Podcasts on a Blackberry

I sit in a lot of traffic, about an hour and a half to work every day. It’s unbearable and after a while my music collection on my iPod touch becomes repetitive and boring and I do not have the patience to even attempt to sample new songs and download enough to keep me entertained. Recently I’ve become interested in listening/watching podcasts especially tech podcasts. The Twit network with Leo Laporte provides me with all the geeky tech news I need along with Cnet’s Buzz out Loud and various others. I normally leave the house for work at about 3:30PM and if those podcasts haven’t downloaded in iTunes by then, I am kind of screwed. I have to remember that many of them are recorded in a different time zone and not uploaded until much later. Me being on the East Coast means late! That’s where my Blackberry Storm comes in to save the day!! Here I have a device that’s connected all the time and I am not restricted to Wi-Fi and syncing to iTunes. I can plug it into my AUX IN jack in my car stereo. If you have Bluetooth, even better!
Now let me start off by saying my Blackberry Storm can really frustrate me. It has 128MB of memory with 1 GB of onboard storage and and 8 GB microSD card. Yet! Yet! I am always running out of memory for my apps. Meanwhile my iPod touch can have countless amounts of apps installed and never tells me to uninstall applications. Whatever, I deal with it. So I’ve made some space on my Blackberry Storm to download some podcasting applications. I chose three: Podtrapper, Stitcher and BerryTunes. There would be a fourth, Mediafly, but it was a three part download and that’s just a bit too much. Keep in mind it’s in Beta still. So I will install and check it out at another time.
Podtrapper was my first download in the Blackberry Application World. The app comes in at a tiny 394 kb with a rating of 4 ½ stars. You’re given a 30 day free trial otherwise it costs $9.99. The interface is clean and very touch friendly. Sorry but I don’t think I can ever go back to a non touch phone ever again. Of course nothing compares to interface design on an iPhone or iPod touch. I’m sorry to say that but it’s true. Everything is so clean and easy to see and read. Why this is not part of a programmer’s goal on the blackberry I do not know. However, the Podtrapper interface is simple and quite clean and to the point. The menu key brings up a slew of options. When you browse for new podcasts to add, the application invokes the standard Blackberry Web Browser. Upon finding your podcast, you’re automatically brought back to Podtrapper and there waiting is your podcast. It also provides the podcasts native album art which is nice since you don’t have to bother reading anything. It’s just a visual click away. You can set it to automatically download new podcasts at a selected schedule or leave it on manual. As soon as it starts downloading you can start playing your podcast. I’ve been using it for a week and it’s been great. As I drive if I see the podcast is updating I can immediately hit play and listen to my podcast and deal with the traffic in a more pleasant way. Podtrapper also lets you see all available downloads for that particular podcast. You’re not limited to just the most recent and can be added to a playlist as well. The control is completely up to you. You’re also able to save the podcast file to your microSD card if you decide you want to keep it forever. Keep in mind, the podcast in the app won’t be deleted unless you choose to.
Podtrapper, $9.99, 30 day free trial. 394kb
Stitcher at 481kb and free is beautifully designed app especially for a touch user. All touch icons are clear and easy to press. Visually it is the nicest of the three applications I have used. It would be nice if more apps on a blackberry looked like this in its ease of use. The app’s main screen provides you with a bunch of podcast topics ranging from the arts to sports. You can also do a search by pressing search on the touch screen interface. Once you click on a show you want to listen to, it starts playing. There’s no choosing to subscribe or picking a particular episode to listen to. For some this might be fine if they tend to keep updated. For those that require more control you may not appreciate this auto created station method of playing shows. Personally I think I’ve become accustomed to controlling how and when I do things. With that said, Stitcher as done a great job making it very easy to listen to the shows you like. You’re also able to add your shows into a playlist. Playlists are always great especially if you’re driving and do not want to bother looking for another podcast when one is finished or on a cold day when your blackberry is buried deep inside of your coat.
Stitcher, FREE with optional fees for special subscriptions, 481kb
Berrytunes has me a bit confused as to whether or not it’s truly free. I found Berrytunes on the web for free and there’s another app with a slightly different name for a fee in the Blackberry App Store. I threw this one in because it was free and a quick install and gets to the point of listening to a podcast. It’s at a mere 126 kb! It’s perfect for memory deprived blackberry users everywhere. It’s completely textual based. No fancy icons here. They are big enough to click on a Blackberry Storm and not mis-click something else. It does show all available episodes for a particular podcast. Here’s what I love most about this little simple app…You can add a link to a live streaming radio stations. That’s where this app excels, it’s not just a podcast player. I was able to add TWIT’s LIVE streaming feed to Berrytunes. It has a full list of live radio stations by genre. So go ahead, find your local station and tune away. It’s hideously designed. I’m sorry but it’s 2010 and I just don’t think things need to look like this anymore. Everything should be beautiful and or sleek and pleasant to look at. With that said, it IS free and it does play streaming audio and it does it well.
Berrytunes, FREE, 126kb