podnod 0.1.76: speed, syncing, and smoother playback

podnod 0.1.76 is out, and it brings together a massive round of improvements for website speed, cross-device syncing, interface tweaks, and reliable notifications.

on the website

• category pages on the website open faster, especially deep in a long category.
• when you are signed in on podnod.eu, show pages and search now show what you follow, your queue, and what you have played from your account. a show you followed on your phone now reads as subscribed on the website too, and following, the bell, and adding to your queue from the web reach your other devices straight away.
• you can subscribe to a show, or unsubscribe, right from any of its episode pages.
• if you follow shows with notifications turned on and your browser has never been asked, the new tab now offers to allow them. allowing notifications anywhere in the web app now takes effect straight away rather than after the next reload.

what changed

• a show you find in search now opens straight to its episodes, even when nobody on podnod has opened it before — no more waiting screen and no "check again".
• show covers and episode pictures are no longer cropped. a picture that is not square, like a widescreen episode image, now appears whole in the apps and on the website instead of losing its sides.
• a video episode's title and description now use the full width under the picture instead of being squeezed in beside the buttons.
• on the phone, the skip buttons on the lock screen and in control center now show and skip by the interval you chose in settings, including when you change it mid-episode.
• in the desktop app's player, the episode title under the cover is no longer cut in half when the window is short; the cover gets smaller instead.

what was broken and is not

• new episodes turn up on time again. some shows had gone more than a day without being checked, so their latest episodes appeared late.
• new episodes from shows whose host tells us the moment they publish appear in podnod within seconds again, instead of waiting for the next scheduled check.
• new-episode notifications from a few shows no longer arrive up to a day late; they now reach you within the hour.
• in the desktop app, after you pick up an episode from another device, clicking it in the player bar opens the player straight away instead of doing nothing for the first minute.

the apps update themselves, and podnod.eu/apps has the downloads.