Farewell Instacast
Instacast, the popular podcast client for iOS and Mac, is no more. Having run out of funds, developer Vemedio is closing up shop, according to a statement sent to paid subscribers. Vemedio says that it will keep its servers running for as long as possible to maintain existing functionality. We covered the iOS version in “Five Alternatives to Apple’s Podcasts App,” 22 December 2012 and the subsequent Mac version in “Instacast for Mac Fills the Desktop Podcatcher Gap,” 31 May 2013.
Thankfully, Instacast isn’t the only kid on the block. Here are some alternatives to consider:
- iTunes for Mac / Podcasts for iOS (see “Podcasts App Breaks Podcasts out of Music App,” 2 July 2012)
- Downcast for Mac and iOS (reviewed in “Five Alternatives to Apple’s Podcasts App,” 22 December 2012, and “Downcast Comes to Mac, but Lacks Instacast’s Polish,” 3 August 2013)
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Pocketcasts for Web and iOS (also covered in “Five Alternatives to Apple’s Podcasts App,” 22 December 2012)
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Overcast for Web and iOS (reviewed in “Overcast Refines the iPhone Podcast Experience,” 16 July 2014)
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Castro for iOS
I also recommend reading Julio Ojeda-Zapata’s recent roundup, “Mac Podcast Client Showdown: Native Clients vs. Web Apps” (5 January 2015), which compares a number of these apps.
I am so bummed. I love Instacase. Clean and efficient.