Apples new AppStore Review Guidelines might put an end to Podcaster

Yesterday Apple announced new rules for the app store and we want to just mention several that might put a stop to future Podcaster development.

8.5 Use of protected 3rd party material (trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, otherwise proprietary content) requires a documented rights check which must be provided upon request

This has already affected the the directory in the app. We had to remove the feeds that Apple asked us and move them out of the app to http://podcaster.fm/search.aspx. 

9.2 App user interfaces that mimic any iPod interface will be rejected

We made out Now Playing screen look similar to Apples iPod screen because people are familiar with the control. We have several icons and buttons that Apple does not have so maybe it's enough of a difference. 

9.3 Audio streaming content over a cellular network may not use more than 5MB over 5 minutes

9.4 Video streaming content over a cellular network longer than 10 minutes must use HTTP Live Streaming and include a baseline 64 kbps audio-only HTTP Live stream

Our app allows users to stream content and if Apple makes us stop streaming, it will make a lot of users unhappy. This will not affect anyone that download the feeds over 3G.

We are not sure how much has changed from the previous rules so we might be able to get away with it but it's still a  guessing game. We currently have Podcaster 3.5 in review so we should have an answer by end of next week.  

Podcaster 1.4 Update

Podcaster 1.4 Update

An update to Podcaster has arrived. We will be releasing it to all our users in the upcoming days. Here is what you can expect in the update. No more 14 day trial, instead, we have limited trial users to 3 subscriptions, maximum, without expiration. Paid users will not have this limitation.

• Added Setting tab
• Sync options (Automatically downloads and deletes)
• Auto continue on end of Podcast
• Recovery Mode - Gets activated when program cannot start up properly
• News icons and titles of tab bar
• Made the app more colorful to make it stand out from other apps, including Apple
• Made start up faster (First time is a bit slow, but after that, much faster then now)
• Uploads podcast data to podcaster.fm for interactive map. If a username and password are entered, then your username will be uploaded along with the podcast. If not, the data uploaded will be anonymous. Location accuracy set to 1 kilometer.
• Sync with podcaster.fm, keeps podcast lists identical (A good backup of your subscriptions)
• Made font bigger for my podcasts
• Import text boxes do not clear themselves
• Added indicator of how much space is remaining on the iPhone
• Removed get 3 button
• Limited importing to 25 items per podcast (Helps with feeds that have 100's of items in them)
• No more tabs on search page
• No longer show blue dot/podcast type (video or audio) in My Podcasts . Still displayed in drill down

Get the beta now at http://www.nextdayoff.com/downloads/cydia/PodcasterProvCydia.zip

For a discount on Podcaster, go to http://www.nextdayoff.com/shaun

Podcaster 1.1 Update Now Available

Podcaster 1.1 is ready.

Available for install using a jail broken device. We are located in the Cydia installer. Listed in entertainment by modmyi. For those of you that are not familiar with Cydia, it is an alternative to the AppStore. You can use QuickPwn (windows download or mac download) to jailbreak your device and get Cydia store and Install.app store. It only takes a few minutes and preserves all settings and apps. Users that already have Podcaster, you will be able to download an updated version and use iTunes to install it. If you didn't get an email about the update, you will very soon.

We are releasing the app as a 14 day free trial. You can purchase an activation code at http://www.nextdayoff.com

What did we update?
We had several reports of podcasts not playing after being downloaded. We have build in a way to play podcasts using the quicktime media player. This solved the problem until we can find a more elegant solution. We also brought back the "play in safari" button. I'm not sure if I can get audio to play in the background but at least this is a step in the right direction. We also made several minor UI changes and added a Pause Downloads button.

We will continue to work hard on this project so if you have suggestions, email them to me at almerica@gmail.com

In other news, I have been a guest on several podcasts over the past few weeks. Check out iPhone Alley Podcaste episode 22 and MyMac podcast, espideo 201. It was really a good time and I am glad that I had a chance to talk to then.

As always, you can follow what's going on with development of Podcaster at twitter.com/iphonepodcaster.

Podcaster: Native Podcast Client for iPhone and iPod Touch

The popular iPhone web app podcaster.fm is about to get a lot better. Tomorrow, I will be submitting the app to the app store. I have been working non stop for the past 2 weeks putting it together and it's about 99% complete. It allows you to listen to audio and video podcasts by streaming just like the web app but it also allows you to download podcasts and listen to them when your offline (iPod Touch) or on edge(Old iPhone).

The interface is broken out in 3 sections.
My Podcasts - Displays all your podcasts. This screen also allows you to refresh your podcast list to see if there are any new items.
Unplayed - Displays unplayed podcasts.
Downloads - This is where you can see all your downloaded items.

Initially all sections have no items. It is up to you to subscribe to podcasts. We have provided several ways to subscribe. The easiest of which is to search our Podcast Directory. You can search by podcast title. If you cant find what you are looking for, you can use 1 of the other 3 methods to subscribe. Import from podcaster.fm account. Import by feed url and import by opml url.

After you have setup your podcast list. You are ready to listen. Simply select the item you want and click play. The podcast starts streaming in the media player. You also have the option to download the podcast. We have put a max limit of 40 MB for this current release but that is temporary and will be lifted in future updates. You can download as many podcasts as will fit on your iPhone or iPod Touch.

I have worked really hard to bring everyone (including myself) a great product. Similar to podcaster.fm, I am sure I will put out a slew of updates over the following weeks and months that will improve usability. Since I cant send this app out to anyone for testing, I want to hear your comments on the video. Thanks and enjoy.

Check Now!

Recently we have got Podcaster to s stage that is almost at final release no bug version. One thing we wanted to work on was the "checking for new podcasts" section. We recently put a "crawl now" link on every podcast episode list. This link will allow you to check (at most) every 15 minutes for new podcasts. Hopefully this will allow most of you to get a podcast item as soon as it comes on. We also got the blue dot (new podcast) to show up properly. We are still making updates and if you have any features you want added, email us and we will consider it.

Podcaster Updates

We have been working hard to really finish Podcaster. We have added a slew of new features. We will review those later but first I would like to talk about the "Deleted Podcast Fiasco".

Some of you might have noticed that today, Buzz out loud and some other podcasts have gone missing from your podcast list. That's because of a bug that has been fixed. Buzz out loud and other podcasts are working and will not be deleted in the future.

Updates to Podcast Directory.
We have made several changes to the podcast directory that make it more user friendly. First, you will notice that when clicking on a podcast, you are taken to a new page that shows you the podcast details. You have the option of listening to the most current episode and subscribing. We also added the ability to load more top podcasts. If you scroll to the bottom of the list, you will see a "Show 25 More" button. You can also see the language of the podcast when viewing details.

Our crawler has been updated to crawl hourly. We also have been able to crawl several podcasts that did not work before.

We also made several changes to the podcast details page. The one you might notice is the last updated on date. This is the last crawl date.

Soon we will have a stable version and we can finally bud it version 1.

Diggnation Podcast

We have had several weeks without Diggnation on Podcaster but that's all over. Diggnation is now fully operational.

For anyone adding podcasts to Podcaster, try to get something that works natively with macs.

We also launched a new interface. I think it looks nice. I would love you hear your opinions on it. If you want more features, just email me or post comments here so every can talk about it. Until next time, keep listening.

Podcaster

I have been working extra hard this past week to finalize a iPhone web application. It's called Podcaster and it allows you to setup and stream podcast to your iPhone or iPod touch. It looks and acts very similarly to the native iPhone app so you will have no learning curve. It also feature a podcast directory so adding podcasts is easy and fun.

New features include
Podcast played/unplayed separation
Listen to past and present podcasts (your not limited to the current episode)
Get useful information about podcast including contact email and phone number
Podcast now feature tags

Improvement to the podcast directory include
top 50 podcast list
search list
tag cloud with categories

It's a great app that I designed for myself but I'm sure others will find it useful.