Overcast developer nixes standalone podcasts on Apple Watch, citing watchOS 4 changes

Via a Thursday iPhone app update, support for playing podcasts directly on an Apple Watch — through a feature called "Send to Watch" — was removed from Overcast, something its developer blamed on changes coming with this fall's watchOS 4.

The feature, added in April, depended on a common workaround for background audio in watchOS 3, Marco Arment said in a blog post. That workaround has reportedly been broken in watchOS 4, and Arment added that while there is one alternative, it wouldn't be good enough to "confidently ship" and he'd rather spend development time on requested features for the iPhone and iPad.

As few as 0.1 percent of Overcast users were actually taking advantage of "Send to Watch," and there were many negative reviews, he noted. People will still be able to use an Apple Watch to remotely control iPhone playback.

Reducing the Watch's dependence on the iPhone has become a goal for both Apple and third-party developers. The Series 2, for instance, includes its own GPS receiver, making it possible to use some location-based apps without having an iPhone in tow.

The biggest shift may be coming with this fall's "Series 3," which is expected to adopt LTE cellular, letting many more apps operate independently. The wearable may also boast a new external design.

11 Comments

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

About 7 years ago

Never a good idea for a developer to provide features via a workaround. You never know when Apple will plug the hole or change something.

cgWerks 2947 comments · 8 Years

I'm guessing this means something like it is coming, built-in or via a non-workaround path. This kind of functionality is one of the few reason to consider a Watch in the first place, especially now that iPods are gone.

greginprague 492 comments · 13 Years

Well apparently I'm the one guy who was using it. Didn't work great, transfer was slow, but still it was the only real option for listening to podcasts while leaving my 6s Plus at home for night runs. It's pathetic that we're more than 2 years in and this functionality (and lack of ebooks from Audible or elsewhere) isn't baked into WatchOS or apps.

greglomow 4 comments · 11 Years

I also very much liked this feature and it was a real differentiator for Overcast (in fact it was the primary reason I switched from another podcast app). Maybe if I don't update Overcast on my iPhone I can keep using this feature.

GeorgeBMac 11421 comments · 8 Years

greginprague said:

Well apparently I'm the one guy who was using it. Didn't work great, transfer was slow, but still it was the only real option for listening to podcasts while leaving my 6s Plus at home for night runs. It's pathetic that we're more than 2 years in and this functionality (and lack of ebooks from Audible or elsewhere) isn't baked into WatchOS or apps.

Ummm,
Isn't running (presumably) alone at night without a phone a little risky because of Murphy's law?

That aside, I find that third party vendors generally have been very slow and hesitant to jump on the AW bandwagon -- particularly the independence enhancements included with OS3. My experience has been that they still operate on the phone and then try to interface with the watch -- which makes the AW apps slow and clumsy.