Seeking testers for my new iOS and MacOS Podcast App

By Ashley, 20 April, 2026

Forum
iOS and iPadOS

As a podcasting fan and enthusiast since its inception in the early 2000s, I've used a lot of podcasting apps. Most recently Downcast on MacOS and iOS. I loved the interface, the way that syncing between the Mac and the iPhone was flawless, and the configurability. However, unfortunately, it seems that Downcast is no-longer being actively maintained. There are bugs in the macOS version that make it impossible to get into the settings, iCloud syncing is broken, and there have been no updates for almost a year nor any communication from the developer.

I set about building a replacement. SOmething with the power, configurability and simplicity of Downcast, with a native MacOS and iOS interface. The app is written in Swift with platform-specific optimisation so the interface feels at home on MacOS and iOS, not like an iOS app that just happens to run on a Mac.

I'm looking for beta testers. I'm looking for both MacOS and iOS testers. Please note this is a first beta so there will be some bugs, but I have been using and enjoying the app daily. Any and all feedback will be appreciated. I am looking for Voiceover testers on both platforms, and feedback on the UI from those who are able. Please scroll down the thread to view the links to test.

Please note that this post has been edited and the long feature list removed, since Simulcast has changed a lot and gained a lot since this beta was initially posted. I've also become aware that it's gaining some traction not just in the VI community, and I'd rather not run into a situation where another app integrates all of my USPs before release!

Options

Comments

By Dennis Long on Monday, July 27, 2026 - 13:13

Note the change logs are the same. To Join see the instructions below!
To test:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/VrMXgQsS

What to Test
Added "Auto-Add to Playlists"  to the podcast’s New Episodes settings.
When set to 'Automatic' in playback settings, playback speed now selects the best algorithm automatically and dynamically based on the current waveform to balance audio quality vs CPU usage.
Improved VoiceOver responsiveness and focus continuity in large Radio Favourites, podcast, Inbox, queue, and playlist lists.
Recently Played, widgets, and Live Activities now expose every visible action with clear VoiceOver labels.
Controls now meet each platform's recommended interaction size.
Rich HTML, transcripts, Watch screens, and sleep timer widgets now scale correctly with Larger Text.
Reduce Motion now stops or simplifies animation throughout the app, including playback meters and the visualiser.
Video playback now responds to Dim Flashing Lights and uses static artwork where moving previews are optional.
Fixed a crash after locking the device during iCloud sync.
Removing a download now updates smart playlist results immediately.
New subscriptions now finish their first episode refresh before confirming, so selected episodes are ready in Inbox.
OPML Inbox limits now apply once per podcast across the complete staged import.
Smart playlist rule controls now announce their selected values with VoiceOver.
Playlists now open and return after saving more quickly.
Add to Playlist now opens the playlist chooser immediately.
VoiceOver now announces “Removed from playlist” after a single removal from a regular or smart playlist. Bulk removals announce the number of episodes removed.

You can now:
reorder playlists by dragging or with Move Earlier, Move Later, Move to Top, and Move to Bottom.
add an Inbox episode directly to a playlist from the default VoiceOver Actions rotor.
create an automatically updating Downloaded Episodes smart playlist from its template.

Re-architected the radio directory for multi-provider support, enabling additional directories to be added in future.
Added optional IPRD radio directory support
Added radio provider filters, caching controls, and duplicate matching
Improved radio provider failover and synced IPRD catalogue downloads
Fixed Siri playback for stations outside favourites and the local index
Improved Siri station matching across enabled radio directories
Improved Siri station indexing using favourites, recent activity, and healthy directory stations
Added optional notifications when scheduled backup destinations complete successfully

Backups can now be scheduled from iPhone, iPad, or Mac to iCloud Drive, Files, Finder, Amazon S3, or several destinations.
You can set independent schedules for multiple simultaneous backup destinations
Folder destinations can use local storage, external drives, network shares, and available File Providers.
Each destination supports daily, weekly, or monthly mirrors or retained dated archives.
Backups can include packages, OPML, playlists, and radio favourites in several export formats.
Amazon S3 supports regions, prefixes, temporary credentials, compatible HTTPS endpoints, validation, and interruption-safe mirrors.
Backup status reports unavailable, disconnected, read-only, or full destinations.
Backups can run immediately and optionally notify you when scheduled work finishes.
Earlier iCloud package backups remain manageable. iCloud Syncing now focuses on live sync and continuity.

Completed downloads can now mirror to local, external, network, or File Provider folders.
Each destination can include all or selected podcasts with per-podcast deletion overrides.
Keep Mirrored Copies remains copy-only by default. Optional policies can follow intentional local removals.
Unavailable destinations retry automatically, including when a Mac volume reconnects.
Removed mirror files first enter a recoverable Simulcast Recycle Bin with optional 7, 30, or 90-day cleanup.
Pending removals can be retried or cancelled, and recovered files can be restored without overwriting different files.
To test:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/VrMXgQsS

By Khomus on Monday, July 27, 2026 - 16:42

I haven't tested because it seems like there are enough people, so I figured I'll just wait until it's out. Is there a way to focus on currently playing things per podcast? Let me try and explain.

Right now I'm using Downcast. Say podcast A has 2000 episodes. I'm on 137. I switch to podcast B, and start playing an episode. SO far as I know, in order to resume Ep. 137 of podcast A, I have to get to that episode in the table, after of course picking local or remote episodes or whatever it calls them, and scroll to that episode and hit play on it again.

It would be nice to have something that resumes and maybe even puts you on that episode in the list, if possible. I know the normal solution to this is to only get X recent episodes and all, but I really don't listen to podcasts like that. The one I'm thinking of as my example recently ended so I actually downloaded all thousand plus episodes locally. So it would be nice to not have to scroll through all of that to get back to where I was at, if I decide to play something else.

By Ashley on Monday, July 27, 2026 - 17:24

There is no limit to the number of testers (well, aside from APple's limit of 10,000), so feel free to test if you like. Only about 10% or less of testers actually provide feedback, so large number of testers don't concern me.

As to your question, Simulcast has a queue and an inbox which can both be used to track episodes you're currently playing. you can also sort episode lists. It's a bit of a different experience to Downcast in that it doesn't specifically separate local vs feed episodes, but in my opinion it's it's much cleaner.

By Brian on Monday, July 27, 2026 - 19:44

I honestly feel that, once this app goes live, it is going to become one of the most popular podcast apps for iOS. I cannot speak for the macOS version, as I don't really use macOS these days, but the iOS application is stellar.
True story. 🤔

By Ashley on Monday, July 27, 2026 - 19:54

Thank you! much appreciated. It's been almost a year of hard work but will hopefully be worth it.

By Dennis Long on Monday, July 27, 2026 - 20:04

I've never met a developer so responsive to user requests. The only radio and podcast app on my phone is Simulcast. The app just works. That is the bottom line. I truly hope it is number 1 once it hits the store.

By Greg Wocher on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 00:29

Hello,
How can I see the show notes for episodes I am listening too? I cannot seem to find any way to see them in the app.

Thanks,
Greg Wocher

By Brian on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 01:13

Select the podcast you want. Then double tap on the, more, tab at the bottom right of the application. Then swipe to the right until you find, Episode Info, and double tap. Finally, swipe right until you find show notes. Directly under this will be the actual show notes.

@Ashley,

If we could make the show notes label into a heading or something accessible to the rotor, that would be wonderful. 😊
OK, I know there is a Static Text rotor option, but honestly, who the hell uses Static Text in their rotor these days? 🙄👎

By Hubert on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 08:11

Hi,
This is most certainly a great app, and has all the things that many other apps have had. However, I'm still having it crash when I'm trying to access my stats, has anyone else had this?

By Dennis Long on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 08:23

Steps to reproduce please? I'd love to try and see if I can reproduce this but have no clue how to do so.

By Hubert on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 09:28

Hi Dennis,
IN my case, when I open the app and tap on library options, and from there double tap on stats, the app becomes unresponsive, and the focus gets stuck in the status bar. going out of the app and entering it again from the app switcher doesn't help either. If I then close the app, a few seconds later I get a pop up saying that the app has crashed.

By Ashley on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 09:34

Show notes are in the full-screen player. HOwever, the next build improves direct access to full show notes for voiceover users.

By Ashley on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 09:35

Thanks for reporting this. I will look into it and push a fix in the next build.

By making my way on Tuesday, July 28, 2026 - 21:34

If you still need testers I would love to help. I've only been blind for a few years and I'm finding the podcast client on the Mac and iPhone very frustrating. I would love to test this option.

Regards,
Chris

By Dennis Long on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 13:50

To test:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/VrMXgQsS
Read the release notes. If you don't catch the surprise reread them a second time if you still can't find the surprise reread it a third time.😊
Release notes below.
Re-architected Unified podcast search combines Apple Podcasts, Podcast Index, and fyyd.
Podcast and radio providers can be enabled independently.
Catalogue-backed radio providers now show refresh status and provide a manual refresh action.
Disabling a catalogue-backed radio provider removes its downloaded catalogue.
All Providers searches merge duplicate feeds and show their sources.
Discovery links to settings when every provider is disabled.
Podcast and radio provider menus are hidden when only one source is enabled.
Fixed Discovery searches using the chart limit instead of the search limit.

Improved the multi-provider radio directory architecture and added support for TuneIn and iHeart directories using their public API endpoints.
Each radio directory has its own settings and availability information.
You can access all available radio directories from 1 unified radio directory interface.

Improved VoiceOver labels for Song History sorting controls.
Smart playlist episode action sheets are now fully navigable with VoiceOver.
Playlists and smart playlists now open much faster.
Chapter lists now begin at the start by default, with a setting to reverse their order.
Radio searches now collapse repeated entries that point to the same stream.
Alternative station streams with different quality or formats remain available.
Radio genre filtering now offers a selectable list of popular genres.
Statistics insights now load in the background instead of freezing the app.
Fixed a crash when deleting all downloads.
VoiceOver can now read complete episode descriptions in episode lists.
Episode rows now provide Episode Info and Read Show Notes access.
VoiceOver episode activation now uses clear Play and Episode Info choices.
Inbox double-tap actions can queue next or last, with or without removing the episode.
Episode action confirmations can be silenced, and Inbox focus stays in place after removal.
Activating an episode that is already playing no longer pauses it.
Episode description previews now use a sensible two-sentence limit.
Truncated descriptions end with an ellipsis and a clear Show More option.
Show More opens the complete show notes in Episode Info. This works consistently in episode rows, cards, search, queues, downloads, and tables.
Fixed a crash when marking an episode as unplayed from the VoiceOver Actions rotor.
Podcast Sort and Filter controls now appear in the Mac toolbar
Station folder and Recently Played sorting menus no longer contain redundant submenus on Mac.
Fixed oversized podcast artwork in the Discovery list view on Mac.
Improved Mac settings layouts and fixed clipped controls in smaller windows.
Archive.org dates now use readable regional date formatting.
Improved Audiobookshelf sign-in, library loading, filtering, and error presentation.
Radio directory tags are now cleaned up and presented consistently.
Improved multi-provider IPRD browsing, filters, sorting, and station details.
Fixed clipped content in the Load Radio Station sheet on Mac.
Improved onboarding layout and removed duplicate VoiceOver content.
Transcript rows no longer repeat their timestamp and text to VoiceOver.
Fixed a crash when generating a transcript from downloaded audio.
The player no longer exposes duplicate Pause or playback-speed controls.
Improved iPhone and iPad layouts on compact screens, in landscape, and at accessibility text sizes.
Improved accessibility and contrast across library, queue, discovery, radio, player, and settings views.
System Intelligence status information is now presented as navigable settings rows.
Feed refreshes now use validators and content fingerprints, avoiding work and disk writes for unchanged feeds.
Hourly refresh runs on time while the app is active and requests the next system background opportunity.
Large OPML imports show recent episodes quickly and hydrate history once.
Fixed Silence Skipping for streamed episodes.
Added an actionable Shortcuts gallery and Finish and Play Next action.

To test:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/VrMXgQsS

By Brian on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 14:06

I definitely appreciate not having to use Apple Music for their podcast. Huge fan of iHeartRadio, so thank you again for this. Also thank you for implementing shortcuts. It is much appreciated. 😁👍

By Ashley on Friday, July 31, 2026 - 14:10

You're welcome, glad you like it.

By Mike Taylor on Saturday, August 1, 2026 - 21:29

This is amazing, it’s going to be fantastic and has everything you could want from a podcast app in my view. Given that it plays radio also is quite something and means that it will be replacing 2 apps. I really like the amount of customisation which can be done with this app, there is just loads it can do. Keep up the good work Ashley and thanks.

By Dennis Long on Tuesday, August 4, 2026 - 13:52

To test:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/VrMXgQsS

What to Test
Thanks for the continued bug reports. I'm pleased to see major bugs and crashes are now very few and far between. This build has been focused on polishing the UI visuals as much as I am able in preparation for more visual testing. It also addresses the following:

Additions:

Added 15-minute and 30-minute automatic podcast refresh choices.
Added Clear All for manual playlists with confirmation and a configurable VoiceOver action.
Added Export Audio File to episode sharing, More Actions, and configurable VoiceOver actions.
Added optional dynamic ad-insertion compensation with global and per-podcast controls.
Added a default-off More tab back button setting on iPhone. Enable it in Interface settings.
Added arrow-key selection and Return activation to Mac VoiceOver content lists.
Added OS 27 Audio app entities and actions so Siri and Apple Intelligence can identify and play podcast shows, episodes, radio stations, and playlists.

Fixes:

Expanded Spotlight indexing with stable identities and direct open routes for podcasts, episodes, stations, playlists, notes, and transcript moments.
Connected visible content, notifications, Now Playing, Handoff, Live Activities, widgets, and supported episode tables to the same system identities.
Improved Siri suggestions and playback donations while retaining existing behaviour on earlier supported systems.
Fixed settings picker values and descriptions truncating at accessibility text sizes.
Improved background podcast updating by consolidating scheduled refresh work and making cold-launch refreshes wait for network availability.
Fixed manual podcast refreshes using stale cached feed responses instead of fetching the latest episodes.
Reduced foreground battery use by suspending deferred indexing until feed refresh finishes.
Fixed VoiceOver omitting the names of Radio Directory filter options.
Made feed refreshes adapt to available processors, measured app CPU use, thermal pressure, Low Power Mode, playback, iCloud activity, and background execution, while deferring episode-count cache repairs until refresh work finishes.
Prevented established feeds from flooding Inbox when older episodes gain new identifiers or audio addresses.
Fixed large podcast libraries blocking iOS scene updates in podcast details.
Reduced unnecessary iCloud file coordination during unchanged background settings sync.
Improved Radio mode and folder layouts at larger text sizes.
Fixed VoiceOver actions missing from Mac playlists and radio favourites.
Fixed an accessibility test auditing a system permission overlay.
Improved contrast and text layout in playlist guidance.
Fixed the first Inbox refresh missing new episodes after launch.
Fixed VoiceOver action sorting and kept move actions before More Actions.
Fixed Stop Playback moving VoiceOver focus to another favourite station.
Fixed VoiceOver swipe navigation becoming stuck at the end of the visible favourites list.
Fixed VoiceOver exposing the favourites list scroll bar as an item.
Fixed missing VoiceOver row position announcements when scrolling long favourites lists.
Fixed VoiceOver leaving a podcast episode list after only a few swipes.
Fixed clipped podcast health counts causing an accessibility contrast issue.
Fixed contrast on iOS podcast and playlist details.
Fixed dark page titles and podcast actions on Apple TV.
Fixed the Siri playback cell overlapping podcast artwork and controls in CarPlay.
Improved Now Playing scrolling at accessibility text sizes on Apple Watch.
Fixed Siri failing to find some stations with long radio network names.
Removed unnecessary Mac VoiceOver groups from windows and podcast rows.

To test:
https://testflight.apple.com/join/VrMXgQsS
Happy testing

By Hubert on Friday, August 7, 2026 - 08:40

Hi,
I'm not sure if this issue has been mentioned, so if I'm duplicating something, I apologize in advance.
Having been using this app a lot for both podcasts and radio, and very much still enjoying the experience. My question is regarding speed changing when it comes to podcasts. This is something I used a lot in other podcasts apps I have used, as I listen to my podcasts at quite fast rates. In previous apps, any speed change, would not change the quality of the audio, even at rates such as 2.6 speed. However, I've changed playback speed to 1.25 times, then 1.5, and I've noticed quite a difference in the audio quality. It would sound quite metallic, for lack of a better word to describe it, it's as if some sort of an effect was put on the audio. I can provide an audio sample if that's easier to demonstrate.
I was wondering if this has been mentioned and is being worked on, if it is, and I'm happy to wait for a fix, but I thought I'll mention the issue just in case it has not been talked about before.
Outside of that, very much loving the app, which is very much becoming my full time podcast and radio app. keep up the great work.

By Ashley on Friday, August 7, 2026 - 09:48

Thanks Hubert. A couple of audio examples would certainly be appreciated. Simulcast currently uses Apple's own speed shifting algorithms. I don't personally use these features as I think human narration is better at normal speed, so I don't have a huge amount of experience with them. It may be that other podcasting apps are using a purpose-built algorithm and that's the route I'll need to go down. If you could eMail me a couple of small samples that would be helpful. Thanks!

By Pilgrim Pete on Friday, August 7, 2026 - 12:27

Hi Hubert,

Just adding my voice to say I'm seeing this too. The audio degradation you're describing matches what I'm hearing at higher speeds.

One thing I've found that helps somewhat is disabling both Voice Boost and Silence Skipping. It noticeably reduces the level of degradation for me. That said, it doesn't eliminate it entirely; I can still hear some artifacting even with those turned off, just less pronounced.