Apple may be on their way to revamp the podcasts app, ready to buy Swell

Jul 28, 2014 20:43 GMT  ·  By
Although Apple is not putting too much effort into developing the Podcasts app for iOS and the AppStore reviews have low ratings, the team in Cupertino, California, is on the right track. Purchasing one of the best Podcasting apps in the AppStore is one of those money-making ideas.
 
iOS 8 will turn the optional Podcasts app into a default app. Apple doesn't want to let go of podcasts and radio shows because the genre is growing stronger and more and more independent content producers are releasing awesome video and audio shows. 
 
Apple's Podcasts app used to be a complicated one, but iOS 7 changed that into a usable application that just works. Having it synced to iTunes or via iCloud makes it even easier to download, listen, and keep track of the shows' episodes you are interested in. However, the app is not updated too often, and by turning it into an iOS default app, the updates will come even slower. 
 
Sure enough, the Podcasts player market is full of great apps. Downcast, Instacast, Castro, and the new Overcast are just a few examples of podcast apps that are doing great and offer a spectacular interface with easy to use controls and plenty of features. 
 
One of the pretty much unknown apps is Swell. They go by the name of "Swell Radio for News and Podcasts" by Concept.io Inc. The idea behind it is that it works just like Pandora. You don't have to make a decision about what you want to listen to. The app is smart enough to figure out what you may like. Swell also automatically learns what you like based on what you listen to and it's got genres like Sports, Spirituality, Technology, News, Lifestyle, Music, Comedy, or Business. 
 
When you open the app, you go through a short tutorial and then you are taken to a webOS-like cards interface. You get to listen to an episode of a podcast and you have a few options: swipe the card to the left to skip it and the app will believe that you are not interested. Swipe up to bookmark the show and swipe down to reveal some more controls. 
 
The interface is simple enough for everyone to learn how to use the app in seconds, but there are some downsides to it. One of the weird things is that you no longer see the show's artwork on the lock screen, but a generic Swell logo on a blurry background. 
 
With that in mind, it is nice to see Apple is looking to revamp their Podcasts and maybe iTunes Radio discovery features. Recode says the tech giant is close to buying Swell for about $30 million (€22.32 million). The app had raised $7.2 million (€5.36 million) from different investors, including Google Ventures, but they never released a final version of their Android app.
 
After the acquisition, much of the Swell team will join Apple, according to the same source.