Overcast Update Features Standalone Apple Watch Playback

The latest Overcast update brings standalone Apple Watch playback to the popular podcast player. Now you can listen to podcasts without your iPhone. I wrote about a previous update, which brought native podcast listening to the Apple Watch. Overcast is once again bringing a new and much-wanted feature to the podcast world.

So, how do you set it up? First, you’ll need to pair your Bluetooth headphones to your Apple Watch. Put your headphones in Discovery mode. On mine, you just press and hold the headphones’ on/off switch to get there. Then, open the Settings app on your Apple Watch. You’ll see Bluetooth as an option, tap it. Then tap the name of your headphones.

Once that’s done, you can start downloading podcasts onto your Apple Watch. Open Overcast on your iPhone and tap the podcast you want. This will bring up a Queue menu (⁺≡); tap it and choose Send to Watch. Give it a couple of minutes to download, then you can open the app on your Apple Watch. Swipe to the right to see the podcast you’ve downloaded to your watch. Put the headphones on, hit the play icon, and you’re on your way.

All right, I’m off to walk the dogs and listen to a podcast. Without my iPhone. The Overcast update and the app are free on the App Store.