{"id":44147,"date":"2024-07-18T14:56:07","date_gmt":"2024-07-18T18:56:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/?p=44147"},"modified":"2024-10-22T10:37:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T14:37:38","slug":"overcasts-new-foundation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/07\/18\/overcasts-new-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"Overcast&rsquo;s New Foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/marco.org\/2024\/07\/16\/overcast-rewrite\">Marco Arment<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/112796297185407755\">Mastodon<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/marco.org\/2024\/07\/16\/overcast-rewrite\"><p>Today, on the <strong>tenth anniversary<\/strong> of <a href=\"https:\/\/marco.org\/2014\/07\/16\/overcast\">Overcast 1.0<\/a>, I&rsquo;m happy to launch a complete rewrite and redesign of most of the iOS app, built to carry Overcast into the next decade &mdash; and hopefully beyond.<\/p><p>[&#8230;]<\/p><ul><li><strong>Much faster,<\/strong> more responsive, more reliable, and more accessible.<\/li><li><strong>Modern design,<\/strong> optimized for easily-reached controls on today&rsquo;s phone sizes.<\/li><li><strong>Improvements<\/strong> throughout, such as undoing large seeks, new playlist-priority options, easier navigation, and more.<\/li><\/ul><p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>The last few missing features from the old app, such as Shortcuts support, storage management, and OPML. These are absent now, but will return soon.<\/p>\n<p>[&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p>For Overcast to have a future, it needed a modern foundation for its second decade. I&rsquo;ve spent the past 18 months rebuilding most of the app with Swift, SwiftUI, <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/marcoarment\/Blackbird\">Blackbird<\/a>, and modern Swift concurrency.<\/p><p>Now, development is rapidly accelerating. I&rsquo;m more responsive, iterating more quickly, and ultimately making the app <em>much<\/em> better.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Overcast is one of my favorite apps, and I expect to like this version, too. However, after hearing about the self-imposed anniversary deadline, the smaller beta group and short beta period, and some unimplemented old features, I&rsquo;m delaying for a bit. I&rsquo;m in no rush and would like to avoid any initial bugs. The App Store doesn&rsquo;t offer any way to downgrade, so it seems like the only way to wait for a few maintenance updates is to turn off auto-updating across all apps.<\/p>\n\n<p>See also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/radar\/297\">Under the Radar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/atp.fm\/596\">Accidental Tech Podcast<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/512pixels.net\/2024\/07\/the-new-overcast-is-here\/\">Stephen Hackett<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.macstories.net\/reviews\/overcast-celebrates-its-tenth-anniversary-with-a-redesigned-interface\/\">Nil&eacute;ane Dorffer<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/sixcolors.com\/link\/2024\/07\/overcast-turns-10\/\">Jason Snell<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/new-overcast-app\/37874\">Mac Power Users Talk<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>Previously:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2022\/03\/29\/overcast-2022-2\/\">Overcast 2022.2<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-07-23\">Update (2024-07-23): <a href=\"https:\/\/mister.computer\/@kyle\/112808025240301792\">Kyle Hughes<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/mister.computer\/@kyle\/112808025240301792\">\n<p>The new Overcast looks and feels cheap now, and is the laggiest app I routinely use. So much polish is gone. It feels like a poster child for SwiftUI problems.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/linked\/2024\/07\/22\/overcast-new\">John Gruber<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@daringfireball\/112833008893221348\">Mastodon<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/daringfireball.net\/linked\/2024\/07\/22\/overcast-new\">\n<p>I&rsquo;ve got a few small gripes with this major update, but overall it&rsquo;s clear that Overcast is better than ever.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>I&rsquo;m not sure what to make of the mixed reports, with some saying the interface is much more laggy than before and others saying that it&rsquo;s much faster and smoother than before. I thought maybe it was that the actual drawing is slower but much of the work is async so that the interface isn&rsquo;t blocked, but there are also reports of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1ea5z9z\/comment\/lej6yp9\/\">freezes<\/a>. It does seem like Arment is working quickly to fix the bugs.<\/p>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-07-29\">Update (2024-07-29): See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@ChicagoBob\/112866422511731375\">ChicagoBob<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/krzyzanowskim\/status\/1817666958130557227\">Marcin Krzyzanowski<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-08-13\">Update (2024-08-13): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/radar\/298\">Under the Radar<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/radar\/298\"><p>The first few days after the launch of the Overcast rewrite, and how to process the mountain of feedback.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/new-overcast-app\/37874\/139\">Marco Arment<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/radar\/299\">Under the Radar<\/a>):<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/new-overcast-app\/37874\/139\"><p>Not having a big public beta for my rewrite really didn&rsquo;t affect it at all. There was no feedback that I got from a bigger group that I didn&rsquo;t get from my beta testers, from even having a small beta of I think it ended up being something like 40 people. I got all the same feedback that I got later from the bigger release and the bigger group.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/atp.fm\/598\">Accidental Tech Podcast<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/atp.fm\/598\">\n<p>Overcast launch<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@monkeydom\/112894398018439315\">Dominik Wagner<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@monkeydom\/112894398018439315\"><p>The new overcast and me just don&rsquo;t seem to be able to get along. <em>sigh<\/em>. Episode that was accidentally finished while asleep yesterday, apparently now deleted and gives me this beautiful screen on play.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/atp.fm\/599\">Accidental Tech Podcast<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/atp.fm\/599\">\n<p>immense power of 1-star reviews<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p>See also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/112836439387670880\">Overcast 2024.7.2<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/112881575178739767\">Overcast 2024.8<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/112939647156244653\">Overcast 2024.8.1<\/a> (brings back Manage Storage)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>I&rsquo;m going to wait a bit longer, but it looks like it&rsquo;s getting there.<\/p>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-08-17\">Update (2024-08-17): <a href=\"https:\/\/tilde.zone\/@reppep\/112967506637365768\">Chris Pepper<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/tilde.zone\/@reppep\/112967506637365768\">\n<p>Rewrite Feedback<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-09-10\">Update (2024-09-10): See also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/appstories.net\/episodes\/398\">App Stories<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/radar\/300\">Under the Radar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.relay.fm\/mpu\/759\">Mac Power Users<\/a> (<a href=\"https:\/\/talk.macpowerusers.com\/t\/759-the-new-overcast-with-marco-arment\/38219\">Talk<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-09-17\">Update (2024-09-17): I&rsquo;m holding off on updating to <a href=\"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/2024\/09\/16\/ios-18\/\">iOS 18<\/a> because I&rsquo;ve <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@mjtsai\/113147663669303789\">heard nothing<\/a> about how well the old version of Overcast works there. The new version does not have OPML export yet, but it turns out that you <a href=\"https:\/\/mstdn.social\/@postweber\/113150123827740274\">can export<\/a> from the Web site. So my main concern at this point is that there are lots of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1fhn3l4\/advice_how_i_got_the_update_to_fix_episode\/\">reports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1fgwj40\/overcast_not_enforcing_episode_limits_56gb_today\/\">of<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1fikxfz\/i_want_to_keep_partially_played_unfinished\/\">problems<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1fhs3g0\/podcast_stops_and_is_deleted_during_playback\/\">with<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1fh9m49\/did_the_episode_limit_behavior_change_in_the\/\">download<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1f7o1yl\/overcast_wont_stop_downloading_what_am_i_doing\/\">limits<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1fivx9n\/new_episodes_not_showing_up\/\">and<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1fhaahv\/lost_queue_episodes\/\">storage<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1f9j8ly\/storage\/\">management<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p>See also: <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@iKyle\/113138660222117270\">Kyle Howells<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-10-14\">Update (2024-10-14): <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@marcoarment\/113286280727138677\">Marco Arment<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@marcoarment\/113286280727138677\"><p>I have no problem telling everyone this now:&nbsp;I&rsquo;m raising my price in the near future.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n<p>I have no problem paying a higher price, but I&rsquo;m concerned to still be seeing lots of reports of the new version not being fully reliable yet. It&rsquo;s good to see that <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/113199604527933045\">OPML support<\/a> is now <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/113286229277921897\">in beta<\/a>, though.<\/p>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-10-18\">Update (2024-10-18): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1g5ktzo\/not_having_any_issues_is_something_wrong_with_me\/\">ianscuffling<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/OvercastFm\/comments\/1g5ktzo\/not_having_any_issues_is_something_wrong_with_me\/\">\n<p>Other than queueing issues a month or 2 ago, the app works perfectly fine for me - no failed downloads, no queue problems, nothing. It&rsquo;s basically just the same as it ever was.<\/p>\n<p>Yet every time I see a post from this sub it&rsquo;s almost always someone with a catalogue of problems.<\/p>\n<p>How can so many people be having such wildly different experiences?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<p id=\"overcasts-new-foundation-update-2024-10-22\">Update (2024-10-22): <a href=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/113346094333134888\">Overcast<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote cite=\"https:\/\/mastodon.social\/@overcastfm\/113346094333134888\">\n<p>The 2024.10 update is now live in the App Store!<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marco Arment (Mastodon): Today, on the tenth anniversary of Overcast 1.0, I&rsquo;m happy to launch a complete rewrite and redesign of most of the iOS app, built to carry Overcast into the next decade &mdash; and hopefully beyond.[&#8230;]Much faster, more responsive, more reliable, and more accessible.Modern design, optimized for easily-reached controls on today&rsquo;s phone sizes.Improvements [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"apple_news_api_created_at":"2024-07-18T18:56:12Z","apple_news_api_id":"24cda6f4-c734-4bfc-9b0f-42bd6cf3be99","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2024-10-22T14:37:42Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADw==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AJM2m9Mc0S_ybD0K9bPO-mQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":false,"apple_news_is_preview":false,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_metadata":"\"\"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_slug":"","apple_news_sections":"\"\"","apple_news_suppress_video_url":false,"apple_news_use_image_component":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2070,91,31,2321,26,1883,647,112,2074,2200,1812],"class_list":["post-44147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology","tag-anniversary","tag-appstore","tag-ios","tag-ios-17","tag-iosapp","tag-opml","tag-overcast","tag-podcasts","tag-software-rewrite","tag-swift-concurrency","tag-swiftui"],"apple_news_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44147"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":45460,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44147\/revisions\/45460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mjtsai.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}