Downcast Podcast Player Adds CarPlay Support To Its iPhone App

When it comes to listening to podcasts in your car, CarPlay users have plenty of options. From Apple's own Podcast app to a bunch of third-party options users are almost spoiled for choices. And more apps are adding CarPlay integration to compete for your dashboard.

The most recent third-party Podcast app to add CarPlay support is Downcast. Here are some more details.

Downcast (version 2.9.9 - App Store description)

A powerful, complete, and easy to use podcast player that will help you manage and listen to podcasts the way you want to.

Enhancements

- CarPlay support!
- Play position scrubber usability improvements
- VoiceOver - Double tap play position scrubber to jump to a specific time
- VoiceOver - Improved announcement for play position scrubber
- Improves resuming of downloads
- Performance & battery consumption improvements

Bug Fixes

- Fixes iCloud Syncing issues leading to deletion of local episodes
- Fixes iCloud Syncing deadlock issue when first enabling
- VoiceOver - Fixes magic tap gesture
- Fixes random disabling of play/pause command and other remote commands
- Fixes continuous play issues 
- Fixes issue causing video not to display on externally connected screens
- Fixes issue where transitioning to video episode could cause Downcast to pause
- Fixes issue where now playing info wasn't cleared from lock screen/control center
- Fixes a few layout issues on player view
- Fixes issue causing sleep timer to reset to 1min
- Improves interactivity of URL textfield on the Import UI
- Import UI now remembers your last destination podcast choice

Link to download: Download Downcast from the App Store

The app costs $2.99 in the App Store. There are free alternatives to listen to your podcasts but Downcast offers features like enhanced VoiceOver which other apps may not.

According to a blog post, the developer of Downcast explains limitations of the app in CarPlay. Since safety while driving is an issue, Apple limits UI customization for all third-party CarPlay apps. There's no way of changing fonts, labels, or customizing the Now Playing screen.

Downcast has also limited lists in CarPlay to a maximum of 100 items. For users requiring more than 100 items, the developer suggests creating manageable lists on your iPhone.

The app is also available on the iPad, Apple Watch and Mac.

Source: Downcast