CNET reviewer Rick Broida thinks podcasts are awesome. But Apple’s iOS app of the same name? Not so much…
Rick Broida, writing for CNET:
Podcasts are all kinds of awesome. A Prairie Home Companion, This American Life, Wiretap, The Truth — there’s a virtually endless supply of great listening to be had free of charge.
Apple’s Podcasts app, on the other hand, is all kinds of suck. It’s so abysmal that I’m breaking my if-you-can’t-say-anything-nice rule to vent my hatred of it. Ever since it debuted last June, I’ve tried to put up with it, tried to work around its countless limitations and atrocious interface. But no more. I’m done.
Broida complains about Apple “prying” the podcasts out of the Music app, so now he has to hunt for a separate app. (OK, but why not just put the “Podcasts” icon on the Home screen? You can move those things around you know…)
He does make an excellent point about no longer being able to navigate or listen to podcasts using his car’s audio controls. I’ll give him that. I like to listen to podcasts while driving also, and it is a bit of a pain in the tuchus to not be able to use my Kia Soul’s touch screen navigation controls in with the Podcasts app.
He points out that the app consists of three sections — Podcasts, Top Stations, and Store — all of which have radically different interfaces. I’ll give him that one too.
Now Broida gets into the meat of his problems with the app, the “Podcasts” section of “Podcasts”. No progress meter, no scrubber, just an oversized placard. He doesn’t like the reel-to-reel tape recorder that appears if you tap the placard either. I always thought of that as a nice old school touch.
He also points out the controls are dark and hard to read. Yup, gotta go with him on that one too.
He has quite a few other issues with the app, as you can read in his article on the CNET website.
He does point out he’s not alone in hating the app, it only gets 1.5 stars on average from 4,000 reviewers in the App Store. That’s bad my friends.
What’s your opinion of the Podcasts app? Do you even use it, or do you use one of the many alternatives available in the App Store? Let us know in the comments section below, we’d love to hear your opinion.
