Crankcaster

Your Playdate is a podcast player now. Build a stack of shows on the web, beam it over with a little burst of sound, and listen anywhere. Episodes pull straight from the original RSS feeds, so there is no conversion and no app store.

Heads up: Crankcaster downloads real podcast episodes onto your Playdate so you can listen offline, and audio files are big. It can use a good chunk of space. You stay in control: set how many episodes to keep per show, switch a show to Stream so it saves nothing, or hold Ⓑ to delete a download. Finished episodes also auto-clear.

How it works

1. Go to crankcaster.com and build a stack. Search for any podcast, or paste an RSS feed.
2. Tap "Bleep-bloop to Playdate" and hold your Playdate close. The whole stack travels through the air as sound. No link to type.
3. Open Crankcaster on your Playdate. It downloads the latest episodes for offline listening and checks for new ones every time you open it.

Controls

• ⬆️ ⬇️ - move through your list of episodes and shows
• Ⓐ - play a downloaded episode, or start a download now (it jumps to the front of the queue)
• Ⓑ - back. Hold Ⓑ to delete the selected download and free up space
• Crank - scrub through a downloaded episode
• ⬅️ ➡️ while playing - jump back or forward 15 seconds
• ⊙ menu - get a stack, send a stack, and settings (set each show's mode and keep count, or reset all downloads)

Features

• Edit your stack on the web anytime. Changes show up on your Playdate automatically, no re-install.
• Per show, pick Download (newest kept offline), Stream (save nothing), or Both (newest offline, older episodes stream on tap).
• Crank to scrub downloaded episodes. Finished episodes auto-clear to save space.
• Pulls MP3s right from the source. Your shows, your feeds.

Install: download the .pdx and sideload it to your Playdate (upload at play.date for Mirror, or copy over USB).

Build your stack at crankcaster.com.