If you’ve been waiting for a price drop to purchase Overcast, now is your chance – one of the best mobile podcast apps is now devoid of in-app purchases and comes with additional features.
“I’d rather have you using Overcast for free than not using it at all, and I want everyone to be using the good version of Overcast,” said developer Marco Arment in a recent blog post. Arment says that only 20 percent of Overcast users took advantage of his application’s in-app purchases, unlocking features like data-enabled downloads, voice boost and the ability to speed up podcasts.
Instead, Overcast’s creator has opted for a Patreon-powered donation model, giving users the opportunity to contribute $1 per month if they’re interested in supporting the app’s continued development.
“If only 5 percent of customers become monthly patrons, Overcast will match its previous revenue,” says Arment.
In his blog post, Arment also mentions that users who decide to donate might gain access to exclusive Overcast features at some point in the future, which in a round about way, is similar to the microtransactions that are no longer part of Overcast’s monetization strategy.
Overcast 2 has also received a variety of other updates, including the ability to stream podcasts without downloading a complete episode first (a simple but very useful feature). Previous in-app purchase features like smart speed and voice boost now work while a file is being streamed. Additionally, Overcast 2 also now features chapters and features recommendations from other users, and iPhone 6s and 6s Plus users now have access to 3D Touch shortcuts.
Marco Arment is the developer behind Peace, an ad-blocker that shot to the top of the iOS App Store charts before he decided to pull it because of the ethical issues linked to the nature of ad-blocking software. Arment is also the co-creator of popular micro-blogging platform Tumblr and article saving app Instapaper.
[source]The Verge[/source]
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