It's that time of year... Google now requires every app to target Android 12. This usually means more restrictions for security and privacy reasons, but it also sometimes means losing existing features and some changed behaviors.
Now Android requires new permissions for things that didn't require any permissions before.
The first one is called 'Schedule Exact Alarm' and is now required if you are using the app's alarm clock feature.
The second one is called 'Bluetooth Connect'. It's now required to access paired/connected BT devices. Some features like auto-connect, BT device filtering, loud speaker playback speed will only work if this new permission is granted.
However, since Google likes to scare Android users, instead of telling the user that this permission just allows apps to see the list of paired BT devices it tells users that this permission allows apps to 'find, connect to, and determine the relative position of nearby devices'...
Why are they displaying this message which is false in case of the specific permission asked by Podcast Addict? Because instead of displaying a unique description for each permission, they show a global message when asking anyone or all of the following permissions:
• BLUETOOTH_ADVERTISE
• BLUETOOTH_CONNECT
• BLUETOOTH_SCAN
• UWB_RANGING
• NEARBY_WIFI_DEVICES
And scared users usually means angry users for the developers, which also means 1-star rating because the app now seems to be asking for suspicious permissions...
Last but not least, it's now impossible for apps to start services in tha background. That means that many of the app features such as auto download, resuming podcast updates after a failed connection, auto connect, ... will not be able to work UNLESS you exclude the app from the device Optimized list.
By doing so, the app should be able to work as intended, at least until the next round of restrictions Google will impose later this year...
For more details pllease check the FAQs.
The Skip silence audio effect has been improved. It now allows you to select how aggressive the algorithm should be to shorten the existing silences.
You can select the default mode in Settings/Player/Audio, but as usual this can be customized per podcast from the player screen.
The app now supports the new Podcasting 2.0 LIVE standard. This feature allows podcasters to notify apps when they start recording their new episode live.
When this happens, a Push notification will be displayed in the app. Pressing on it wil start the playback.
You can also start the playback from the podcast episodes list.
If the podcaster provides a link for live comments, you will also be able to access their chat during the live.
Very few podcasts currently support this, but it's a great feature that will hopefully be used by more and more podcasters.
You can of course disable this new notification either globally or per podcast.