Apple iPhone School » mobilecast

MobileCast 3.0~b1

Brooke — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 15:05:11 +0000

Available In: Cydia

Price: Free

Another app that made it’s debut this week-end was MobileCast. I really liked the MobileCast application from firmware 1.1.4 and below!! I used it all the time! So, I was really excited to see that MobileCast had made it to firmware 2.x. MobileCast is an application that allows you to wireless download podcasts.

The new MobileCast has a slightly new look and feel to it. When you open the application, you will notice three options on the lower menu bar; Favorites, Downloads and Search. The Search option allows you to search for audio and video podcasts. I will say that the search is a little slow and slightly glitchy but, if you can make it past that, you will get a list of relevant options based on your search. You can then select Add next to the podcast you would like to add to your favorites. You will get a pop-up saying that the podcast feed was successfully added.

Now, you can go to Favorites and you will see a list of all the podcasts that you have added. If you do not see any, select the refresh button in the upper right corner. You can also add feeds manually by selecting the + icon in the upper right corner. To see the individually podcasts for each feed, just select the Title of the podcast. You will then get a list of podcasts available (if you do not see a list, select the refresh button in the upper right corner). To download a podcast, select Download and then hit the refresh button. The podcast will start to download. Now, based on what you are connected to Edge, 3G or WiFi…it will determine how quickly the podcasts download. Once the podcast is downloaded, it will say Play next to it. You can select Play to watch the podcast. The podcast is also added to the Downloads section of the application. If a podcast is not showing up in the Downloads section even though it says Play after it, you will need to go into Downloads and selec the refresh button.

If you start downloading a podcast, you can continue to search and use the application and the podcast will continue to download in the background. I did find that I had a few issues with crashing and glitchy while using this application. But, if you are patient and do not try to do too many things at once, it does work. I do hope that we see an upgrade soon but, I still like this application!

MobileCast 2.2.3

Brooke — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 15:44:38 +0000

MobileCast version 2.2.3 has some cool new features! When you open the app you will notice a Now Playing button in the upper right corner. So, when a podcast is playing…the Now Playing button will light up, that way you do not have to leave the actual window the podcast is playing in open…you can go do whatever you would like in the app and then just tap the Now Playing button to get back to the podcast you are listening to (for me, that is definately easier then trying to find the podcast I am listening to among the hundreds of podcasts I have!!). Another cool new feature is the ability to email a feed url. When you are on the main menu…you can tap on the blue arrow to the right of the podcast feed you would like to email and it will give you a little pop-up asking you if you would like to Share the feed url or if you would like to Dismiss and go back to the main menu. If you decide to email the feed info…it will open a new email with the Title of the feed in the Subject…the body of the email will say, Check out this podcast: and then the url for the feed. I also noticed that when you have downloaded a podcast and then remove it…the little dot in front of it now turns yellow. I am having one issue after the update and that is that I cannot play some of my video podcasts…I get a little pop-up saying…This movie could not be played. Which is weird because it worked before I updated. Let me know if you are having any similar issues. There are also a ton of bug fixes (check out the list below). MobileCast is available through the Ste Packaging source. Below are some screenshots.

Update (note from developer):
“In 2.2.3 there was an issue with playback of certain video feeds; this issue has been corrected in the latest development version which can be obtained from our google code development site at: http://mobilecast.googlecode.com/
There is also a discussion forum for mobile cast at: http://groups.google.com/group/mobilecast/topics”

Change Log 2.2.3:
Fixes:
    * Fix for issue #62 – MC prefers urls from guid over enclosure.
    * Fix for issue #61 – MC 2.2.3 RC1 cannot playback video.
    * Fix for issue #54 – MC draining battery at increased rate.
    * Fix for issue #40 – downloaded items now get unique filenames.
    * Fix for issue #51 – MC should not allow you to add the same feed multiple times.
    * Fix for issue #57 – mobilecast is not deleting files from disk when an entire feed is removed.
    * Fix for issue #50 – disable animation during download.
    * Fix for issue #49 – reintroduce slider to position playback in podcast.
    * Yet another OPML fix thanks Joseph Jameson!
    * Fix for issue #42 – unable to add multiple feeds.

Other New Features:
    * OPML import now has visual feedback ( issue #32 )
    * MobileCast gracefully handles podcasts without guids (issue# 53)
    * Added disclosure to feed items that will download/play as appropriate.

MobileCast Update 2.2.2

Brooke — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:14:45 +0000

The update to MobileCast 2.2.2 fixes quite a few bugs and adds a few new features! This app is available in the Installer.app through the Ste Packaging source. One of the new features added with the update is an Edit button it the lower left corner of the main Feed menu. If you tap on the Edit button you are able to delete feeds or you can now sort your feeds by moving them in whatever order you would like them in. To move a feed…just tap and hold the three white bars to the right of the feed, then drag it where you would like it and let go (make sure when you are done editing, you tap the Done button in the lower left corner)! Another great new update is the ability to do a quick 30 second fastforward or rewind while watching the video (though, it doesn’t seem to work for me…let me know in the comments if it is working for you!). Below are the exact fixes according to the developer and some screenshots:

If you would like to add the iPhone101 feed to your MobileCast just enter this Feed URL into the RSS Feed section – http://feeds.feedburner.com/iphone101.

Fixes via the Developer:
    * Fix for issue #39 – Cancel Download button flashes during download with 2.2.2 RC1.
    * Fix for issue #7 – Long titled entries are indistinguishable
    * Fix for Menu bar goes away after playing video podcast – issue #26
    * Slider in mp3 playback now controls volume (to support itouch users) issue #6 .
    * Fix for issue #33 – unable to delete most recently played podcast.
    * Small fix to the opml importer – crashing when it encountered an outline without an XmlUrl attribute issue #36 .
    * Fix for issue #29 Last item in long feed is unselectable
    * Several minor fixes to make the opml importer more robust.

MobileCast 2.2.1 Update – Vidcast Compatible

Douglas — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 06:49:37 +0000

A recent update to MobileCast now works with video podcasts. This is great! Now you can enter an RSS feed of your favorite video podcast and it will download and play right from the app. No computer or iTunes needed. It seems to work very well and so far all the feeds I’ve tried work. The feed must be for video playable on the iPhone.

MobileCast 2.1b2 Review

Douglas — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 05:28:40 +0000

One of the biggest downfalls of iTunes is not being able to download podcasts over wifi without iTunes. MobileCast now allows you to! Just add the feed’s URL and the feed appears. You can choose which episode to download and listen right from the app.