How to access AMI-audio Podcasts on iCatcher

iCatcher is a paid app for iOS devices. It has options for importing audiobooks and allows you to set alert sounds for different things. There is a tab dedicated to providing any help using the app which you might need. This app is fully accessible with VoiceOver. Download iCatcher using the Apple App Store.

Useful gestures for this app:

  • One finger touch and drag: explore the screen
     
  • Swipe right or left: select the next or previous item
     
  • One finger Double-tap: activate the selected item
     
  • Two-finger double-tap: answer or end a call. Play or pause in music, videos, voice memos or podcasts
     
  • Two finger scrub: while touching the screen with two fingers slightly apart, quickly move back and forth to move back a screen
     
  • Rotor gesture: while touching the screen with two fingers slightly apart, turn them in the same fashion as turning a dial on a radio
     
  • One finger swipe up or down: activates the feature you have chosen with the rotor gesture

How to subscribe:

  1. When you first launch the app, it gives you a screen on how to quickly start listening to your favourite podcast. Swipe through this information and double-tap on the “dismiss” button. There are five tabs within this app: Podcast, Downloads, Playlists, Help and Settings. You will be in the "Podcasts" tab. You can verify this by the fact that the “Podcast” tab at the bottom of the screen is labelled as being selected. At the top left of the screen, you'll find a "Search/Add New podcast” button. Double-tap on this to activate it.
     
  2. A menu of options will appear. Flick right to reach "Search term or podcast URL." Double-tap this edit field.
     
  3. Type in what you want to search for, such as The Pulse. Double-tap the "Search" button which appears at the bottom right.
     
  4. Flick right through the results list and double-tap on the result you want. This takes you to the show profile page. Flick right and find the "Subscribe" button. Double-tap this and you will be subscribed to the podcast. If this is the first time that you are adding a podcast to the app, it will ask you if you wish to turn on notifications. This will let you know via the app when there are new episodes. Swipe to your preference, (allow, or don’t allow) and double-tap on it.
     
  5. Use the "Back” button to return to the prior screen. You can either choose to add more podcasts or use the back button to return to the main app screen.  

How to play:

  1. From the top left, flick right through the contents of the "Podcasts" tab. Notice the refresh date. It should automatically refresh your podcast episodes when you open the app. But, if for some reason it does not, you can double-tap on this heading to manually refresh it. 
     
  2. Either swipe right through the various options until you find the podcast which you would like to play or slide your finger on the screen until you hear the title that you want. Double-tap to open the episode’s info page.
     
  3. You will then be on a list of episodes, with the newest one always first. Find the one that you would like to listen to and double-tap on it to start playback. If you chose an episode that hasn’t been downloaded yet, it will give you a screen with the following options: download it now, or at a later time; stream it now or stream it at a later time.
     
  4. During episode playback, a mini-player screen appears with various controls. There is a virtual volume control at the bottom of the screen which you can adjust by swiping up or down. Swipe left to move through the other controls, such as Speed, Sleep Timer, Play/Pause, etc. They are all activated by a double-tap. You can also do a two-fingered double-tap to play/pause the audio. This is called the “magic gesture.”
     
  5. Once you are done listening, you can find the “Back” button at the top left of the screen and double-tap to return to the episode list.

Final notes:

  • This app can be used very simply if you wish, but if you want to learn more about its extensive capabilities, visit the Help tab.  
     
  • It’s highly recommended to also visit the Settings tab, as there are a few things to consider there. For example, you may want to disable the downloading of podcast episodes while you are not connected to your wifi. 
     
  • Also visit the Podcast Defaults, still under Settings, where you can change such things as whether a new episode is set for streaming instead of downloading. If you’re conscious of storage on your phone, then streaming is a better option. Downloading is more of a consideration if you know you’ll need listening material, but won’t have access to wifi and/or cell service.  
     
  • Finally, when you are in your episode list and on an episode title, if you swipe up or down, you will cycle through a list of actions that you can apply to that title. For example, you can delete the episode. To select one of the actions, just double-tap.

Was this helpful? We want your feedback. Tell us what you think about these platforms. Are they accessible? Do you enjoy using them? Is there another app you use to download podcasts that you prefer?

Email us at feedback@ami.ca or reach out to us on Twitter @AMIaudio and let us know what you think!

 
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