Homebrew Spotlight: DrPodder 39
DrPodder is a robust podcast player developed by DrNull in the homebrew forums.
I’ve been aching for a good podcast player ever since the Pre was released. As I'm sure you've discovered by now, listening to podcasts of any length in the native media player in its current iteration quickly becomes an exercise in frustration. The player doesn't save your spot, first of all, not to mention the fact that you are forced to manage your podcasts on the desktop and sync them over. I was about to abandon any hopes of wanting to listen to podcasts on my phone.
Then DrPodder came along.
User Interface:
The overall UI of DrPodder follows the conventions of many of the native webOS applictaions, and is clean and intuitive.
Navigation is dead simple - after loading the application, you're greeted with a list of your feeds. From here you can add/manage feeds and create playlists.
The transport controls also have a few nice touches (are you taking notes, Palm?), such as scrub bar that auto bookmarks your location in a podcast upon exit and the ability to fast forward and rewind in 20 and 60 second intervals.
Features:
A few of the notable features of DrPodder include:
Dynamic Playlists
Great for managing playlists.
Automatic downloads of podcasts
Who wants to manually download every episode of every subscribed feed? Not me! You can set up feeds to automatically download the latest episode in the background whenever WiFi is available - or you can just stream the episodes directly if you don't want to bother with all that.
Easy feed management
Real easy.
Import/Export feed lists via XML
Nice if you ever need to reinstall DrPodder and don't want to manually re enter your feeds. You can import a list from iTunes, even, if that's where you podcasts live on your desktop.
DrPodder is still in it's infancy, but it's growing up fast. The program is being refined and is having features added at every release.
And all frills aside, at its core, it's a podcast player. It does what it's designed to; it allows you add and manage feeds and download and stream episodes of podcasts ,and it does it well.
So what are you waiting for? Head over to the homebrew section and give it a whirl!
39 Comments
I am an addict. A Dr.Podder addict. I have been a user of this fantastic application since it first came out when it was known as PrePod. The improvements over time have come at a dizzying pace.
I get my tech geek fix on every morning on the NYC Subway where 'the cloud' just doesn't exist.
Thank you DrNull.
Hi. My name is Chris. I am a drPodder addict.
Hiiiiiiiiiiiii Chris!
(I am also an addict.)
I always wondered about podcast and what made them so great to listen to. When DcPodder was initially released, I decided to try it and instantly fell in love with it's ease of use. It's great to use whne i'm out for my morning walk or a getaway from the world of tv. I only wish Digital Podcast was not the only search sourse. All being said......it's a "must have" for your PRE!!!!!
drPodder is a great example of a simple and effective application that fills a definite gap in the native abilities of the Pre as a media device. I don't get to listen to podcasts as much as I would like but I have a few set to auto-update so if I do end up bored someplace I have random episodes of "This American Life" and stuff like that to listen to. Big fan of this app.
drPodder ROCKS! My favorite and most used app.
I never fooled with podcasts until I downloaded Dr. Podder. Now I listen to it at least once a few times a week if not daily. It strengthened my belief in the Pre as my soul MP3 player and led me to sell my iPod Touch to a friend. It's just a great program on a great phone.
Downloaded it this morning and couldn't be happier.
Best pod catcher I've ever used. It's pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a podcast player.
I was down with DrPodder but couldn't catch some of the more mainstream podcasts I was looking for (ie: Adam Carolla, ESPN, etc). I deleted the app but would go back in a second if I found the podcasts I was looking for. I'm a little tech-stupid (compared to most on this site) so if anyone knows what I'm doing wrong I'd love to know. Streaming and downloading without plugging in is my dream.
I've got lots of ESPN podcasts on mine: Thundering Herd, Best of Mike and Mike, PTI, and Around the Horn. I don't use the built in search, I just find the RSS feed URL's and type them in directly. They are easily found on ESPN's site. Shoot me a PM through the PreCentral forums if you still need more info (so as to not clutter up this comment section).
go here http://sports.espn.go.com/espnradio/podcast/index and find the RSS, im a Simmons fan and LOVE this app!!
Hey jstew,
The Adam Carolla podcast url is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheAdamCarollaPodcast
Podcast suggestion for everyone:
search the digital podcast directory (in the app) for "uhh yeah dude"... hilarious weekly podcast.
This is my most used app that did not come with the phone. I listen to all 3 hour of The Dan Patrick Show eveyday at work an hour after they air. I had to use igoogle before this was released because I did not want to sync them every night and then have to deal with the native media player.
My favorite and most utilized App on my phone! I use this more than the phone itself. i used to go through the process of downloading & syncing my netcasts everynight. or try to run the feed from the source using Pre's onboard media player :(~
This is awesome the best Homebrew App!
wow, thanks for the great review and kind words, everyone!
Always nice to hear the positives when you typically deal with the negatives and issues that the few experience in the forums.
jstew10, Yes, the directory is a little lacking. If you do a podcast search on google, you can typically find new podcast url's without too much trouble.
e.g., Google Search for Adam Carolla Podcast the first link is Adam Carolla's page. If you hit the podcast link, then the "Grab the RSS feed" link on the top right, that will get you the following:
http://www.adamcarolla.com/ACPBlog/feed/
Which you can then paste or type into drPodder.
I'm not sure which particular ESPN podcast you're looking for, but if you can find the RSS/XML feed for the podcast, then drPodder should be able to handle it.
If you have any problems, come on over to the Forum thread and if one of the other great users of drPodder doesn't get to it first, I'll try to help you out!
Thanks Doc!! Best... phone... EVER!!!
drnull,
Keep up the great work. I would gladly pay for this app. This is definitely my most used app on the Pre.
Hi, my name is Mark, and I'm a drPodder addict. This is THE killer app on the Pre.
I download audio and video versions of my podcasts.. I usually listen to the audio versions while walking my dogs.. and video portions (one or the other:) ) while at lunch/etc...
-mark
I just need the Pre to start supporting Audible files. Then I'd be set and I'd use this drPodder every single day and throw my MP3 player out.
And I love my MP3 player.
You and me both brother. Not having Audible is one of the few things I miss about my WinMo phone, that and Core Media Player.
Man, would love to have Audible compatibility! Great program tho. Real easy to use.
@Robert Weringer, you couldn't clear that email notification before you did the screenshots for the review????? Really??? Know I sound crazy but it's annoying as hell to see that little envelope sitting there in every screenshot! :D
drPodder allowed me to dump iTunes. The only reason I used an iPod was for podcasts, so my old Nano is gathering dust. Thank you, drNull!
Not mentioned in the above writeup is one of my favorite features. When listening to a podcast, you can use the five buttons across the bottom of the keyboard in place of the five nav buttons at the bottom of the screen, i.e. press spacebar to pause, "Sym" key to FF 60 sec., etc.
I primarily listen in my car so it's great to be able to FF/Rew without needing to look down at the phone to find the button.
Next to Pandora, this is easily my favorite app. I had one on the G1 that was $10 and not as rich as this one. Even if he charges; I'd pay. This is an app done right.
My only wish was that he had kept the name PrePod; I thought it was genius. I'm sure it was for legal reasons with Pre being trademarked/copyrighted.
Thanks to everyone who helped me get the podcasts I was looking for. Honestly, I never knew what those little orange boxes meant until today!! Can't wait to get paid so I can send some cash your way DrNull. Much appreciated.
How can I delete a podcast from the main menu? I accidentally downloaded one with a similar name as another.
"listening to podcasts of any length in the native media player in its current iteration quickly becomes an exercise in frustration. The player doesn't save your spot, first of all"
Native media player fixed in v1.2 ..
"If playback of an audio file is paused or interrupted, when you resume playback, playback resumes at the point where it was paused. This applies to audio files for which the Genre field is defined as podcast, speech, spoken word, netcast, or audiobook only."
I am such an addict! I went weeks without using my iPod (previously I would not leave my house without it for podcasts and audiobooks)! In fact, I just started using the iPod two days ago because I uninstalled everything and reinstalled using WebOS QuickInstall (trying to get around that app limit!) and haven't fired up Dr. Podder again (didn't want to fumble around with it while driving).
It is the number one application I use! It's in my quick launch bar.
Dr. Null (and other homebrewers)...you ROCK!!!!
This podcast app is very handy indeed. I have such a large amount of podcast that I listen to that I rarely listen to music. I have 9 podcasts and those mostly hour long shows. Great, easy to use application!
Absolutely the best Pre app out there.
I haven't had to even worry about that stupid iTunes issue since getting this app.
I almost never need to hook up via the USB cable because of this.
I don't care about music that much, but I do care about news programs and such.
Get it you won't be sorry!
Rob
Hello, another addict here.
My most favoritest feature of this app:
I currently have files auto-delete when completed playing through. Nice option, in itself. But even better.. I think about an episode later on, and realize my good friend or family member would also enjoy someting about it. A moment of regret that I've auto-deleted the file, but no worries.. "View" by All, New, Old, Downloaded, Paused, etc... re-download an "Old" podcast which was already deleted, and zap, it's back again. Also, mark as new. Pure genious judgement lapse recovery function. It's smarter than I am, and is looking out for my best interest. All previous comments also apply. Thank you.
I also was never a podcast listener until I got this app. Now I'm an addict. So convenient, such a well-written program. Awesome!
I also was never a podcast listener until I got this app. Now I'm an addict. So convenient, such a well-written program. Awesome!
I would love this a lot more if i could figure out how to put my paid subscriptions in it. Does anyone know if there is a complete "how to" for drpodder . Is it easier to use Itunes 8.2.1 to put pod-cast's in the Dr.pod. I am very jealous of all that have completely figured this out. Any Advice? thank u
It looks like authenticated feeds should work by choosing:
"Authentication" from the "Edit Feed" page.
http://forums.precentral.net/homebrew-apps/194583-drpodder-k-prepod.html
drPodder v0.4.8 (9/16)
* Just a quick update to add support for Authentication (username/password) of feeds
If drPodder detects that the feed needs authentication, it will show the username/password fields in the feed edit screen. Otherwise, you need to choose "Authentication" from the "Edit Feed" page.
Is there a way to remove a feed? I can't seem to find the option to do this
Is anybody else having issues with downloading on certain feeds? All of the feeds I have will stream, but not all will download.
I assumed this was something to do with the feeds themselves and not the app, but then this morning I can no longer download Adam Carolla's podcast where I've been able to every day before.
Ideas?