Downcast App Reviews

For the past few months the app was completely unusable. If wouldn’t download podcasts that required user names and passwords, the app would terminate unexpectedly and would not sync properly with my iOS devices. I switched over to Overcast but that app had a few issues of it’s own and the MAC interface was limited to say the least. Well today I downloaded this version of Downcast and I am glad to report that they fixed all of the issues that I was having. The app downloads all the content properly, hasn’t crashed once and is keeping my IOS devices and the Mac in sync. Good job getting your app back up and running!!

I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much of a discrepancy between an iOS version of an app and the OS X version. Downcast iOS is elegant and reliable; Downcast OS X is a bag of broken glass. Crashes and sync problems. ‘Nuf said.

As far as I can tell, the only real reason to buy this app is because it syncs with the IOS version via iCloud. And when the syncing doesn’t work right, you have to question why you just spent $8 for a freakin’ podcast app. How hard is it to get syncing right in 2016?

OPML import is broken in the app, so I had to resort to the weird solution of putting it in dropbox and opening from the iOS app instead!

Only buy/use Downcast on a single or multiple iOS devices…if you add the OS X app to the mix, you will cause yourself a LOT of pain & suffering when it comes to sync’ing your podcasts, playlists, etc between your devices and the desktop. I love Downcast because of its power (it runs horribly slow on my old iPhone 4S, but that’s my fault, not the app’s). But, I have finally given up on using the desktop app. Every week or two, the desktop app will drop 5-6 of my 35 podcasts…just simply delete them…and then I have to spend an hour or two adding the podcasts & assigning them to playlists…to every desktop Downcast app I have…and then re-sync to all my iPhone/iPads. Think I’m on the 4th time doing this since last month (January 2016)…so, as much as I hate to say it, I’ve given up on Downcast, and moved back to Apple’s Podcast app. Nowhere near as powerful…but, at least it doesn’t trash podcasts & playlists when it syncs between desktop & mobile, and create hours of work for me to fix it. Unfortunate…but I’ve thrown in the towel with Downcast.

I love the app on my Iphone. It works great and has lots of amazing features. When and how you download, how you listen, how many epsidodes to keep, playlists etc are all very customizable. I use the app daily. However, sometimes I want to listen on my desktop and sometimes on my phone. ICloud synching is supposed to manage all that for you, but it doesn’t work. I’ve deleted caches and tried refreshing, but no avail. I finally just deleted the desktop version. I wish there was something better. I can’t bring myself back to the pain of using Apple’s Podcast app.

Downloads are just hanging now. Just sitting there waiting for the rapture or something. Not sure why I keep coming back to this app. I even re-setup my podcasts because I wanted to give it another shot. Still not worth it. --- I wrote a review October 21, 2015 about how I couldn’t import anything and it would crash. As of January 5th, 2016 the same issues persist. If you’re looking for a podcatcher, Downcast is not for you. I’ve tried this under both Yosemite and El Capitan and it’s broken on both. This was a great app. Now I wouldn’t purchase another thing from the company. I don’t offer alternatives normally, because I think it’s tacky, but I’ve had some success with PocketCasts. It’s not nearly as good as Downcast was, but I’ll take something that works, but is not as good, over something that doesn’t work at all. --- Constant crashes and it can’t import the opml file I exported from the iPhone counterpart. Not really sure why that’s a thing.

Works OK on the iOS app, but the Mac app is always stuck. Ive got a bunch of podcasts in the queue but I cant get them to download. No way to force them or indication of why. If Apple hadnt made such a mess of podcasts we wouldnt need this, but I think I need another solution.

This latest release seems to have fixed the issues I was having. THANK YOU! ---OLD REVIEW--- The Downcast app used to work perfectly but since this last update podcast episodes on my mac are not downloading/syncing properly. Restarts sometimes correct the problem but most of the time I have to restart multiple times. Frustrating experience. Works fine on my iPhone though.

I’ve been a Downcast on IOS fan since the first year this app came out. On IOS it works brilliantly - syncing between devices with iCloud is terrific, and the UI I’ve always found intuitive and easy to use. I decided to buy the OSX version late 2015 - and ugh, what a different experience. * I enabled iCloud sync on the OSX version, expecting the same awesome experience i have on IOS. Wrong - it totally messed up the sync * Some shows were completely removed * Others were reset to episode one After fixing my subscriptions, which took over an hour because i listen to 30+ podcasts, I tried using the desktop app again. Played a few episodes from the fixed up subscription list, then exited. Went to IOS and AGAIN it messed up my subscriptions list. This never happens on IOS between the iPhone and iPad. Until the developer fixes this issue I’d recommend avoiding this app completely if you use the IOS versions of this app as well. IOS version - 5 stars! This one, 1 star.

I have been using Downcast on my phone and iPad for a few years now, and while I was hesistant to pay for this version, it’s well worth it. With laptop hooked up to a blutooth speaker, I may never turn on my poor radio again! For home use it’s somewhat easier to navigate and realize what casts I’m behind on. I haven’t experienced any technical issues this far except it took an understandably long time to synch with all the podcasts I have on the other devices. Overall, well done and for the price of 2 lattes well worth it!

This has been my go to app for a long time. This app ia perfect for my use listening and downloading an average of 10 podcasts a day. The Mac app has had some bugs but it is now very stable. Consider leaving a tip if you like this app. This will support continued development. I have done it.

Version 2.9.15 Crash on Launch was fixed and missing MacBreak and Security Now episodes came back. All is well again. I honestly can’t wait for the ability to donate, I use this app all the time. Version 2.9.14 Crashing on startup, reverting back to 2.9.13 and the crash is gone - submitted several crash reports to apple - please fix! Version 1.1.5 Review This version is finally stable and working correctly. Syncing between IOS and Mac is also working correctly. I hope subsequent releases are as high quality as this one is. Great job and keep up the good work! Version 1.1.3 Review (Yet another update that breaks the application) Come on guys, do you even test this app before releasing it? Last time when you paused a podcast it would start over from the beginning of the cast, now when you pause the only way to resume is to close and reopen Downcast. Whoever is in charge of QA needs to revaluate your testing procedures, I work in Software development and I know it isn’t easy and I’d give you a pass if it was some obscure piece of functionality but two updates in a row with obvious defects is inexcusable.

I’ve tried pretty much every podcast app out there and IMHO Downcast is by far the best option as a standalone app. I also purchased the iOS version, also great. What isn’t good is when you attempt to hook them up to iCloud to sync between the 2. Even if it works at first, eventually something happens and podcast subscriptions begin to disappear. Not a huge deal to add them back, however, I’ve lost some obscure ones that I can’t recall the details of so therefore I can’t find them to re-add them. I’ve given up on sync and shut that part off, now I use them separately on my MacBook and iPhone.