Are you angry about the banks? You should be.
End of July 15 column

Apple IOS 6 and Podcasting

I avoided upgrading to IOS6 on my iPhone for a long time because I didn't see anything I wanted and was afraid it would mess me up. I also didn't want Apple's brain-dead map ap as my default, and I didn't want to lose the You-tube player ap. Then, at school, they installed Apple TV, but I couldn't project from my phone. I thought it might be the IOS, so I upgraded. Turns out you need a iPhone 4S to project  and I have a 4. So, I did not get the one feature I wanted. And instead, it messed me up, in the ways I expected, and a couple of new ones.

The first time I opened iTunes on my phone, all my podcasts were missing from my playlists. This was extremely frustrating, because I could still see them in iTunes on my desktop. I spent hours trying to work it out, then more hours searching the Internet before a solution. Talk about badly posted and hard to search for! I can only hope the words I have thrown around this solution will help save others from my time and frustration.

IOS 6 automatically moves all your podcasts into a podcast ap that does not have playlists. BUT, to fix this problem, all you have to do is delete the podcast ap, and all your podcasts fly back into your iTune playlists. Sure, I admit that podcast handling in iTunes is terrible. But not being able to organize your podcasts into playlists is much worse.

Credit where credit is due, however, Apple did add a feature I have been waiting for literally since the first day I played a podcast on my iPhone. There was always a "10 seconds back" button to allow you to repeat something you just heard (or more likely, didn't quite hear). I yearned for a 10 seconds forward button, to speed past discussions in which I wasn't interested. The button appeared in IOS 6, and what a joy it has been. Sure, the time slider was always there, but while it is great for a 3 minute song, it is very difficult to operate in a 30 or 60 minute podcast, especially if you are on the elliptical machine or the stationary bike.

One great feature does not make up for one appalling and badly documents foul-up, however. Overall: IOS 6, continue to avoid it if you can.