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back to article Apple updates OS X Mavericks, iTunes, Podcasts for iOS

Apple has released updates for OS X Mavericks and iTunes – versions 10.9.3 and 11.2, respectively – plus an update for the rudimentary Podcasts app for iOS, now at version 2.1. Mac App Store listing of changes in OS X 10.9.3 and iTunes 11.2 The OS X App Store offers info on what's new in Mavericks and iTunes (click to …

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  1. Annihilator
    Meh

    Podcast app

    One of the most monumentally stupid things Apple did was split podcasts (and to a lesser extent, videos) out of the iPod app and create a separate buggy version. It *still* doesn't manage to sync listening history between iTunes and iPhones (listen to a podcast on an iPhone, sync with iTunes, subsequently thinks that you haven't listened to it on either)

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    1. jai
      Reply Icon

      Re: Podcast app

      +1 that the app can't sync what's been listened to and what hasn't.

      But despite that, i like the Podcast interface and it makes it much easier to organise your podcast subscriptions.

      I've abandoned the podcast maangement within iTunes on the desktop. I just use the Podcast app on the phone to manage the subscriptions and it works verywell, downloading the newest shows when they become available, or for those with a large back catalogue, keeping three (or a number of your choice) of un-listened-to episodes on the phone whenever I have wifi connection.

      So yes, the integration between the two isn't great. But I'm glad they did create a seperate app as now i no longer have to ensure i sync with iTunes before i go to work each morning as the phone's already updated it content before i wake up.

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    2. Don Dumb
      Reply Icon
      Flame

      Re: Podcast app

      @Annihilator - Agreed.

      I mostly listen to Podcasts on my phone, so this is something close to my heart*.

      It was always a great frustration that bluetooth (and wired) car stereos couldn't find the podcasts as they didn't turn up in the music list (i.e. not in an album), I had to start playing the specific podcast while disconnected, connect up the phone and then it would play through the car. Apple decided to make it even worse by separating Podcasts out into a different app. Now when I press play on my headset or car stereo, it *may* play the last podcast I was listening to, or it may start playing a song in the music app, forcing me to then go into the phone, find the podcast app and force the iPhone to play the podcast instead. It's incredibly frustrating.

      I do love it when I try and download a podcast, it fails, often due to the wonderful arbitary download limit of 50MB and then somehow breaks the whole podcast so that I can't download (when on Wifi), listen or delete it. I have to wait until I sync before it resurrects.

      What's worse was that the move to iTunes 11, deleted all of the podcasts I has stored on my computer in the name of 'syncing' even though I had selected the option to keep all podcasts on my computer. I updated the Podcast app this morning, didn't realise there was a new version of iTunes, when I left home and started browsing the podcast app for this morning's commute, it brough up a error message saying somehting like 'Please use iTunes 11.2 to Sync' - well thanks Apple, perhaps you could have told me that when I was doing THE SODDING SYNC!

      It wouldn't be so bad if it was easier to move tracks into the Podcast folder, that would be really helpful for something like Spanish speaking lessons, for instance. But to make something become a recognised podcast (despite being just an MP3 file) you have to mess around with the hidden metadata for ages to get it to work and sort properly, you can't do it in iTunes. And while I'm at it, I don't get why Audiobooks aren't grouped with Podcasts as they are closer to podcasts than music tracks but then I'm obviously thinking it wrong.

      * Almost literally, the phone is often in my shirt's breast pocket.

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  2. big_D Silver badge

    Sync via USB, how very 2010 of them...

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    1. Dan 55 Silver badge
      Reply Icon

      On the other hand it looks like the number of people who are suspicious of the cloud is so non-negligible that they've decided to put USB sync in. This is good news, isn't it?

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      1. big_D Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Yes, good news. I still find it amusing that these companies remove features and then find that they do need them after all.

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    2. Don Dumb
      Reply Icon

      @big_D -

      Sync via USB, how very 2010 of them...

      I use USB, mostly because Wifi sync seems to balls up whenever I try it and, well, USB sync works, I have no need to use Wifi and I have to go to the computer to switch it on anyway. I also keep backups on my computer not in iCloud (I was grateful for this when I did need to restore my phone), USB backups to computer much better than Wifi.

      Quant it might be, but it is also sufficient. Keyboards are *so* 20th century, but I'd rather type this on my keyboard than on a touchscreen

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      1. big_D Silver badge
        Reply Icon

        Hi Don,

        I wasn't belittling the use of USB to sync, more that most of the big companies today assume that we will all sync over the crowd, so fewer and fewer are offering USB sync.

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  3. Richard 12 Silver badge

    Played episodes can now be automatically deleted?

    Great, so they've actually completely destroyed an important feature I was using, and called that a "new" feature.

    There was an option "Episodes To Keep" in several previous versions, which had values including "All", "last 5" and "Only keep unplayed", where it would delete episodes sometime after playing them.

    The "new" one has only got the options "All" and "Unplayed".

    Thus isn't a new feature, it's removing choice.

    If only they'd fix the things that are actually broken instead of removing existing, working and useful features.

    I suppose I should expect that of Apple though, they really are a "You shall comply" company.

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  4. Frankee Llonnygog

    the li'l lady

    Finally someone manages to be patronising to a phone. Way to go, li'l guy.

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  5. Velv
    Trollface

    It's not an update, they're giving away free software!!!!!!

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  6. jzlondon

    So Apple are about to release a 4k display then? Goodness me, journalistic reading-between-the-lines isn't what it was.

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  7. Richard Parkin

    Downcast

    I gave up on the Podcasts app mainly because it would not play just one and then stop (maybe that has changed) and have used Downcast app ever since.

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  8. nanchatte

    Excellent.

    As a multimonitor whore, I can report success with my 2011 iMac and 2 external IBM T221 3840 x 2400 monitors running in portrait on either side.

    I'm now able to get full resolutions in portrait (2400 x 3840) whereas I was limited to vertical resolutions of 1920 by a regression introduced with Mavericks. As a bonus, I now also get the full HiDPI mode and desktop scaling interface of Apple's own Retina displays.

    Now if only they can get together with display link and fix the bloody incompatibilities there, I'd be well chuffed.

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