Overcast Is Now the Best Podcast App for Apple Watch
The iOS Overcast app has been my favorite podcast for a while. But even though I have an Apple Watch, I’ve never used it to manage my podcasts. However, thanks to the updated user interface from Overcast, this will change.
To see this, download the latest version of Overcast for iOS. The app is free but ad-supported; If you don’t like it, there is a $ 10 annual subscription available, which will save you the visual burden.
From there, open the Watch app on your iPhone, scroll to the bottom and install Overcast (if you haven’t already).
Launch the app on Apple Watch and wait while it syncs with the iPhone version of Overcast. You will then be taken to a new home screen that offers several icons at the top of your vertically scrolling list of your podcasts – a welcome change from the previous horizontal scrolling app interface. Accessing your shows and episodes is now much easier and faster.
This icon in the upper left corner allows you to sync the Apple Watch version of Overcast with your iPhone at any time. Pay attention to this because you will definitely want to click on it often if you play a lot locally on your Apple Watch, although I must point out that syncing your apps doesn’t mean you have something to listen to right away. on Apple Watch. In the default Overcast settings, which can be changed by tapping the gear icon, the Apple Watch app will download the first 20 episodes from your playlist only when it’s charging and connected to Wi-Fi:
When you play a podcast on your watch or control your iPhone with your watch, you’ll see a button with three dots in the bottom right corner. Clicking on it will open a description of the episode you are listening to. You will also go here to adjust the playback speed, and if your episode supports it, skip to the various chapters.
In addition to UI updates, you can now ask Siri to play a podcast titled “in the clouds” to launch it directly. And that includes podcasts you haven’t subscribed to yet, which is a great added touch. Finally, if you’re using a Solar watch face for your Apple Watch, you can add the Overcast complication that launches the podcast app directly:
That’s about it for the major new features – improvements to an already phenomenal app are welcome, as long as you’re using it on an Apple Watch Series 3 or newer. The update removes watchOS 6, which means you won’t be able to access it if you’re using the original Apple Watch or Apple Watch Series 2. At least developer Marco Arment tried to:
Overcast’s big update doesn’t work with iOS 12 either: