Review: AudioBay Podcast Player

What Was Wanted:

I wanted an easy to use Podcast application for the T-Mobile Shadow smartphone that was simple, worked all the time and had some great features. It had to have an auto-update feature, a way to simply add podcasts, be RSS compatible, and work over the many different connections on the Shadow. The interface had to be intuitive and easy to learn but still provide full functionality. Audio wise, it needed to work through the built in speaker, the headphones and on bluetooth headphones. I checked out AudioBay from AcroDesign Technologies, to find out if it was what I was looking for keep on reading.

Install

First up, the install size was small, 506 KB, which leaves more room for podcasts and music on the Shadow

Settings

  

The settings are basic but useful. You are given the ability to store the podcasts on the memory card and changing the buffer length for streamed podcasts. For downloads you can setup automatic downloads to happen when you want and how many you want to download (useful for news podcasts). This actually worked surprisingly well. I would wake up and there would be new podcasts on my Shadow.

Adding Podcasts

By Location

        

This was really cool to see. From AudioBay you can search for podcasts that originate near you like weather casts, local news and talk shows. If you have a GPS connected you can use that for the location search if you don’t know the zip-code. This feature is useful for the frequent traveler.

By Category

  

Adding a podcast by category is just as easy: from the main screen select Find > By Category and you can navigate through different selections. There is a basic listing for the categories but it is enough to get you started.

By Url

This is by far the most popular method of adding podcasts. AudioBay makes it easy, just select Find > By Url and enter the url to the RSS feed for your favorite podcast. 

By Files

  

If you just want to peruse the podcasts already on your device you can navigate to them from the main page by selecting Find > Files.

My PC

If you have a media server setup on your network you can find files through this method.

Working with Podcasts

        

This is where AudioBay really earns it’s money. The ability to effortlessly access podcasts is one of the requirements and AudioBay accomplishes this easily. From the main screen there are many options to choose from including Updating All and Unsubscribing. When you are viewing a podcast feed you are given more options. The one I found the most useful is being able to Stream a single episode. This worked really well on T-Mobile’s GPRS network and I encountered no hangups. In viewing a Podcast RSS feed you can choose to Subscribe, Update the feed or view a Details and Descriptions of the episodes and feeds.

Audio

AudioBay worked perfectly from the Shadow’s speaker, headphones and via bluetooth to every bluetooth stereo headphone I tested.

Does It Make the Shadow Better? 

Pros

• Many methods for adding podcasts
• Ability to Stream an episode
• Auto-download Scheduling
• Intuitive interface

Con

• Category Catalog is basic

What should the developer add to it?

Based on the Con above, a more extensive catalog of available podcasts from the Internet would be a perfect addition to AudioBay. This would make a great application even better.

Is It What Was Wanted?

Yes, it met up with every expectation and need I wanted in a Podcast player. AudioBay was simple and intuitive to use and worked great with all my data connections. Every morning when I go to the gym I take along my Shadow and listen to the news before my music, AudioBay enables me to enjoy what I want when I want when it comes to Podcasts. The price of $9.95 makes it very affordable. If enjoy podcasts, get AudioBay Podcast Player for the T-Mobile Shadow.

I give it 4 and a half out of 5 Shadows!

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Tags: audiobay, podcast, review, rss, shadow

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