This week Marco Arment finally shipped his long in development podcast app Overcast. Being an avid podcast listener (and a fan of Marco's previous work) I jumped in immediately.

Overcast prompts you to create an account when you first launch the app, an account used for syncing your settings, subscriptions and playback with a web app where you can listen to all your subscribed feeds from any computer. The first of several features not available in any other podcast app. 

The immediate thing you'll notice is the design. Sleek, simple and obviously built with the upcoming iOS 8 in mind. The font is gorgeous and the layout is simple without being dumbed down. The main page shows a list of subscribed feeds with the topmost section showing playlists, then a section of podcasts with new episodes available and finally a list of all your subscriptions without unplayed episodes.

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The 4 sections shown on the upper menu bar are a settings icon, a downloads in progress button, a create playlist button and finally the universally known plus sign for subscribing to new podcasts.

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When adding a new subscription you're presented with a page that has the normal search field at the top along with a directory of podcasts sorted by category. A nice touch that makes discovering new podcasts a lot easier than most apps.

You'll also notice the "Recommendations From Twitter" list at the top, the second exclusive feature. After you link your Twitter account it will give you podcast recommendations based on what other Overcast users you follow are listening to. Another nice tool for discovery.

Once you get past the main sections and dive deeper into settings is when the fun kicks in. 

The third of the marquee features introduced is "Smart Speed". While almost all podcast apps give you the option of playback at higher speeds, Arment takes this idea to the next natural step. Smart Speed analyzes the wave form of the episode you're listening to and instead of simply increasing the speed, it cuts out bits of silence and and lengthy pauses shortening most episode lengths by a good 15%. A much nicer solution than hearing everyone sound like The Chipmunks (though increased playback speed is also available).

The next feature is "Voice Boost", a tool that increases the speaker's voice(s) without raising the volume of background noise. Useful for listeners of less than professional podcasts.

A nice, intuitive design, a subset of features not included in any other podcast app, and a great price point (free to download - $4.99 to unlock the smart speed and voice boost features as well as unlimited playlist creation) make Overcast a winning option. I've already switched and made it my podcast app of choice.

If you try it and don't like it though, Marco gets major points for the following screen:

Yep, he includes direct links to his competitors. One of the classiest things I've ever seen a developer do.