Review: Stitcher Podcast Streamer 16
So the PalmCast is up in its non-live form and you want to give it a listen on your Pre? If you're a homebrewer, there's a healthy chance you're headed to refresh drPodder. If you're not, you could sync with iTunes (assuming, of course, you haven't updated to the latest version :| ).
If the above don't work, you might check out Stitcher in the official App Catalog. It's a straight-forward podcast discovery and streaming app that I've been using for a week or so now with pretty good results.
More after the break!
The nice thing about Stitcher is that they don't stream the podcasts from their original source - rather they take them and re-compress them for better over-the-air performance (here's Stitcher's page for the PalmCast). The audio quality is not noticeably different - we're talking (ahem) spoken word here, so compression isn't a big deal. Unfortunately, the podcast takes a short amount of time to show up in Stitcher after it's been posted to feed.
The upshot is that Stitcher is able to start playing your podcasts nearly instantly, whereas other solutions make you wait for the buffer. Naturally, Stitcher also works great in the background.
Stitcher has a fairly complete listing of all the podcasts I care about - but you can't manually add one if it's not on the list. Compiling your list of 'favorites' is simple, too.
On the downside, Stitcher doesn't do a very good job of keeping your place when you quit the app and return -- which is to say it doesn't do it at all. Also, true podcast junkies will be disappointed to learn that Stitcher takes a 'radio' approach to podcasts. That means that *only* the most recent podcast is playable in Stitcher, you can't go back and listen to one that you've missed.
In all, Stitcher is nice for the casual podcast listener who wants to stream podcasts right away. I'm using both it and drPodder myself. drPodder for saved podcasts, Stitcher when I want a new show to start streaming right away.
Pros
Streams instantlyCons
Streaming only
16 Comments
I can't manually add my own podcasts? No thanks... I'll stick with DrPodder.
Also being forced to ONLY stream is a dealbreaker for me.
Dr. Podder is MUCH slower. Stitcher can buffer 30 min podcasts in about 5 min. This for me is a big advantage since the auto download feature of Dr. Podder never seems to work right.
Exactly.
Having to only stream kind of defeats the idea of a podcast. Doesn't it?
Not if you are *driving* when the new ones become available! How does it defeat the purpose? Do you listen to your podcasts multiple times? I don't... And I also don't want a bunch of podcasts taking up space on my device that they don't need to - and as others have said, Stitcher is WAAAAAAY faster and buffers much more of a podcast than DrPodder.
I think that the only way streaming them isn't a good idea is for people who get bad coverage everywhere.
One really nice feature of Sticher (that I have been asked for over and over and over) is the dashboard controls. I would have listed that in "Pros" ;)
Yes - I was disappointed to see that DrPodder didn't integrate well with WebOS; it was just an app with no integration...
I've been using Stitcher since it showed up in the App Catalog. The first version had a couple annoying bugs involving Bluetooth and the ringer switch, but happily they were fixed in the latest update.
The Stitcher podcast directory was missing two of my favorite podcasts so I sent Stitcher a couple emails requesting they be added. One was added right away; the other still hasn't been added. Moral: you can't add just any arbitrary podcast manually, but you can ask, and you just might get it.
One nice thing is your list of favorites is synced with your free account on their website so you can maintain and listen to your list on your smartphone (webOS or...er...other similar device) or on your computer. This is very much in keeping with what I consider to be the webOS philosophy.
Stitcher has channels you can use to "discover" new podcasts. I'm a creature of habit so I don't go exploring for new stuff often, but I did find some regional podcasts I like.
Bottom line, Stitcher is like Pandora for podcasts. The analogy breaks down in that podcasts are free whereas music generally is not. But still it's a simple app that I've gotten a lot of use from. And the price is right.
There was a feed that I wanted that wasn't included on the first day the app launched, so I sent the Stitcher team a message (from within the app itself, which is very convenient) and the feed was added overnight with a nice e-mail from their staff in the morning inviting more requests.
Also, they told me that the ability to stream older podcasts is something that they are currently working on and hope to add in the near future.
Finally, just this week they added an assortment of BBC World news podcasts. The app works very well in my car on the Sprint network and I give it a 5-star rating. I highly recommend that you give the app a try, especially since it is free. I think it's important to support these companies that are trying to support the Pre in its growth and utility.
Thanks for the review.
Joe
I did the same thing, dropped them an email about not having a podcast that I listen to and asked if I could add my own. They wrote back within the day saying they were working on it and asked me what podcasts I listen to. I wrote back and my podcast was also up within the day, plus they wrote me another email just to tell me it was up. Very nice people, and a good app.
I haven't used this, but it would have to be pretty compelling for you to pry Dr Podder from me.
And Jamie, is the most responsive person I have seen for a free app support.
Will Stitcher sream live podcast? That is the one thing Dr Podder doesn't do. Then again, I listen to podcast mostly because I can que up a few hours worth and listen when I need to.
Keeping in mind that DrPodder is homebrew and has a much smaller dev team, here's my own comparison of Stitcher vs. DrPodder...
I downloaded DrPodder because the other commenters here swore by it. Here are my Pros/Cons for DrPodder:
PRO - It's pretty.
PRO - You can add feeds manually.
PRO - In theory, I love the idea that you can fast forward at different intervals - but it doesn't work well (see the CON list).
PRO - While it's not a feature that I use, you can download your podcasts instead of having to stream them.
CON - There's no web site dedicated to letting you pick and choose more stuff to listen to (or even listen to on a PC).
CON - It doesn't buffer as much, nor as well, as Stitcher does. I had multiple breakups in the audio on my drive home. This is a deal-breaker for me.
CON - It doesn't seek very well while streaming; it had to re-buffer every time I needed to change my location.
CON - It doesn't integrate with the WebOS at all - it's just an app that runs. There's no control while the phone is locked and nothing in the alert bar.
And here are my Pros/Cons for Stitcher, which I have used much more regularly:
PRO - It streams fantastically. Honestly - I have absolutely no breakups in audio on my drive home, and my wife didn't either - and she drives through canyons on her way to work.
PRO - Very easy to submit feedback/suggestions right from within the app - more devs should do this, as you would get far more feedback directly from the users when they experience an issue.
PRO - Super fast response time from the Stitcher team.
PRO - The podcasts are compressed a little differently to work better for streaming.
PRO - Very nice integration with WebOS.
PRO - Lets you rate thumbs up/down and add as a favorite while playing the podcast.
PRO - It easily shows you right on your favorites page which feeds have updates.
CON - The only pretty part about it is the loading screen.
CON - You can't add feeds manually.
CON - Because the podcasts are compressed by the Stitcher team, you may not get your feeds immediately because you need to wait for their team to actually process through them first.
CON - The app doesn't remember where you were in the feed when you close the app.
CON - Currently unable to play previous episodes.
So, I'm trying out Stitcher, and I like it so far with one exception. If I leave it on pause, my Pre suffers severe battery drain! Start playing again or shut down Stitcher, and it stops draining the battery very quickly.
I have seen the same thing happen. I don't know if un-pausing helps, but leaving it on pause drains my pre pretty darn quick. Otherwise, I think this is a great app.
The reason I was leaving it paused was so it could remember my place.
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