The outstanding (and my clear favorite) podcast app, Pocket Casts, has a major update rolling out in the Play Store today. The update, version 6.0 for those keeping score at home, brings support for key Android Nougat features as well as the ability to share your list of podcasts with others. As for the Nougat features, multi-window support is now in the app. Now you can view a video podcast on 1/2 of your device screen while working on something else in the other half. This is particularly handy if you are viewing an educational podcast and want to jot notes down in Keep for example.
The other big Nougat feature supported in this update are icon shortcuts. For these to work, you need to either have a Google Pixel device or be running a launcher that supports them. You will also get them if you are running the Android Nougat 7.1 beta on your Nexus 5X or 6P too. Now you can tap-and-hold the icon and get a short list of immediate action items you can do without actually having to open up the app itself. For Pocket Casts, this list of shortcuts includes:
- New Releases
- Up Next
- Search
- Podcasts (your library)
Finally, within the app you now have the ability to share your podcasts list. When you view your Podcast list, you will now see a Share icon. You can then select the podcasts you want to share, name the list and share it with others via SMS, email or share it as a text file to a storage service like Google Drive.
I’m a big fan of Pocket Casts and have no reservations in recommending it. To give it a try, visit the Play Store. You can also read my review of the app here on the site.
