Hide Podcast Cover in Smart Playlist (PocketCast 8.0)
-
Good evening, today the beta version 8.0 was released via TestFlight. I like the new “Smart Playlists” and also the addition of episodes to my “Manual Playlist”. However, I think it’s better if you can hide the cover type of the podcast in the playlist view. These take up almost a third of the screen and that doesn’t make much sense in my opinion. Here an option for switching off or at least reducing the size would definitely be appropriate.
-
Thanks for the feedback.
The top cover will scroll away once you start scrolling down the playlist though. The playlist uses the same layout like a regular podcast show.
-
@staff-dexter I know that it scrolls away but nevertheless it’s HUGE and totally not needed. Like inside a podcast episode list I can at least collapse the header (which is a smart decision) but wasting 1/3 of the screen but „nothing“ isn’t a smart choice. And often I don’t scroll down as new episodes are at the top.
-
+1, the main benefit with filters was to have a quick glance of episodes. Having to scroll down is not ideal.
-
@bkrnk @mtbtn019fdcc405 I completely understand both your concerns with this. I’ll be happy to forward this along to our team so we can take it into consideration as we refine the design going forward.
-
I agree. It doesnt look good or add any useful functionality. I would likea way to turn it off.
-
@derektattersalle4436fd5e6 thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this. I’ve added your comment to the internal feedback reporting so our development team will keep it in mind as we refine the design.
-
Absolutely agree with the other commenters! The ability to have the smart lists is fine, although I don’t want it. I just spent 10 minutes hunting through menus and long pressing things desperately trying to find a way to make all the smart playlist UI cruft GO AWAY!
I get that it lets us customize the prebaked filters, but it now eats up over half the screen, I now see exactly 2 episodes, and have to scroll. The collage of the last 4 podcast is pointless. Perhaps some people might have only a couple items in these lists, but I usually have over a hundred items, and 30+ podcasts. And does every Playlist now really have to have a second line saying Smart Playlist?
I have been a Plus user for over 12 years, and Pocket Cast is hands down my most used app, I live in it! . But this is the most jarring and disruptive update in that time period for me.
-
I made a profile on this forum just to voice my annoyance at this change, and the difficulty finding things with the new “smart” playlists. An option to hide the pointless cover image would be great. I intentionally use pocketcasts to avoid spotify, and don’t need this to look like spotify to make me want to use it.
-
Hi there, @fxdog, and @vertyberty! Thanks for sharing your feedback about the new feature. I’ve shared this with the team so they can take it into account as the make app updates.
> does every Playlist now really have to have a second line saying Smart Playlist
This label is to distinguish the smart playlist from the manual playlists since they offer different methods to organize episodes. You can read more about the new playlist options in the blog. -
@staff-eleanor I understand the logic, it is just flawed. If all playlists are smart now, which mine all became, then it is redundant. If it is a manual selection of specific episodes, then I made it, and I know what it is. Even then, just selecting a playlist will immediately smack you in the face that it is “Smart” because over half the screen is consumed by it. Does it even mater on the list page if they are smart? It is a list, the content is more important than the how it was made on that screen. If it is really important to distinguish, a simple lightning bolt or gear icon would be plenty. No need for another whole line of text. It is just visual clutter.
All the “smart” stuff and UI options should be moved under the 3 dot menu with Playlist options, with settings to hide everything – art, search, play all, filters. This update now puts playlist settings in 2 different places. All I want is the name of the list, and the number of items. Modern design aesthetics seem to think beautiful equals wasted space, and useless stuff to look pretty. When I went through art school, the mantra was ‘less is more’.
Pocket Casts Forum 