Google on Tuesday took the wraps off its eponymous Podcasts app, answering the prayers of many an Android user tired of relying on Google Play Music for podcast listening and management. If you’re new to podcasts or just planning to take Google Podcasts for a spin to see how it compares with other apps, here are some tips to help you make the most of it. Start here, finish there Adjust playback speed While listening to any podcast, bring up the player controls, then tap the 1.0x icon in the lower-left corner. That’ll bring up a speed slider you can use to set your preferred multiplier. I recommend starting with 1.1x or 1.2x, just to see how you like it. You can always bump up if you want to go faster. (Prefer to slow things down? You can slide the control in that direction as well.) Download episodes for offline listening Search from outside the app Assuming there’s a match within the search results, you can tap an episode and you’ll immediately land at Podcasts, where you can subscribe and do all the other app-specific things. Use a different podcast manager For example, as noted above, it can’t automatically download new episodes of your subscribed podcasts — you have to fetch each one manually. The app also doesn’t support playlists, doesn’t offer global settings for most features, doesn’t have car or night modes, and so on. Thus, if you are indeed new to podcasts, you might appreciate a more full-featured app. Some great picks include Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts and Podcast Go. Source : cnet |