Apple Podcasts 12+

To keep this short, I’m pretty well read in horror as well as philosophical literature and lit generally. The quality of Jeff’s work truly floored me and is the first writer or podcast I’ve actually signed up to. He has inspired me to commit to supporting his writing. He reads his own writing to you which is so good, so nuanced that it felt like I was getting 2 things for the price of one. His work really stretches the containment of the horror genre. It has many elements of social critique, philosophy and the many “angles on the human condition” that “literature” lays claim to. The guy is not a narcissist despite his talent and has lived a real life. It annoys me that he lives so far away from me, it would be good to meet him and ask a few questions. All up, well worth patronage.

The latest update has made this app nearly unusable. It no longer can queue podcast episodes without… duplicating episodes, adding every episode to the end of the playlist (which can add hundreds of old episodes to your playlist). If you come out of the app it will forget which episode you were last listening to so you have to re queue your list. Not impacted by the new version but now annoying is the sleep timer only going up to 1 hour, now the queue is not working properly this means you can’t rely on the app stopping once your queued episodes have been played so I have woken up many a morning for it to be playing 2 year old episodes it for some reason it has decided to play (without downloading). I have often had an issue with a podcast re downloading old played episodes but the individual podcasts have often taken the blame for this… however the vast errors from the latest update makes listening to podcasts painful. I hope they will fix it soon but given it’s been a few months so far and many other reviews stating the above I am doubtful which is a great shame.

The array of shows is great, but this app is, quite simply, a mess. There's no other way to put it. The 'Up Next' queue cannot be easily edited, and navigating your 'Saved' and 'Recently Played' is next to impossible. In the next iOS update, I have some ideas that would certainly help make the interface more easily navigable. I would recommend basing the Podcasts app more closely off of the Music app, which has a much more user friendly interface. Having shows set up more like albums, with options to sort by first to last released or vice versa? Amazing. The ability to clear the 'Up Next' list, and an option to keep or clear 'Up Next' when changing the show or episode? Having easy ways to add episodes or whole shows? Astounding. A 'Recently Played', (preferably above the 'Up Next',) with small logos and an easy way to clear it to declutter? Fantastic. Having a 'Saved' where you can easily see the logos and titles of all your shows? Beautiful. Apple, please, do not neglect this app in your next update. Please, make it user friendly and easy to navigate. For our sanity, and gratitude. Thank you.