I've been using Downcast on iOS for a while and enjoying it, so I thought I would grab the macOS version for some sync stuff, though with AirPlay it's not really necessary. The sync has... really screwed with all my podcasts and playlists in a way that I'm still untangling, which, while annoying, I can live with.What I really want, though, are a couple more smart playlist filters. I really just want to be able to make a playlist that's every episode from a subset of feeds in the last six months, sorted old to new. I can't seem to find any podcast apps that let me do time-based filtering.

I own this app on my iPhone 6 and a 2021 MacBook Pro. This is my first time using the app on my laptop and it runs fine, when I turned on icloud sync all of my podcasts from my phone were transfered to my MacBook. Downcast is a superior podcasting app as it provides an enormous amount of user control over how the app handles (1) your podcast library, (2) individual podcast behavior, and (3) individual episode behavior. It allows play speeds in 1/4x increments from 1/2 to 3x. It allows adjustment in playback location to skip ads and bumper music at the begining and end of the episode. You can import mp3 and m4a files to create your own "podcast" collection, and autopopulating playlists allow for amazing control over how multiple episodes from different pods are delivered for driving etc.In the past I have reached out to the developer by email and he quickly responded. Note that this dude is supporting the app as a side gig on his own so he does not do feature requests.My only complaint is that on installing and turning on icloud, the app downloaded podcasts from pods forwhich I have disabled autorefresh. After that initial refresh it obeys the rules that I have created.

The synchronization is just brittle and I don't know why. When I first started using downcast I was looking for an alternative to the Apple Podcast app that had CarPlay. The idea that it had a desktop app and stayed in sync was awesome. I was in. Initially, the syncing didn't work. Then I decided I really wanted it to work so I went into reinstalling both apps, and turning the syncing on and off, and deleting the files from iCoud and futzing, I got it to work. It worked for a long time and I was happy. Recently, I had to log out and back into iCloud trying to restore another app was broken. Ever since I've done that syncing in Downcast has been broken again. It appears that both sides (iOS and MacOS) are trying but failing and I don't know why and its just really annoying to futz around with out meaningful control until maybe things work again. So, 1 star because a major part of the app, syncing, is simply brittle and once broken its a mystery as to what to do that will work.

Downcast is superb for handling dozens of podcast subscriptions and custom selection episodes on my Macbook Air 2019, Monterey. Most negative reviews are about difficulties with syncing to Downcast iOS. But you don't need to use the same app and iCloud to get podcasts to your iOS device. OK, a bit more hassle to copy via Finder, or even by AirDrop. Then, in iOS, you choose whatever player matches your preferences. For me, iCatcher works fine. Importing from Downcast means I can set up custom "podcasts" by theme rather than each podcast locked in to a single source. Such a "podcast" can then serve as a playlist. Of course, iCatcher has playlists as well. Many other great features in iCatcher, worth a bit of time to learn.