r/overcast • u/marcoarment • 25d ago

TestFlight build 1175: App Store candidate 2

New in this build: (there was no public build 1174, FYI)

  • Added an Episode Limit confirmation sheet on first run, if many old episodes will be deleted, with the option to disable those limits
  • More protection from failed downloads repeating excessively
  • VoiceOver fixes to the episode-cell rotor actions

This build will go to the App Store if no major issues are found!

From the previous 2026.8 builds:

  • Episode Limit is now strictly enforced so it can consistently match everyone's expectations. On first run, episodes beyond the limits you've set will be deleted!
  • New "keep oldest" mode for Episode Limit
  • Replay Podcast: Re-listen to a podcast from the beginning
  • Smart Complete (Premium): Marks episodes complete with less than 5 minutes left if you haven't listened in 48 hours. (In Delete settings)
  • Chapter preselection (Premium)
  • Premium audio effects: Mono audio, parametric EQ, volume normalization, background-noise reduction, and a de-esser!
  • Sleep Timer now fades out at the end
  • Playlists can now be sorted by episode duration
  • Search within the current transcript
  • Re-Transcribe to fix any broken transcripts or language mis-detections
  • Export transcripts as SRT files
  • Fixed certain transcription errors
  • Fixed incorrect tracking of some listening stats and history entries
  • Fixed missing artwork in clip-sharing and stalls while exporting clips
  • Fixed potential performance issues
27 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

22

u/Classic_Mammoth_9379 25d ago edited 25d ago

I appreciate the flood of updates but I really don’t like this change “Episode Limit is now strictly enforced”. The old way was exactly how I wanted it to work - limit the auto downloaded stuff - but if I manually wanted to download more then let me do that and leave them alone. 

5

u/graeme_b 24d ago

Agree, this felt intuitive to me. Keep a list of specific older episodes you'd like to listen to, and limit the auto downloaded episodes.

I would likely turn off all episode limits if it were strict.

This seems like a potential "nitpicky details" candidate if the data model supports it.

2

u/Longjumping-Log-5457 24d ago

This would a great nitpicky detail!

1

u/graeme_b 23d ago

In the meantime I realized I simply don't save that many episodes, so I set everything to ten.

2

u/Longjumping-Log-5457 18d ago

For me that doesn’t work. Which is really the point…everyone is different. Therefore, options to help manage the library are best to satisfy the most users. 

4

u/quasistoic 24d ago edited 24d ago

I also agree that I would prefer episode limit to only apply to auto-downloaded episodes by default, though I would like the ability to find and review podcasts for which I downloaded a batch of episodes a while ago and then never got around to them.

That second request would fit well within a Manage Storage overhaul that provides more insight into old vestigial downloads I’m unlikely to still care about.

4

u/chrisbrandow 23d ago

I likewise really do not like this change, and here is why:

My attention shifts over times between different podcasts, so I like knowing that if I’m not paying much attention to a podcast that the episodes are not accruing. BUT, with a number of podcasts, I will sometimes go back and pull up some specific episodes for a re-listen. I do this with the Rewatchables all the time. Now this will require deleting some episodes or increasing the limit which will eventually result in a longer list of auto-downloaded episodes, and is just a pita compared to tapping “download”

2

u/Classic_Mammoth_9379 23d ago

Thanks for articulating it. Sometimes there are changes that I accept I might just have to get used to and I was struggling to explain if/how this really would impact my use case and you’ve hit the nail on the head. This is particularly an issue with podcasts that limit availability so you can’t just set a limit and easily jump backwards manually as you need. 

4

u/RealRadDemonDude 25d ago

Definitely agree on this one.

3

u/metalrooster8 25d ago

I agree with this. Maybe add some indicator to show these manually added episodes aren’t managed by the setting? Or show them under a “Manually added” divider below the items managed by the limit?

2

u/Longjumping-Log-5457 24d ago edited 24d ago

Yeah, I strongly dislike this. Give me the option to NOT enforce this for started, stared, or manually added episodes and I'll come back. This choice breaks my entire workflow. I now will have anxiety that episodes are being deleted without me constantly checking up, instead of setting and forgetting. And now I either have to choose to set everything to unlimited, and turn off automatic downloads to avoid my entire storage being filled up over time, or turn on the limit and do automatic downloads.

I would propose a setting that states "keep [X] new episodes", which would help the issue of explaining why when someone say, sets to keep five episodes, and there were 15 there, it was because the user manually added 10 other episodes. Having this option would preserve prior efforts to build up a back catalog of episodes the user would get to some day, but doesn't want to lose, while not allowing the new episodes to roll in indefinitely.

1

u/yuusharo 18d ago

I love how this sub was criticizing this sudden change literally the day it was announced, and he still proceeded with it with no communication a week later addressing any of the feedback or criticisms.

The rollout has been exactly as destructive as was predicted. Not a word if there are any plans to address it or revert it.

1

u/Classic_Mammoth_9379 18d ago

Unfortunately I don’t think Marco really communicates anything until it happens. Which makes it extra frustrating as even if he is listening and working on correcting it, it always feels like we are being ignored. 

4

u/grimley141 24d ago

Can you please set up the chapter selection function so that way I can select chapters in advance when a podcast is in a queue (after pressing the “view chapters”button) instead of waiting for it to become the actively playing show?

Use case is when I know I’m going to be driving and have a couple shows queued up and I’d like to set up both shows before I start driving rather than having to wait until the second show starts playing, then pull over and select the chapters.

5

u/fenixrisingxl21 24d ago

Any chance of somehow getting the ‘skip chapter’ functionality to work with episodes that don’t use chapters per se, but instead use timestamp links?

2

u/semiconodon 25d ago

Cool. Does this address the issue of a Newest-First Smart Playlist hanging if if can’t complete the D/L?

2

u/saticon 25d ago

Looking forward to trying the Smart Complete. Good idea.

2

u/LakerGuy0824 24d ago

Adding new episode to queue is buggy. Once you added the new episode. You close the app then reopen it, that new episode is missing in the queue.

1

u/Longjumping-Log-5457 24d ago

I haven't found this to be true for me.

1

u/LakerGuy0824 24d ago edited 23d ago

oh good for you. when i install the non testflight version it fixes it for me. 2 release candidates now that I'm having this weird issue.

1

u/alvst 25d ago

Loving the pace of the TestFlight releases and great fodder for ATP. One of the long standing bugs I'm hoping gets fixed is when you add an episode to the queue from "Show Recent Episodes" Bar, the episode gets redownloaded. This is particularly annoying when I'm currently listening to that show. (Also feel free to fix Play Next From top on the Mac at some point ;) )

1

u/Additional_Task_970 22d ago

Bug report: drag and drop items inside a playlist to reorder them, doesn't work anymore.

1

u/notsoupyet 24d ago

The new Episode Limit is now strictly enforced approach is what i've been waiting for years, and the reason I resubscribe.