Popular podcatcher Overcast updated with iOS 13 and Dark Mode support

What you need to know

Overcast has been updated to support iOS 13.
Dark Mode is now officially supported.
iOS 13 is now required to run the app.

Popular podcatcher Overcast has been updated with support for iOS 13. In fact, iOS 13 is now required in order to run the latest version of the app. Subsequent updates will also require iOS 13 or later.

The move to iOS 13 allows for Dark Mode support, although a dark theme has been one of Overcast's features for a long time. With this update users can have either black or dark gray interfaces selected when the iOS system-wide Dark Mode setting is active. That's good news for those of us who aren't fans of pure black themes in apps.

Developer Marco Arment said via the Overcast Twitter account that the reason behind requiring iOS 13 is simply a case of avoiding bugs.

This now requires iOS 13. I’d planned to wait longer, but this was the most pragmatic choice to fix the bugs introduced by iOS 13.1.

For those who can’t run iOS 13, I’m sorry this came so soon. I expect the previous update (2019.9) for iOS 12 to continue to work for a long time.This now requires iOS 13. I’d planned to wait longer, but this was the most pragmatic choice to fix the bugs introduced by iOS 13.1.

For those who can’t run iOS 13, I’m sorry this came so soon. I expect the previous update (2019.9) for iOS 12 to continue to work for a long time.— Overcast (@OvercastFM) October 11, 2019 October 11, 2019

As the tweets say, the previous version of Overcast will continue to work just fine for those running older versions of iOS. And it is also the version those users will see when looking at the App Store – Apple only displays apps that are compatible with the version of iOS being used at the time.

The new Overcast 2019.10 update is available for download for free from the App Store now.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.