Stitcher

01.26.12        App Score: 9/10    Stitcher Radio is an extremely useful free app for anyone who want to keep current on news and events. Voted one of the top 5 news apps by Apple in 2011, Stitcher turns your iPhone or iPad into a custom radio station by streaming your personalized selection of podcasts, live broadcasts, and on-demand content from more than 5000 sources — including many of the top programs from NPR, BBC, CNN, Fox and others. It’s a handy tool to have to access to, especially if you frequently travel where there is no direct Internet connection or traditional radio available. One of the great things about Stitcher Radio is that it’s really free — not masquerading as free with subscription fees lurking in the fine print. Simply install the app and after a short registration (using your email or Facebook Connect) to start listening. Not sure where to tune in first? Pick a few topics and Stitcher will suggest programs you might be interested in.  As you listen, use the app to tag newsy tidbits that catch your attention with a familiar “thumbs up.” Stitcher will use the input to make new recommendations based on your personal interests. Similarly, a single tap will favorite the program and add it to your custom station line-up. Whether it’s a single episode or an entire program, you can share your favorites with friends via Facebook, Twitter or email. Stitcher excels as a discovery engine. In addition to sharing within your personal network, browse tabs for shows that “listeners also liked” or check out recent episodes from the same channel. Furthermore, the app has an intuitive interface that encourages exploration with news channels and broadcast feeds categorized by on-demand or live channels as well as topic. If you’re looking for something new, you can go “old school” with a standard search bar or tap on Stitcher’s “Front Page.” This section offers a look at the day’s headlines, currently trending shows, and a selection of new programs being featured by Stitcher. Stitcher Radio not only helps you take advantage of all the information resources that are out there, it helps you to do so in a way that is easy, fluid, and with you wherever you go. For those of us who don’t work at a desk but still want to keep up with radio programs and podcasts without downloading Read More

By Rob LeFebvre on December 27th, 2011 As 2011 winds down to a close, 148Apps takes a look back at some of the finest apps released this past year. In what was another fantastic year in the world of iOS apps & games, we are here to bring you the fifty titles that we, the staff of 148Apps, thought were the best of the year. Here are the app titles 16 – 25 in our Best Apps of 2011: iMovie- Video editing on the iPhone is revolutionary enough, but the extra screen space on the iPad makes this activity truly useful. Making movies is fun again, thanks in no small part to Apple’s attention to detail in this flagship app. $4.99 Released: 2010-06-24 :: Category: Photography Facebook – The wait was long for the iPad version but between its iconic look and intuitive menus systems, the official Facebook Universal app renders the competition obsolete. It’s fantastic to have this in both flavors, for checking on the go or on the couch. FREE! Released: 2008-07-11 :: Category: Social Networking FX Photo Studio HD – Offering a plethora (194 at last count) of different photo effects without forgetting the bare essentials like crop and rotate, FX Photo Studio is a one stop shop for everything anyone might need in a photo editing app. $1.99 $2.99 Released: 2010-05-26 :: Category: Photography $0.99 $1.99 Released: 2009-04-29 :: Category: Photography Dolphin Browser – With gesture based controls and a speed dial system of visiting regularly used sites, Dolphin has made my browsing experience so much faster this year. Safari continues to dominate as the default browser, but Dolphin Browser does so much more so much better. FREE! Released: 2011-08-30 :: Category: Productivity Daedalus Touch – When we’re writing complex, thoughtful pieces of journalism, we like to be undistracted by the cruft of modern computing, like Facebook, or ads. Daedalus Touch makes this possible but doesn’t forget to include useful features like iCloud and Dropbox support. $2.99 $5.99 Released: 2011-05-21 :: Category: Productivity GroupMe – We use this app all the darn time to chat amongst ourselves, even when we have nothing much to say. For private team meetings, SMS integration, and just plain great usability, GroupMe is our go to app. It’s also accessible via the web, so no matter where we are, we can join in the conversation. FREE! iPhone App - Designed for the Read More

Posted 11/18/2011 at 12:29pm | by Florence Ion Donna Summer put it best when she said that love is found on the radio. And sure, in this generation we've got stations like Pandora and Last.FM, but those stations ask us to dictate what it plays. The radio's best feature was just that: the way it could spontaneously change our moods based on the next song the DJ'd decide to play. With that, here are three free apps to help take you back to that time before the iPod was permanently tethered to your car stereo and you kicked the good ol' FM radio to the curb.  I'm crazy about podcasts, but I hate that I have to connect my iPod touch to iTunes to get the latest episodes. Stitcher Radio lets you bypass iTunes and just get to the podcasts yourself. You can create "stations" from certain genres and topics, which is also a great way to discover other podcasts you might find audibly interesting.  It's too bad your iPod and iPhone still don't have FM Radio. I know, you might be saying that it's antiquated and there's really no point to it anymore. But you're wrong! Because sometimes all I want to do is listen to Top 40 without the shame of having it documented by Spotify. The radio lets me do this discreetly. And TuneIn Radio lets me do it an iOS device.  Just looking for a random internet station to listen to on your Mac? Spin Music Pro has a long list of music stations you can choose from. Some are more eclectic than others, but there are iTunes links and the link, plus Facebook integration, if you find something you're interested in and want to discover further.  Tags: Read More

One of the frustrating things about driving a car with an iPhone (or other smartphone) in tow is syncing its contents with the car's audio or navigation system. But thanks to Toyota's new Toyota Touch Life, that doesn't have to be so much of a problem anymore. According to Engadget, Toyota's new Touch Infotainment system lets iPhone and iPod touch users access a handful of apps directly from their iDevice. By downloading Toyota's "application launcher," a free app from the App Store, users can access certain apps on the in-car display, which mirrors iPhone's screen...in part. Only certain apps are compatible, including Garmin StreetPilot and some Internet news and radio apps like AUPEO!, plus Stitcher, Facebook and Twitter. Touch Infotainment is exclusive to new new Toyota Verso-S, Yaris and Hilux cars. We don't know if will become available to the Avensis, Prius or Verso models or as an add-on to existing Toyota vehicles. Read More

Stitcher is a free app that offers more than 5,000 radio shows, podcasts and live stations on demand, streaming directly to your Android tablet. The app does a great job of streamlining the process of finding radio shows and making them available by category. You can save shows as your favorites and help Stitcher tune to your tastes by liking or disliking shows. It’s like Pandora, but for radio shows. Though the interface is really clean, and browsing through content is extremely easy, it doesn’t seem like Stitcher has been fully optimized for tablet screens in some aspects. Just remember that if you’re using a 3G connection, Stitcher will use a lot of data. That’s not a concern if you're on Wi-Fi, and this app is still a great way to listen to the radio from anywhere. Read More

Since it’s the Friday before a long weekend, I thought I’d take a little time to share some of the apps that I’m digging. As I mentioned in previous posts, these apps aren’t necessarily new or cutting edge but these are the ones I wind up using and clicking more often. I do tend to skew toward iOS apps because the iPhone is my primary device now but I still have multiple devices around me, so I’m checking out apps on all platforms. We also want to hear what apps you’re digging in the comments. Damn you, Daniel. I’m not much of a gamer but after reading his Jetpack Joyride review, I quickly snatched the game up for my iPhone and I’ve wasted so much time since then. The game is a momentum-based side scroller where you use a jetpack to collect coins and avoid obstacles. Like Angry Birds, the concept sounds silly when you write it down but the game is tons of fun. I dig the art style, the sound effects and the playful nods to other games like Tiny Wings. What’s more, Halfbrick has done a great job of including little things that make you want to keep on playing – the slot machine when you die will often give you gifts that make “just one more game” so appetizing. I’ve actually bought some in-app tools too (the Counterfeit machine) and yes, that is the rainbow jetpack you see. It’s a great game that’s easily worth the dollar it costs but beware that it may eat up your time. You can download Jetpack Joyride here (99 cents, iTunes link). Every since I threw on the iOS 5 beta on my iPhone, I’ve had trouble putting music on it. It’s one of those things I could fix if I sat down and attacked it but I’ve grown accustomed to using streaming services like Spotify, MOG and Slacker to fulfill my music needs. I’ve also been using a ton of Stitcher Radio to get my podcast fix on. While I’ve used Stitcher before, I did prefer to download podcasts over the air so I didn’t have to worry about maintaining a connection. Now that it’s my primary podcast app, I’m really liking a lot of its user interface, recommendation engine and the ability to listen to archived episodes. I still think that discoverability could be a bit better but I’ve Read More

Podcasts are a great way of staying up to date with your favourite topics and expanding your mind by listening to new points of view or discovering new music. Your phone is the perfect device for listening to podcasts on the go, but a good app to keep track of, and play, your downloads is essential. Here we take a look at some of the best choices on Android and iOS. Free, Windows and OS X, syncs to iPhone (and Android, unofficially) Before we go any further, it’s well worth mentioning the best known podcast manager there is – iTunes. Apple has done a great job of making its iTunes Store the go-to directory for podcast producers, meaning that you can find just about anything you want on its store. If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod, it’s a simple case of syncing up your device to iTunes and any podcasts you’ve subscribed to will be copied to your device for listening on the go. If you have an Android device, you can use a number of solutions such as Salling Media Sync to push iTunes content on to your handset. It’s not all rosy in iTunes land, though. It’s impossible to subscribe to podcasts on the go using Apple’s mobile iTunes Store, and you can’t download new episodes straight from your handset either. This means that you’re forever reliant on desktop syncs to get your latest fix of This American Life or This Week in Tech. Fingers crossed Apple incorporates podcast subscriptions into its iCloud service when it launches later this year. While not the cheapest ‘podcatcher’ around, DoggCatcher is a beautifully realised app for Android that handles audio and video along with RSS feeds too. You can search across a number of popular podcast directories right from the app, or manually enter the feed URL for anything you can’t find. While you may balk at the price, the cash means that DoggCatcher’s developers are able to keep developing it. New versions are released regularly and recent updates have included a sleeker UI and support for playing at variable speeds – for when you want to get through a podcast that little bit quicker. With a slick, graphics-led interface and the ability to download podcasts on the go, Pocket Casts is what Apple’s native podcast handling should be like. You can search and browse a wide variety of podcasts Read More

Posted by Comments streams your favorite podcasts on demand! No downloading required. Get all of your favorite podcasts on-demand without having to download them. Stitcher has 5,000+ of the top podcasts available. Personalize your experience by “stitching” together your favorite shows into an always up-to-date playlist. Price: Free Pros Cons Stitcher gives you access to all your favourite podcasts and much more. Simply find the podcast you want to listen to and stream it directly to your phone. The range of podcasts is huge and the ability to create favourites and lists is superb. Users familiar with Google’s Listen app should be familiar with this kind of application. Stitcher Podcast Radio is a useful application especially for fans of podcasts. The range of podcasts available for streaming is huge. Additionally, the search functions inherent to Stitcher make finding the podcast you are looking for straight-forward. It also lets you find other podcasts you might not have been aware of depending on your interests. The app also lets you build intuitive lists of favourite podcasts, ‘stitching’ together a tailor-made playlist of podcasting goodness just for you. It could be compared to Google’s Listen, but I would say Stitcher is a little more stable and easier to use. The range of topics available is significant. I could pretty much guarantee if there’s a topic you’re interested in there will probably be a podcast for it. A very quick search for Android found over a dozen Android themed podcasts, a quick search on ‘knitting’ found three! Stitcher is obviously an entertainment application, and listening to podcasts needs to be your thing for you to consider downloading and using this application. I guess the thing that might prevent people from listening to podcasts is that they can be around 30 minutes long and as people with busy lives, 30 minutes of uninterrupted time might be a rare thing. This app however is a useful tool to have if you do get some spare minutes. When you first open the app you have a series of headings. Comedy, Business & Industry, News & Politics, Society & Culture, Entertainment, Sports…. and so on. There is also a colossal list of sources so, if you want to view podcasts solely from the BBC, E! Or ESPN- you can filter and view those podcasts simply and quickly. There is a huge wealth of podcasts available via the app. If Read More

Your ears will never feel the same... Stitcher has been a fixture in the podcasting space for quite some time, but to put it quite bluntly, their iPad app had been leaving users with something to be desired.  Essentially the app was just a blown up version of the iPhone software, doing absolutely nothing to take advantage of the extra real estate that the tablet format allowed. Luckily, this is now a thing of the past, as the company has announced that there is a new universal extension to the Stitcher tool, that is custom re-built and re-designed from the ground up, to cater to their ever growing iPad consumer base.  Here are some of the new features that just debuted: On top of all of these outstanding improvements, the homepage of the app itself has been re-engineered into a radio news-magazine of sorts, meant to deliver breaking new content that is bound to interest listeners.  Don’t expect to be bombarded with just news, though, because the content suggested will be based off of your previous preferences and subscribed podcasts. As always, the app will remain free, while bringing you some of the best audio content that the internet has to offer.  I would highly recommend giving this a download, and seeing if it helps to expand your podcasting horizons. After all, there is no such thing as too much of a good thing, right?  Be sure to give it a try and let us know what your thoughts are in the comments below.  Happy listening! FREE! Released: 2008-08-17 :: Category: News Read More

+ Universal App FREE! Our Review By Blake Grundman on April 18th, 2011 Rating: :: MUSIC TO OUR EARS The cure for the common podcast... Developer: Price: Free Version: 4.3.0 App Reviewed on: iPhone 4 iPhone Integration Rating: User Interface Rating: Re-use Value Rating: Overall Rating: Podcasts are a very interesting permutation of the entertainment medium.  Instead of creating one show to cater to the lowest common denominator, much like a standard television news program, these numerous nuggets of downloadable knowledge are very specific and focused towards a select niche audience.  But with so many thousands of podcasts out there, each aimed scattershot across the internet, how can a person find content that speaks to them?  Stitcher Radio is attempting to answer this question through their innovative new multimedia client. Targeted at the ubber podcast consumer, this is the app for anyone that craves having new sounds and ideas invading their eardrums at all times.  Remember that dusty old AM radio that your grandfather had in the corner of his office, quietly murmuring in the background all day long?  This software appeals to the same type of audience, only updated for the internet age and christened with more variety than a trip to Baskin Robbins. All users need to do is subscribe to podcasts that they have enjoyed in the past, and Stitcher will do the rest.  New episodes of your favorite shows are queued up as they become available and delivered to your brain in a never-ending flow of audio awesomeness.  There are even suggested playlists for indecisive folks who don’t necessarily know what they want to listen to, which helps encourage listeners to try new podcasts that they wouldn’t have otherwise even knew existed. Podcasts not necessarily your cup of tea?  Maybe you might be interested in checking out the endless streams of local radio stations instead.  You can search by region, city, or even GPS coordinates to find and engage in programs originating in your own neck of the woods.  Really, saying that there is something for everyone is an understatement, because it really has everything for everyone! However, this doesn’t mean that things are all rainbows and unicorns in the mythical land of Stitcher.  In fact, there is one particularly glaring issue that could be a deal breaker for some: it is not a threaded application.  This means that you cannot turn off your screen, let your Read More