Popular third-party iOS podcast app Overcast reached version 4.0.1 on Thursday, bringing some much-requested features including a new true-black dark theme and sleep timer option.

overcast

New Black dark theme compared to Light theme with System font option enabled

The new Black theme, shown above, joins the existing Light and Dark themes, and has been designed with the iPhone X in mind, offering a slick new look for the smartphone's 5.8-inch OLED display as well as being easier on tired eyes.

As before, users who like to change things up depending on the time of day (or night) can swipe up or down with two fingers to quickly change between a light and dark interface – the only difference being that the Light-Switch gesture now simply chooses the most recently used dark theme.

In another neat UI appearance tweak, users can now also opt to turn on the system font for whichever theme they choose.

Elsewhere, there's a new sleep timer option that stops playback at the end of the currently playing episode, plus a bunch of smaller improvements including one that's supposed to fix auto-resume playback after taking a call.

Overcast 3.1 is available as a free ad-supported app for iPhone and iPad from the App Store. [Direct Link]

Top Rated Comments

576316 Avatar
94 months ago
Argh. Dark themes must be so nice on the X. It’s almost like Apple should offer a system wide dark theme...
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacGizmo Avatar
94 months ago
I purchased Overcast but fail to see how it’s better than Apple's Podcasts app.
I used to love Apple's Podcast app... in the last updates to it, I fail to see how it's even useable.

Overcast's ability to remove dead air in podcasts and speed up play speed in smaller increments than Apple's Podcast app makes listening to podcasts a much better experience. And the podcast management is a lot clearer... shows don't appear 2 or 3 times on a single screen, and deleting a podcast does just that instead of simply removing it from a list requiring you to navigate back to some arbitrary location where the actual file exists in order to delete it.

PS: Overcast is free. Always has been.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ArcAngel66 Avatar
94 months ago
Overcast used to charge (I paid for it), then screwed over its paying customers by becoming ad supported even after you had paid full price for the app.

Apple's podcast app has always been free and has had no ads.

You decide which is better.
This.

I paid money for it as well. Since it went freemium, nobody who initially paid has had full access to every feature.

I get developers want to make a living (though it’s hard to feel bad for Marco in his $100K Tesla)...

But if you initially charged money for an app - and later decided to move to freemium... how dare you not give full “pro” access to those who were early adopters/supporters. No argument justifies what Overcast, and many other apps, did.

It’s one thing if a huge update comes along, such as Things releasing an all new version. But Overcast literally has gone back and forth on stupid UI decisions - and is constantly breaking (both UI and functionality) because Marco is too good to use standard iOS resources.

It’s sad... Instacast is still miles better than Overcast. And it’s general design hasn’t changes in years. But remains relevant because it adheres to iOS’s design standards. Glad Instacast Core is around now, and being maintained.

And ironically, Overcast looks more and more like Instacast with each UI refresh.

The silence skipping is the only thing I can find appealing... but honestly, what’s the point? What use is it, at the end of the day?

The EQ is no better than iOSs Late Night setting, which applies system wide.

Are these trade offs worth relying on a non-standing audio engine requiring ongoing fixes? I personally don’t think so.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Westside guy Avatar
94 months ago
It’s good that the third-party podcast app developers are working to improve their apps, since Apple’s own app team seems hellbent on whittling the features of the company’s app down to nothing.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
MacGizmo Avatar
94 months ago
I agree, I also used to love Apple's podcast app. However, in my opinion, Apple destroyed their podcast app in iOS 11. The navigation is horrible.
Was it only iOS 11? I thought it was earlier than that. Or maybe it just seems that way because I quickly adjusted to Overcast after switching.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mcvaughan Avatar
94 months ago
I purchased Overcast but fail to see how it’s better than Apple's Podcasts app.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18

iOS 18.4 Will Include These New Features for Your iPhone

Wednesday February 5, 2025 7:15 am PST by
iOS 18.3 was released last month, so the first iOS 18.4 beta should be coming soon. iOS 18.4 is expected to be a more substantial update for the iPhone, with several new features and changes related to Apple Intelligence and beyond. Apple's website suggests that iOS 18.4 will be released in April, following beta testing. Below, we outline what to expect from the update so far. Apple...
General Apple Invites Feature

Apple Launches New 'Invites' App

Tuesday February 4, 2025 8:00 am PST by
Apple today announced the launch of a new app called "Invites," which is designed to allow users to plan events like birthday parties, graduations, vacations, baby showers, and more. "With Apple Invites, an event comes to life from the moment the invitation is created, and users can share lasting memories even after they get together," said Brent Chiu-Watson, Apple's senior director of...
App Store vs EU Feature 2

Apple Says It Doesn't Approve of EU Porn App

Monday February 3, 2025 1:15 pm PST by
Apple does not approve of the "Hot Tub" pornography app that was released for the iPhone in the EU using alternative app distribution, Apple said in a statement to MacRumors. Further, Apple is concerned about the potential user safety risks with a pornography app, and says that it undermines consumer trust in the Apple ecosystem. We are deeply concerned about the safety risks that hardcore...
maxresdefault

An Apple TV Refresh is Coming in 2025 - Here's What You Should Know

Wednesday February 5, 2025 10:17 am PST by
Apple hasn't refreshed the Apple TV since 2022, but rumors suggest that we're finally going to get an update in 2025. We don't have a full picture of what to expect yet, but we have some hints on what's coming. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. Updated A-Series Chip The current Apple TV 4K uses the A15 Bionic chip that was in the iPhone 13 lineup, and it's time for...
applecare apple care banner

Apple Raises Monthly AppleCare+ Subscription Price for All iPhones

Tuesday February 4, 2025 9:35 am PST by
Apple this week increased the prices for its monthly AppleCare+ subscription prices for the iPhone, raising the cost by 50 cents for all models in the United States. Standard AppleCare+ for the iPhone 16 models is now priced at $10.49 per month, for example, up from the prior $9.99 per month price. The 50 cent price increase applies to all available AppleCare+ plans for Apple's current...
iOS 18

iOS 18.3.1 Update Coming Soon for iPhones

Thursday February 6, 2025 7:31 am PST by
Apple is internally testing iOS 18.3.1 for iPhones, according to our website's analytics logs, which have been a consistently reliable indicator of upcoming iOS versions. The software update should be released within the next few weeks. iOS 18.3.1 should be a minor update that addresses software bugs and/or security vulnerabilities. Apple Intelligence notification summaries for news and...
iPhone SE 4 Single Camera Thumb

iPhone SE 4 Launching as Soon as Next Week

Thursday February 6, 2025 3:30 pm PST by
Apple's next-generation iPhone SE could debut as soon as next week with a launch to follow later in February, reports Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Apple isn't expected to hold an event for the iPhone SE 4, and will instead unveil the device through a press release. The iPhone SE 4 is expected to have an iPhone 14-style design, with Apple eliminating the thick bezels and Touch ID Home button of...
disney

Disney+ Loses 700,000 Subscribers Following Price Increase

Wednesday February 5, 2025 3:34 pm PST by
Disney+ lost 700,000 subscribers worldwide in recent months, according to Disney's earnings results for the first quarter of 2025. Disney said it now has 124.6 million Disney+ subscribers, a decrease of 0.7 million compared to its subscriber numbers in the fourth quarter of 2024. The drop in subscribers comes after Disney+ prices increased in the fall. Disney+ with Ads went from $7.99 to...