Overcast’s Skip Promos Feature is Definitely a Choice

I recorded a somewhat ranty episode of Streamlined Podcaster about this new feature in Overcast:

New Promos & Reruns filter, available as a global setting that can be customized per podcast

This feature allows you to remove promos, like feed drops and trailer drops, from podcast feeds.

Feed drops and trailer drops are also a hugely helpful feature for podcasters, so I feel like this is podcaster-hostile.

I’d love to hear the justification for the feature, as Marco — the developer —has said he won’t implement certain features because, “no one is asking for them.”

This includes features that could help podcasters make money.

How many people are asking for the ability to skip promos and reruns?

I haven’t tried the feature yet, so I haven’t released the episode. I want it to be more than a hot take. But on the surface, it feels like something that hurts podcasters more than it helps podcast listeners.

In speaking with my friend Brian, I think there’s likely a reasonable compromise. That Marco also implement a way to support podcasters financially:

You can unlock promo skips per podcast by financially supporting that podcast.

At the moment though, you can do one and not the other.