Overcast at 10
As a listener (and supporting member) of Accidental Tech Podcast I’ve been hearing about Overcast’s big rewrite for a while now.
On its 10th Anniversary the big update for Overcast is finally here! Marco did an amazing job modernizing the app’s design while setting the foundation for faster feature updates in the future. I’m excited to see where it goes from here.
My favorite new feature is one I’ve requested: Sleep Timer can be set to End of Chapter. I can now drift off to sleep and not miss the beginning of the next topic.
If you’re interested in app development I encourage you to listen to Under the Radar 297 or ATP 596. There were a few tidbits that stood out to me:
- In Radar 293 Marco shared that a project manager helped him plan, prioritize, sequence, and define the scope for this project. It reminds me that even a team of one can benefit from a good project manager.
- I don’t know Marco personally but it was gut-wrenching to hear that the burden of this rewrite (and his mountain of technical debt) made Marco consider quitting programming altogether. It was equally inspiring to hear he’s now feeling better than ever and ready for what’s next.
- He migrated user data to an all-new backend in parallel (APFS style) with the previous version of the app to make the transition seamless for customers day one (and to lighten the server load).
- He removed streaming (used by about 8% of users) due to increased complexity in how podcast files are hosted (namely: dynamic ad insertion). The downside isn’t huge: just a few extra seconds to wait after hitting play (if you don’t use automatic downloads). Upside: Marco won’t be burdened with bugs and can spend more time improving the app.
If you use the app I encourage you to leave a nice review (or a quick 5 star rating) for Overcast in the App Store. A nice review goes a long way and it pays dividends to send good vibes.
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- Next: Blue Screen of Death