Besides reading audio books and watching audio described movies I absolutely love listening to a good podcast. I got into them several years ago as a way to access news and entertainment on my long commutes to work. Now that I work from home delving into a rich podcast daily is still on my agenda. My   interest is vast. I listen to podcasts on news, technology, health and fitness, history; and arts and culture.

Overcast Inducted Into Hall of Fame

In order to really listen to all these great episodes, I needed a great app. One that is fully accessible and easy to use with a simple design. The one that fits the bill for me has been Overcast hands down. AppleVIS thought the same when they inducted them into their iOS Hall of Fame recently. AppleVIS created the iOS Hall of Fame in 2011 as an acknowledgement of the hard work that app developers put into making their apps fully accessible to Voiceover users.

Overcast Features

Overcast has some excellent features and benefits. Many of them I use often which AppleVIS highlighted on their site:

1.  Subscribe to a podcast, or just add an episode: try new shows without committing. I really like this feature because new podcasts come out all the time it seems. I can listen to an episode and determine if it is worth my wild or not without a full subscription.

2.  Search and browse for new podcasts, plus get personalized recommendations. Searching is easy breezy on Overcast. I can just dictate the name of the show and if it is available it will pop up in the results. Additionally, Overcast will let me know if shows are active or not which I really like. That way I know if I should subscribe or not.

3.  Voice Boost makes every podcast the same volume with a broadcast-quality remastering engine. Since I listen to so many podcasts each one is produced a little differently and the audio quality can be different as well. But this feature smooths things out a bit so there are not huge variations in sound quality.

4.  Download podcasts for playing anytime, even offline. Since the pandemic I have notice the WIFI in my area to be spotty at times. But I can still access my podcast regardless.

Additional Features

Other features I don’t use much but AppleVIS spotlighted are:

1.  Smart Speed saves time without distorting the audio or sounding unnatural.

2.  Create custom Playlists with smart filters and per-podcast priorities, and rearrange the list whenever you want.

3.  Receive optional notifications when new episodes arrive.

4.  Sleep timer automatically stops playback after any time interval you set.

5.  Apple Watch app with standalone playback and cellular streaming.

6.  CarPlay support.

Uncomplicated and Fully Accessible

AS long as podcasts are around, and I don’t see them going anywhere for a long time, Overcast will be my app of choice. I find it so simple to use and uncomplicated. When I am listening to a podcast, I don’t want to spend a lot of time figuring things out. I want to spend more time listening to the podcast itself than maneuvering around the app. I also appreciate their commitment to full accessibility to the blind community. Too many times I have downloaded apps from the App Store only to find they are partly accessible, like my bank app, or not accessible at all. I am left struggling and not sure how to proceed forward with what I need to do. Sometimes reaching out to the developer has been fruitful but sometimes it has not. So, thanks Overcast for creating an app that I can independently use. Your induction in the AppleVIS iOS Hall of Fame is well deserved.