issues whatsoever paying for short-form audio shows so it's introducing a new Channels thing through its Audible service, which hosts the largest selection of digital audiobooks on the web.
According to Bloomberg, Channels will host premium shows like Scientific American, The Onion and the WSJ, plus a bunch of own originals like Mortal City, Presidents Are People Too and Breasts Unbound.
Unhappy that Apple's been neglecting iTunes podcasts for years now, top producers were invited to meet with Apple executives at the company's Cupertino headquarters and voice their grievances, The New York Times reports.
It's true that the iTunes podcasting hub's remained virtually unchanged since its 2005 debut so it shouldn't surprise Apple if producers think that this might have something to do with the fact that podcasts bring the Cupertino firm nothing in direct revenue.
While Apple essentially gave life to the podcasting industry, and it still dominates that sector, company officials made no promises to these producers. Small wonder some of them are now concerned that Apple may no longer care about podcasting.
Podcasts, previously an optional download from the App Store and now a stock application in iOS 9, may not be the most elegant software to enjoy your favorite podcasts, such as iDownloadBlog's Let's Talk iOS series.
That being said, the app is adequate enough for basic use: with it, you can easily browse, subscribe to and play your favorite audio or video shows on your iOS devices.
And if you own an iPhone 6s or iPhone 6s Plus, you can take advantage of 3D Touch to start listening to the next unplayed episode of your favorite show right from the Home screen, use Peek and Pop gestures in the app to preview shows, see unplayed station episodes and more.
Developer Marco Arment today issued a major update to Overcast, its praised podcast player and manager app for the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Apple Watch. Going from the freemium to free model, Overcast 2.0 is now a free app without In-App Purchases, advertising or other limitations.
Instead, you can now support the continued development of Overcast, if you want, by becoming a patron which entails a recurring subscription.
If not, enjoy everything Overcast hast to offer absolutely free of charge.
One of the major new features in Overcast 2.0 is streaming, which can now be used with Smart Speed and Voice Boost effects to save time when listening to podcasts by shortening moments of silence without having to download new episodes first.
If you want to relive new iPhone, iPad and Apple TV announcements and watch Apple's keynote presentation in the comfort of your home, on your own time and without streaming, now you can as the full event video has surfaced as a downloadable high-definition video podcast on iTunes.
“See Apple CEO Tim Cook and team introduce iPhone 6s & iPhone 6s Plus, the all-new Apple TV with tvOS, iPad Pro, WatchOS 2 and iOS 9,” reads the description. The presentation runs two hours and twenty minutes long so block out about three hours of your time this weekend and enjoy it in its entirety.
Following promotional footage for Apple Music that the Cupertino company posted to its YouTube channel along with the inspirational 'App Effect' video, the entire keynote presentation has now been uploaded to iTunes and made available to everyone in the form of a video podcast.
In case you haven't had a chance to sit through the whole keynote talk yesterday, you can now download the video to your Mac, iPhone, iPod touch or iPad and watch it on your own time.
Spotify is determined to give Apple's vertically integrated iTunes ecosystem a run for its money. At a media event in New York City, the Swedish streaming-music startup has moved into video, as previously suspected.
The service will now host video podcasts and other types of video content like news, much like Apple's iTunes. According to TechCrunch, Spotify will also serve up playlists that are more personalized and relevant to what you’re doing at the time.
Apple-owned Beats Music also features activity-based playlists, mostly human curated, so this is another shot across Apple's bow.
Following yesterday's “Spring Forward” media event which brought us new Apple Watch details and pricing, an exclusive HBO Now launch on the now-discounted Apple TV, some interesting medical research news and a Retina-enabled twelve-inch MacBook with USB-Type C, Force Touch trackpad and silver, space grey and gold finishes, now the whole presentation can be downloaded and kept on your computer in the form of a video podcast.
Following an extensive beta testing period, Marco Arment - the creator of Instapaper, founder of The Magazine and co-host of the Accidental Tech Podcast - today unveiled his latest creation, an iPhone podcast client dubbed Overcast.
Available with basic features free of charge in the App Store (advanced stuff can be unlocked through a one-time In-App Purchase), Overcast for iPhone is accessible to novice users yet packs a lot of punch to make podcast die-hards happy.
Having taken Overcast for a brief spin with our own Let's Talk iOS and Let's Talk Jailbreak podcast series, I came away pretty impressed.
I think Marco's full-featured app has mass appeal (at least in podcast circles) to win over folks who are unhappy with the existing podcast clients on the App Store with its sleek user interface, simplicity and elegance.
If not, perhaps advanced capabilities will make you a convert? I'm talking stuff like Smart Speed, Voice Boost and Smarter Playlists to help you listen to more podcasts in more places, try new shows and completely control your experience...
There are widespread reports this afternoon that claim Apple's official Podcasts app is crashing for several users upon launch. The app does temporarily open, but then immediately closes and returns to the Home screen in a matter of seconds. The issue appears to be affecting devices running both iOS 7.1.1 and iOS 8 beta, according to multiple tweets and other reports.
A significant number of users have turned to the Apple Support Communities to voice their concerns about the problem, with complaints ranging from the app crashing to multiple icons and album artwork. The crashing issue appears to have been affecting users since at least 2:00 PM Pacific, when the first reports began to appear on Twitter and elsewhere…
Shortly after wrapping up Monday's two-hour keynote talk, Apple made the entire presentation available for streaming through its WWDC iOS app, via the Apple TV and on its website on any Mac or Windows PC with QuickTime installed.
If you want to keep the keynote video, plan on watching it on multiple devices or just have a lousy Internet connection to stream in high-definition, you can now download the entire presentation to your computer for later watching...
Apple has just released a new version of iTunes. This is a third update to the company's desktop jukebox application in less than two weeks.
iTunes 11.2.2 is now available through your Mac's Software Update, offering several stability improvements and fixing a bug related to the software's handling of podcasts.
The update is recommended for all iTunes users and should be now available for Mac and Windows via the Mac App Store's Updates tab or as a standalone download via Apple's website...