Podbay feels more like a concept than an actual app. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing might just depend on your perspective. It seems like any app released at this point, generations past the first iPhone, is expected to come packed with specific features “or else.” Apps without Facebook or Twitter connectivity are shunned. Apps lacking some sort of multimedia component are mocked.
In spite of these expectations, Podbay comes at you with one simple screen that lets you search for podcasts. If you find the podcast you’re looking for, you can stream it off the app within seconds. You can’t save it or add it as a favorite for later. You can’t share it on a social network or email it to a friend. You can listen to it, and rewind 30 seconds at a time if you desire. But that’s all. You can’t even subscribe to specific podcasts so you’ll know when they’re available. Podbay’s feature set is the very definition of bare bones.
For many, that’s still enough. Some people might not want to deal with a convoluted download process or subscription service. Some people might find it easier to listen to the podcast they’re looking for once and forget it ever existed. For those people, Podbay makes perfect sense. It is simplicity in a sea of convoluted, overly complex apps.
I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I appreciate how easy it is to get a podcast you’re looking for to play, but I really wish there was a subscription feature so you could be notified when a new podcast was added to the mix. Podbay does save recent searches so you can get back to the results you’re interested in quickly, but that won’t help you if you’ve done a lot of searching between listens. For me, Podbay just isn’t enough app at the moment.
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