Mocast 4+

I downloaded this app because I liked what the developer said about making a podcast’s back catalogue more accessible.

But having used the app, I don’t like it at all. I found the interface unfriendly and difficult to use. After playing with it for a while the app crashed and locked up my entire phone (requiring a restart). At which point I deleted the app and ran back to the brilliant Castro.

With all the great podcast apps around at the moment this is one to give a miss.

This is a nice new podcast app which I find very original and colourful.

The premise is that it tries to simplify the "process" of listening to podcasts. I say "process" because if you're someone who listens to a lot of podcasts you probably use a powerful app like the excellent Pocket Casts. But the problem is that one gets so caught up sorting through downloads, new episodes, endless notifications etc that it begins to feel like a massive process after a while.

Plus power apps have different playlists and settings which can further complicate things. And I find that they often hide older episodes unless you tap the "more" button to see older ones. Even then they often don't show you all if them in one go.

Most podcasts apps also lack search so you can't search for a particular person, topic or theme across various podcasts. You have to go through them manually or know exactly which episode you're looking for.

Mocast on the other hand tries to do the opposite: it tries to simplify finding and listening to podcasts and create playlists.

There aren't endless settings to manage and you can easily see all podcast episodes available, making it easy to always find something to listen to.

And search means that you can search for all podcasts whose shoe notes mention the term you're looking for. Eg if you search for OS X Yosemite all podcasts which have that as a topic in the show description will be listed. Great for when a new iPhone comes out or at WWDC time or if there is a particular person you enjoy hearing.

I find this approach unique. And it's a wonderfully colourful app. It loads the artwork behind the podcast, iOS 7 frosted glass style, which makes for gorgeously colourful playlists.

As much as I love and respect Pocket Casts as the best power podcasts app which I've used for a long time, I've switched to Mocast in order to simplify my podcast listening and place the emphasis on the joy of listening. Where it should be.