New Overcast beta adds full transcripts

Transcripts are coming to Overcast, and will be free for everyone, says developer Marco Arment. We first reported on this feature in July. The service doesn’t yet use creator-produced transcripts, relying on AI; and the current beta says (see it here) that each transcript “probably contains errors”. However, Marco tells Podnews that today’s build already downloads any VTT specified in the feed using the Podcasting 2.0 tag - "I just haven’t finished the parsing and display of them yet”, he says. (It’ll transcribe everything - even private feeds).

When is the new video experience in Apple Podcasts going to launch? It’s with iOS 26.4, which has just posted its release candidate. That might mean it’s released to the public “as soon as next Wednesday (Mar 25) or as late as the following Monday (Mar 30)”, says seasoned Apple watcher John Spurlock. The upgrade message does not appear to promote video in Apple Podcasts to iPhone users; but opening Apple Podcasts gives a new splash screen highlighting the new feature.

Podcast app and hosting company Truefans has launched a video hosting service. The service charges by total bandwidth used, and works with a number of third-party podcast apps, including Apple Podcasts. Podcasters will gain access to a new ‘watch time’ metric.