How to setup Podcaster to automatically download and delete episode files.

Podcaster will automatically download new episodes and deletes old episodes.  This can be controlled with 2 settings.

"When new episodes are available...." setting
 This is applied during a refresh for each podcast as Podcaster finds new episodes.

"Episodes to keep" setting
Old episodes are deleted from disk as a new episode of each podcast finishes downloading. That means that even if you have this setting set to "keep only unplayed episodes",  played episodes will remain on disk until new episodes are finished downloading. The titles remain in the app for history purposes. You can hide all played episodes by using the 'Auto-hide played episodes' setting.

A few things to note, if you change either of the 2 settings, the settings are not applied until a new episode is found or a download has finished. Refresh and Download Queue cannot start if the app is in the background but will continue in the background for up to 10 minutes after it has started.

Also, Podcaster 3.7 and earlier had a feature called "Clean Disk" This deleted old downloads and removed the history. This was taken out for the sole reason that if you had all episodes played, then you ran a cleanup and all episodes got removed (including history), the next time you refresh that podcast, all episodes would be found and redownloaded again.

We hope this helps most users. Please post questions to the comments area. 

Win a copy of Osmos for iPhone

We are in the giving spirit. We are giving away a copy of Osmos for iPhone, a really cool iPhone game. To enter, go to http://www.facebook.com/PodcasterApp/posts/185384078144904 and leave a comment. That's it, we will choose a winner tomorrow 12/18/2010.

Where are the crash logs?

Each time you sync your device, crash logs get transfered to the computer. Those logs can be used by developers to track down bugs in an application.

To get the crash logs, sync your device, then look in one of the following locations

Mac OS X : /Library/Logs/CrashReporter/MobileDevice/

Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\Application Data\Apple computer\Logs\CrashReporter\

Windows Vista: C:\Users\AppData\Roaming\Apple computer\Logs\CrashReporter\MobileDevice\

Just zip up the crash logs for Podcaster and send them to us. You will greatly help us resolve the remaining issues in our awesome app ;-)

Alex
Developer

iTunes Gift Card Giveaway - Podcaster

We are giving you a change to win a $15 gift card as a way of spreading the holiday spirit. We will choose a winner at random on December 15, 2010 at 3:00 PM EST.

To enter:
All you have to do is become a fan of the Podcaster facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Podcaster/113817798670115)

The contest is open to all U.S. residents. Email us if you have any questions.

New and updated site

We have recently redesigned http://www.podcaster.fm. The site includes an overview and features information with links to our Twitter, Facebook and Blogger pages. Also, contact, support information, Podcaster manual for quick lookups, and a link to our forums for answers to your questions. We have included a feedback button, where you can shout out an idea, report a problem, ask a question, or if you'd like, just say something nice. It is always super great to hear everyone's ideas. Keep those emails flowing.
Thanks. :-)

3.7 now available

Podcaster v3.7 with background downloading is now available in the itunes store. Update now!
For those that have not gotten around to getting Podcaster yet, get v3.7 for free at http://podcaster.fm/promocodes
Some promo codes still available, hurry! ;-)

Apples new AppStore Review Guidelines might put an end to Podcaster

Yesterday Apple announced new rules for the app store and we want to just mention several that might put a stop to future Podcaster development.

8.5 Use of protected 3rd party material (trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, otherwise proprietary content) requires a documented rights check which must be provided upon request

This has already affected the the directory in the app. We had to remove the feeds that Apple asked us and move them out of the app to http://podcaster.fm/search.aspx. 

9.2 App user interfaces that mimic any iPod interface will be rejected

We made out Now Playing screen look similar to Apples iPod screen because people are familiar with the control. We have several icons and buttons that Apple does not have so maybe it's enough of a difference. 

9.3 Audio streaming content over a cellular network may not use more than 5MB over 5 minutes

9.4 Video streaming content over a cellular network longer than 10 minutes must use HTTP Live Streaming and include a baseline 64 kbps audio-only HTTP Live stream

Our app allows users to stream content and if Apple makes us stop streaming, it will make a lot of users unhappy. This will not affect anyone that download the feeds over 3G.

We are not sure how much has changed from the previous rules so we might be able to get away with it but it's still a  guessing game. We currently have Podcaster 3.5 in review so we should have an answer by end of next week.