Some feedback for the devs regarding episode update delays
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I’ve been experiencing delayed episode updates in Pocketcasts and wanted to share some findings that might help identify a solution. After investigating the issue by setting up a test podcast feed, I’ve determined that the delay appears to be related to the backend polling frequency.
From my observations, Pocketcasts polls feeds approximately every 35-45 minutes. This is relatively reasonable compared to competitors (Overcast, for example, polls every 55-65 minutes), but still results in noticeable delays.
While the podping and websub implementation mentioned by the development team would help with public feeds, it’s worth noting that this doesn’t address delays for private feeds at all.
I’ve also noticed that the manual refresh functionality is a little janky (on purpose – perhaps?). When a user manually refreshes a podcast, the app does re-check the feed once, but subsequent refresh attempts within a don’t actually check the feed again for some time, creating what appears to be a “fake” refresh experience for users.
A potential solution worth considering: implement a system where client devices check the feed RSS whenever the app is opened. This could be structured so that client devices verify for updates and only notify the server when changes are detected. The server could then update the central feed data. This approach would distribute the computational load to client devices while maintaining the centralized data structure, potentially reducing server resource usage while improving the user experience with more timely updates. Additionally this will also solve the manually refreshing issue – just let the client device check the feed and let the user refresh at will
I appreciate the continuous improvements to Pocketcasts and hope this feedback might be helpful in addressing this particular pain point. The app is fantastic overall, and addressing this issue would make it even better for users
Pocket Casts Forum 