Podcasts on iPhone: chapters, transcript and speed
Want to hear just one chapter, or find the moment they talked about deep sleep? The podcast player in channelBar jumps to the right chapter with a tap, lets the transcript follow along and searches it. TRIM shortens long pauses, and the sleep timer stops the episode when you drift off. The video shows you how in under two minutes.
You can listen to podcasts right in your stream in channelBar Feeds. An episode’s row already shows what it comes with: its length, the number of chapters and whether there’s a transcript.
Chapters: straight to the right part
Tap “5 chapters” in the row. The episode starts, and the player shows all its chapters at a glance. Tap a chapter to jump to its start. If another episode is playing, channelBar asks first.
The circle in front of each chapter shows where you are: chapters before the current position are filled, the current one fills up as it plays, and next to it you see how much of it is left. The chapters come from the podcast: from its feed, from the audio file or from timestamps in the show notes.
Show notes, transcript and search
The player has several pages. From the chapters, swipe right to see the episode’s details: format, size and bitrate of the file, its length, the chapters and the transcripts. Swipe left for the show notes, just as the podcast provides them, and left once more for the transcript.
There’s a transcript when the podcast provides one; channelBar doesn’t create transcripts itself. The line being spoken is always highlighted. Tap “TRANSCRIPT” at the bottom, and the text follows along. Tap a line to jump straight there.
Looking for a certain part? Tap the magnifier at the top right and type a word, for example “deep sleep”. Every hit is marked, the counter shows which one you’re on, and the arrows take you to the next. Upper and lower case and accents don’t matter. On the show notes page, the magnifier searches the show notes.
Speed and TRIM
Too slow for you? Tap the number to speed up, up to 3×; press and hold to slow down, down to 0.5×. After 3× comes 0.5× again. The speed applies to the current episode; the next one starts at your default speed. You set it in Configuration: tap the logo at the top left, choose “Podcast Player” under “Settings”, then “Speed”.
TRIM is on by default. It shortens every pause of a second or more to half a second. channelBar finds the pauses right on your iPhone while the episode loads. The little clock under the slider shows how many seconds you’ve saved since the episode started. Tap “TRIM” to turn it off for this episode; to turn it off for good, use “Silence Trimming” under “Podcast Player”.
Sleep timer and history
Like to fall asleep listening? Tap the bed and choose when the episode should stop: after 5 to 120 minutes or, if the episode has chapters, at the end of the current chapter or after two or three chapters. If you pause the episode yourself before then, the timer waits too.
Your history sits at the bottom right. “Recently Played” shows the episodes you listened to last and how much of each is left. One tap, and you pick up right where you left off. Swipe an episode to the left to remove it from the list.
The player bar in your stream
Tap “Player”, and you’re back where you were, while the episode keeps playing. The bar at the bottom shows the current chapter; tap it, and you’re back in the player.
Don’t need the bar? Press and hold “Player”, and it’s gone; press and hold again to bring it back. channelBar remembers this separately for portrait and landscape. Under “Podcast Player”, you can also choose whether the bar shows the chapter or the episode title.