All 3 of our apps have recently had major/minor updates. We’re working on some new stuff, which we hope you’ll like. Thanks!
Tag Archive for 'castcatcher'
Grab CastCatcher for under $1 US through tomorrow night!
Update: We’re extending the sale through Cyber monday due to demand! 
CastCatcher 1.4.1 has been approved and should be available on the App Store shortly.
We pulled 1.4.1 and pushed a new build tonight to add a fix for a bug that showed its head with the new iPhone 2.2 firmware. Sorry for the delay but we felt it was necessary to push this fix as it is a stability issue.
- Fixed crash with iPhone firmware 2.2
- Improved SqueezeCenter support (caveats)
- Official AAC+ Support
This version fixes improves Squeezebox/Slimserver support. No other changes. There are some caveats, however, so please see this forum thread.
I’ve posted a list of new streams to be used with CastCatcher on the forums. Please update your list if you’re using any of the default streams. This will be the default list of stations if you remove and reinstall CastCatcher 1.3 (when/if it is approved by Apple, of course). If you remove CastCatcher to reinstall it, any stations you’ve added will be lost so make sure to keep track of them!
We are aware that the built-in stations in CastCatcher v1.2 and earlier are currently no longer working. These stations were a random assortment of shoutcast.com streams to provided an example for users adding their own stations. These stations have since gone down. These default stations have been replaced in v1.3 with live ones.
Current users: please just delete the non-functioning stations and add your own. That is the whole purpose of CastCatcher anyway!
CastCatcher Internet Radio cannot be posted to the App Store because it is transferring excessive volumes of data over the cellular network, which as outlined in the iPhone SDK Agreement section 3.3.15, is prohibited
Right. Except for the fact that every other radio app works over cell network as well AND Apple has approved THREE prior releases of CastCatcher. We’ve emailed them and are hoping to resolve this quickly. CastCatcher does not burden cell networks any more than any other radio application. Ridiculous.
EDIT: We resubmitted and Apple approved CastCatcher and it’s been on the store some time. Thanks Apple!
The following updates will be in this version:
- Adjustable buffer size (see Preferences on your iPhone)
- Experimental AAC+ support (works w/ 2.0.2 but not 2.1 – bug report filed w/ Apple for assistance – this feature is NOT supported)
- Minor fix around Icecast metadata
- Fixed crash on downloading invalid playlist files
We’ve just received notification from Apple that CastCatcher 1.2 has hit the App Store. There’s usually a delay of 2-3 hours, but look for it. This is a huge release in terms of both features and bug fixes. Please let us know what you think via reviews on the App Store and our forums.
We’ve just pushed a new, final build of CastCatcher 1.2 to Apple. It features all the great stuff it did before, minus a few minor bugs, plus some major feature enhancements. Pending Apple’s review, it should hit your iPhones in about a week.
So there was a bug in CastCatcher 1.2 (I didn’t trim spaces off the end of URLs) that caused stations to display an error instead of playing if users added a space to the end of the URL. It’s been fixed. I’ve not yet submitted 1.2 to Apple because we’re going to go ahead and roll the 1.3 update into 1.2. This means you’ll get the following in 1.2:
- Added support for Icecast streams (still .pls files)
- Fixed crash caused by incompatible metadata (stream plays, metadata ignored)
- Support direct playback of mp3 files
- Squeezebox server (SlimServer) playback support – add the mp3 url to CastCatcher
- Support for direct playback of Shoutcast stream URLs (e.g. http://stream.radiojavan.com:9000)
- More accurate error reporting on stream failure
- Increase text size on now-playing screen
- Improved Icecast and Nicecast Support
- Station details (bit rate, name etc), if provided
- Auto Reconnect on connection loss (attempt every 5 seconds)
- Nifty buffer level indicator
Here’s a screenshot of the current beta. Note that it is subject to change.
Bitrate and buffer indicator
CastCatcher 1.1 is now available on the Apple AppStore. Also, CastCatcher 1.2 has been submitted for Apple’s approval.
Get your playlist urls from http://classic.shoutcast.com instead of http://shoutcast.com if you’re using CastCatcher 1.0. 1.1 should be out soon and 1.2 after that.
CastCatcher 1.2 is ready and and will feature the following:
- Added support for Icecast streams (still .pls files)
- Fixed crash caused by incompatible metadata (stream now plays, metadata ignored, no crash)
- Support direct playback of mp3 files
- Squeezebox server (SlimServer) playback support – add the mp3 url to CastCatcher
- Support for direct playback of Shoutcast stream URLs (e.g. http://stream.radiojavan.com:9000)
We may still add M3U support to version 1.3, if demand dictates it.
CastCatcher 1.2 will feature support for:
- Icecast Streams (Basically, .pls files containing a link to a MP3 file of “infinite” length)
- Direct playback of urls pointing to MP3 files of “infinite” or finite length (useful for streaming audio to your iPhone from your Logitech SqueezeBox or similar device/software)
CastCatcher 1.2 MAY support:
- M3U playlists — this just depends on time, at this point
Let us know what you think! Keep the suggestions and bug reports coming!
So we’ve fixed many issues in CastCatcher and version 1.1 will be hitting the AppStore soon. It is a free upgrade for current CastCatcher users!
Version 1.1 fixes:
- Removed .pls suffix requirement (make compatible with new shoutcast.com URLs)
- Auto add http:// prefix if missing from url
- Turn off URL text field auto-correction
- Degrade more gracefully in the case of invalid stations
- Streamlined code
1) Go to your favorite station aggregator (like shoutcast.com)
2) Right click on the tune-in and copy the link (it should end in .pls)
3) Paste the link someplace you can see it
4) Add a new station to CastCatcher and type in the link
5) Hit save and you’re done!
Update: Unfortunately, shoutcast.com has changed the way their station links work so we will release a new version of CastCatcher to Apple later tonight to handle this change. Other shoutcast streams will still work with CastCatcher (we simply need to change the check for .pls in the name). Also, a request for m3u was submitted — we evaluate the amount of effort to get this into v1.2 and welcome more user suggestions!
Update 2: For the first reviewer trying to add WNYC-AM, look at the link on their website (left side, next to “MP3″) called “32k.” When you mouse over it you’ll see a link such as “http://www.wnyc.org/stream/am.pls” — you can add that to CastCatcher directly.
Update 3: Workaround for Shoutcast.com streams until new version is approved — Simply click the station name link on the shoutcast.com page (Station: NameLinkIsHere) and go to the station’s website. From there, find the link for their winamp/shoutcast/mp3 stream (again, it ends in .pls) and add that to CastCatcher.
We are pleased to announce that CastCatcher 1.0 has been approved for release onto the Apple AppStore! As for BillMinder, Apple requested a slight UI change to further comply with their strict UI guidelines. The change has been implemented and the new version is back in Apple’s review queue.