Pocket Casts receives Material Design revamp, dark mode in new beta

Pocket Casts has released an Android beta for the app’s upcoming version 7.0 update.

Despite its recent acquisition by a U.S. public radio group, Pocket Casts remains dedicated to fast updates that adhere to Material Design. The 7.0 update is a great example, taking on several of the new Material Design elements Google added this year.

For one, the new design does away with the old side menu, introducing a new bottom navigation bar for quick access to podcasts, filters, search and user profiles.

The ‘Podcasts’ tab brings up the full list of shows you’ve added to the app. A new overflow menu now slides up from the bottom and displays customization options more visually.

The ‘Filters’ section makes it easier to sort episodes into different categories, such as favourites and new releases.

‘Discover’ allows users to find podcasts easily. Clicking into a podcast now provides a search bar to find episodes within a specific show quickly.

Pocket Casts has also introduced a revamped now playing screen with a new option to archive shows, instead of sorting them by played and unplayed.

When listening to an episode, Pocket Casts now docks the play controls above the nav bar along the bottom of the app.

Swiping up on the play controls opens a panel with more options, including access to show notes, playback speed and other options like favourites, sharing and more. Users can also access the queue from this screen to see what will play next.

Pocket Casts now has a dark theme.

There are plenty of other changes in the beta as well. If you’re a Pocket Casts fan and want to check it all out, you can join the app’s beta through the Play Store.

If you’re new to Pocket Casts, you can pick it up for $4.99 on the Play Store. You can also get Pocket Casts on iOS for $5.49 or on the web.

Source: 9to5 Google