Podcast App BeyondPod is Beyond Broken

Hey,

There's a really bad Android app out there called Beyond Pod. I see a bunch of you guys use it for The Bombcast. It was poorly written and sends essentially malicious traffic (a whole lot) to our servers. We've tried to contact the developers about it but they've ignored us.

We're going to be blocking access from that app within a day or two until the developers can fix their bugs.

I have used Beyond Pod for years, had no idea it caused podcast providers problems. Can anyone recommend an alternative please?

@peacefulpaul108: Pocket Casts is great.

it's what i use

Pocketcasts and overcast are both very good. Overcast is free, Pocketcasts is not.

Pocket Casts is one of the very best apps of any kind, not just podcast apps. Superb interface, really responsive and smooth, has all the features you need and no more than that (although adding premium podcasts is a slightly manual process), team are constantly updating and improving it. Well worth the couple of quid.

BeyondPod? No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I actually like the app quite a bit- so I'm saddened to hear this.

I use it for all of my podcatching needs.

Used to use Beyond Pod, now I use Pocket Casts. Much better UI, handles syncing across all devices, and even has a browser client. Worth it.

Wow that sucks, I like the app a lot. Guess I'm on the hunt for something new!

I would also recommend Pocket Casts. I paid to also get their web service so I can listen on my computer where I left off on my phone.

Podcast Addict has been pretty decent. Going to check Pocket Casts though!

Dang. I've been using this apps for several months now. Guess i need to get another app. Thanks for the heads up.

Seriously? I paid 7 bucks for this damn podcast app. That sucks.

I use DoggCatcher. Works fine.

I've used beyondpod in the past, thanks for the heads up.

I started using Podcast Addict recently and I like it a lot. It's finally got me transitioning away from using my old iPod and iTunes, which has become a total shitshow for podcast management.

Oh great now I have to switch apps for just one podcast. What do you think the bug is? The app might be requesting the data a lot but that is configurable from the app and the user can manually use try and update.

I also endorse Podcast Addict.

spend the few bucks on Pocket Casts and never look back it is one of the most beautiful and functional apps ever

POCKET CAST

Uh, just a random question but I haven't heard this kind of a problem from any other podcast makers that I listen to, is there anyone else doing this?

Ditto - Curious if anyone else causes similar issues?

@hyuzen: I'm not sure it's a great idea to encourage people to thwart GB's paywall on their own forums, if that's what you're suggesting.

I use BeyondPod, and so does @lochnessie82. Should we leave bad reviews on the Play store and see if they notice and/or react?

Looks like we'll give Pocket Casts a shot since so many people seem to like it.

Edgework posted this in the duplicate of this thread, sounds like it's an issue with premium podcasts when the users aren't authorized to access it:

@fisk0@edgework If that's the case then will the regular bombcast still function as it doesn't need the premium check or are you guys just blocking everything and anything entirely from the program?

I'm a premium user of Pocket Casts. It's the bestest.

I got Pocket Casts as a replacement but i cant seem to get the Premium podcasts feed to load. It didn't ask for a login/pw and it's not showing any new podcasts. help?

Antenna Pod for Android is free and open source. I use it on my phone and it works very well.

@tdot: me too. Pocket casts is definitely worth the $3 or whatever insignificant amount of money I paid for it.

@glitches: Every time the app asks Can I?, we need to do a bunch of stuff. And then the amount of traffic trips an alarm that we're getting scraped and then someone has to deal with that. So when the block goes live we're just going to see if the request is from Beyond Pod and respond with "Go away kid, ya bother me". and be done with it.

If the developers want to get in touch they have my email.

I use doubletwist on android for podcasts.

Another shoutout to Podcast Addict, I like that I can set it to download the 3 oldest unlistened podcasts from a feed automatically and delete them upon listening, makes it going through the bombcast back catalog super easy.

No thought process required.

Didn't realize so many people used apps to organize podcasts. I just download them and add them to iTunes and everything manually.

Is it just an Android thing?

Wait... you download the .mp3 off a website, add it to your iTunes library, and then sync?

I use TuneIn Radio. Can listen to live radio and podcasts. Sometimes the podcasts aren't updated the day they come out, but they make up for it by having a large library history of all the podcasts.

Leave the man alone, he's too busy rewinding those tapes to take back to Blockbuster to use an app. I kid I kid. I'm an old man too. xD

Though I use beyond pod so this is a bummer for me but I'll switch over to anything they ask of me. This is the most important feed I have now that Bill was banished from ESPN. Can't wait for HBO pod and cousin sal..... >.>;;;

Well fuck. I've used this app for like 2-3 years now. This is a bummer.

I understand though.

Well, this is bullshit.

Just adding to the praise - Pocket Casts is the only one worth using. No unnecessary frills and it looks fantastic.

Second this, thoughts @edgework

The REAL overcast is Apple-only, the one on the Play store is a third rate knockoff.

As for Pocket Casts, I can't wrap my head around the UI. There's absolutely no organization, finding older episodes is a pain... and frankly, I really miss the subject matter sorting you could to in BeyondPod.

Really hope this all gets sorted out sooner rather than later.

@dwigtk: Sorry, I'm a moron when it comes to Android. I'm guessing that app can't do authenticated podcasts. This stuff all works on my iPhone with no need for a third party app.

I've used BeyondPod. Honestly? One of the inferior podcast apps. Podcast Addict is really good, and lots of people are singing Pocket Casts' praises.

Gotta be honest, sometimes this site's attitude towards Android is maddening. I have to imagine there is a better stopgap measure than to block off a chunk of your paying customers. It's just frustrating when you've been using an app for years without issue and have it organized and customized just the way you like and are being told to stop using it.

Subscribe manually, enter username:password@giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premium

Copied from forum post. This question has come up a few times. Add by URL with U/P included. Works just fine.

• Giant Bombcast (Premium) - https://YourGBUsername:GBPassword@www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premiumbombcast/
• Giant Beastcast (Premium) - https://YourGBUsername:GBPassword@www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premiumbeastcast/
• Premium Podcasts - https://YourGBUsername:GBPassword@www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premium/

@corporalgregg: Sorry, I get that you're pissed about us breaking an app that you've been using, like and are happy with. Keep in mind please that we're not blocking you, just that one particular app. From the looks of this thread there's viable alternatives. This app is not playing well with us and we've got too many things to do than to deal with bad programming that we don't control. There's plenty of bad programming that we do control and have to deal with.

Does this affect all of the Giant Bomb podcast streams including the premium ones?