Runcasts is a podcast player designed to make syncing podcasts to your Garmin watch as simple and quick as possible, no iTunes or computer necessary.</p><p></p><p>Runcasts works by constantly monitoring your podcasts for new episodes and once new episodes appear, our servers proactively compress and store them until your next sync.</p><p></p><p></p><p>=== How It Works ===</p><p></p><p>• Sign up at runcasts.com</p>
!!! NOTE: The Garmin ConnectIQ phone app has a bug where it will show multiple 'Runcasts has now been installed' notifications. We'd like to apologize for this annoyance and we've reported the issue to Garmin who can hopefully fix this soon !!!</p><p></p><p>=== 4.1 ===</p><p>• More accurate download progress (captures more samples to better estimate download speed)</p><p></p><p>=== 4.0 ===</p><p>• Runcasts now supports cover art!</p>
This app requires access to:
D2™ Delta 
D2™ Delta PX 
D2™ Delta S 
Forerunner® 245 Music 
Forerunner® 645 Music 
Forerunner® 945 
fēnix® 5 Plus 
fēnix® 5S Plus 
fēnix® 5X Plus 
MARQ™ Athlete 
MARQ™ Aviator 
MARQ™ Captain 
MARQ™ Driver 
MARQ™ Expedition 
vívoactive® 3 Music David
July 20, 2019 | Version 4.1.0
It's a pretty seamless app: a nice web interface to manage podcast subscriptions and a reliable watch app to play them locally. Download performance is really good too because their servers intermediate between the watch and the source. I'm really happy with it. Would like to have a few playback features like fast-forward and rewind. Still, I'm overall very happy with the features, e.g. variable playback speed and private podcast feeds.
Jon Manning
July 6, 2019 | Version 4.1.0
My Garmin 645 Music can no longer see any installed music after loading this app. Still broken after uninstalling this app. Never was able to get any podcast to do anything either.
Developer Reply
July 9, 2019, rconradharris
Hi Jon, Your music should still be there: it's likely just under the 'My Music' provider (or 'Spotify' if you use that). You can switch between 'My Music' and 'Runcasts' by holding-down the UP button on the player to bring up the menu. The 645 Music is probably our most tested device, so if you have any trouble syncing podcasts, let us know at [email protected] and we'd be happy to get it sorted out for you!
Chyle McMahon
June 11, 2019 | Version 4.0.2
Once I was able to get it to sync after a few restarts it works very well. Sound is clean and controls via the watch are very functional, even during a workout.
David
June 10, 2019 | Version 4.0.2
It's been really functional so far. The web interface is reliable and I appreciate being able to queue up podcasts from anywhere. The app itself runs well: stable and most of the features I'd want.
brewer_midwest
May 7, 2019 | Version 3.1.0
It works, and the web interface is nice, but the free tier is terrible, and $5 is too much for all but the most hardcore podcast consumer. TO THE APP DEVELOPER: Please implement a "mid-tier" that is $1-3 month that would allow a very limited amount of auto syncing, perhaps 3 subscriptions and 3 episodes per podcast. ALSO: The process to manually sync is confusing and is a lot of button presses. And why is it Manage | Music Providers | Runcasts | Preview . You can't switch music providers here, so why doesn't Manage go DIRECTLY to Preview?
Neil Wilkinson
March 22, 2019 | Version 3.1.0
They should really give a free trial for this so you can evaluate it. The free version is so crippled and clunky it just makes the product look bad. I decided to sign up to spotify instead, moving over from google play music.
Michael Cox
March 2, 2019 | Version 3.1.0
The free plan is quite crippled (only 1 podcast and only a few episodes) an the pricing for this is quite bad given the features (only 25 podcasts, but unlimited episodes). Guess I'll stick to uploading music/podcasts via Garmin Express, since that's easier and faster as well. Needs a lot more value to be worth the price IMHO.
Cynthia
February 14, 2019 | Version 3.0.0
Vivoactive 3 music just updated to 3.6 and it seems to have broken the manual sync on this app. First you have to restart the phone in order to connect to Runcast to find episodes in queue. When you back out of preview in order to get to sync option, you just end up at the watch face...you never get the option to sync. When you go back to the preview page, the queue is empty again. Restart phone, wash, rinse, repeat... As it stands now, I can't load any episodes onto the watch.
Developer Reply
February 18, 2019, rconradharris
Hi Cynthia, The 3.6 update appears to work for us, although the interface has changed quite a bit. One thing you could try is selecting 'Reset' in Runcasts and re-pairing the app to the server. If something is out-of-sync, then that can clear it up. If this doesn't work, please reach out to [email protected] and we'll be happy to get you back up and running.
Andrew
February 9, 2019 | Version 3.0.0
My watch keeps prompting me to "use phone to sign in to runcasts". The connect IQ app does not prompt me to login to my account. I have a fenix 5s plus.
Developer Reply
February 18, 2019, rconradharris
Hi Andrew, This can occur sometimes if the Garmin Connect phone app or the watch becomes 'wedged' (e.g. stuck). Usually rebooting the phone and watch in tandem will fix the issue. If that doesn't work, please reach out to [email protected] and we'll make sure you get up and running. Thanks!
Sascha
January 20, 2019 | Version 3.0.0
Does everything I expect from a podcast app on a smart watch well. Pricing is quite high, but it is is a niche product for a niche eco system, so I guess it is hard to make any profit from such an app.
Tim
January 18, 2019 | Version 3.0.0
I had alot of problems with this app and was glad to get it off my device. Every time I charged my watch it synced and then froze. On the free version I could only download one podcast episode.
Developer Reply
January 18, 2019, rconradharris
Hi Tim, Thanks for the feedback. The 'Auto Sync' feature will sync your Queue every time you charge so that you always have the latest episodes on your watch. It shouldn't freeze, but it might take a while to download if your Queue is large. You can always disable this feature in the Settings menu, if for example, you would like to manually pick-and-choose which episodes you want each time ('Manual Sync'). The free version should allow up to 3 episodes at a time, we'll look into that to make sure there aren't any issues there. Thanks!
Dustin Pringle
January 7, 2019 | Version 3.0.0
Most of the apps provided on Garmin Connect are garbage. This app seems have been well thought out and professionally done - it truly has potential. While I still would like to see the syncing simplified and streamlined (maybe a free pro trial would help us get a feel for that vs only offering the free version up front with limited features?), I wanted to compliment the developers on the work they’ve done to date. They also seem committed to improving the app as well. I do agree with other reviews that state the $5/mo price point for pro version is tough to swallow.
Vinod
January 1, 2019 | Version 2.1.0
A real struggle to set up the app on my watch and to get the first podcast sync'd. This app has great potential. Needs a business perspective. Developers are capable but seem to be wasting energy on the wrong things. Fix the core first - make it easy to setup and get going. You can make more money by reducing price if it is easy to use, then more people will use it. Overall a good fit for podcast users and endurance sports enthusiasts. But without focus on the basics, others will come out with better product soon.
Beeng
December 2, 2018 | Version 2.1.0
Free version can only subscribe to one Podcast. Site is always very slow.
Developer Reply
December 4, 2018, rconradharris
Hi Beeng, Site performance is definitely something we'd like to improve. So far it's taken a backseat to watch app features like the fast-forward/rewind scrubber and bug fixes. The goal of Runcasts is to have users setup their podcasts subscriptions up-front, and then to use the site rarely after that to update their subscriptions. So hopefully, in day-to-day use, the impact of a slow site shouldn't be huge, since mostly you should be interacting with the watch app.
kaz911
November 23, 2018 | Version 2.0.0
Demo kind of works from time to time - but often times out (F5x+) Premium account is way way WAY overpriced @ $5 /month. For only $5 extra you get Spotify Premium that has podcast support (although limited and with potential inserted advertising) But it must be some very expensive hosting since the price is so high.....
Developer Reply
December 4, 2018, rconradharris
Hi Kaz911, you're absolutely right Spotify is a fantastic app, we use and love it here as well! Runcasts is a bit different since it's laser-focused on the podcasting use case. We use Runcasts ourselves everyday and remain focused on making it the best possible podcasting experience for wearables. You're also right, our hosting costs are on the high-side; we use premium hosting services so that we can focus on design and development and (mostly) not worry about operations (e.g. keeping the servers up).
Julian P
November 12, 2018 | Version 1.4.0
While not perfect yet, this is pretty close to exactly what I need to get my podcasts onto my Fenix. I was worried I would need to sign up for Spotify or Deezer to get access to Podcasts wirelessly, but this does the trick!
Sam Cadby
October 27, 2018 | Version 1.2.0
By far the best way to manage podcasts onto my Fenix 5+. An excellent bit of design and dev work here. Much thought appears to have been given to the wearable use case and specifics of the Garmin platform. Worth your time to try it out!
melgonius
September 27, 2018 | Version 1.1.0
I appreciate that this app exists. It definitely shows potential. Setting it up and syncing the watch with the account worked without major problems. But I do think that the 5$ a month subscription fee is way too big for what it gets you. For now, I will use it in 'free' mode and basically stick to a single podcast. I hope that once the user base becomes larger, the financial model will be switched to something more tempting for my pockets.
Shay
September 24, 2018 | Version 1.1.0
The free version is unusable. Didn't even try it, so I have no idea about the app itself. Notes to devs: If you want someone to try your app, it should at least have the ability to experience the basic use case - adding a podcast from url. Also, why the monthly subscription??? You only provide a player, not the content. One time installation fee is a more appropriate (and less greedy) model. Good luck.
Developer Reply
September 24, 2018, rconradharris
Thanks for the honest feedback here. The reason for limiting 'Add From URL' to Premium users is an anti-spam measure to make sure bots don't fill our catalog with useless data. The monthly subscription is necessary because there are a lot of on-going costs with operating the service, including: servers to transcode/compress MP3s, heavy S3 storage costs, CDN bandwidth, etc.
Regan McKinnon
September 24, 2018 | Version 1.1.0
So hard to setup and my phone keeps saying watch is busy. Even though I shutdown my watch and started it back up again multiple times.
Developer Reply
September 24, 2018, rconradharris
Hi Regan, if you email [email protected] we'd be happy to help you out. Setup is definitely trickier than we'd like, but once you're past that, we're hoping you'll love the app.
Jason Harrison
September 23, 2018 | Version 1.1.0
Difficult to setup. Difficult to sync. No setup instruction, and boy do you need them! Premium option is way too expensive at $5 per month. Free option is way too restrictive to be useful. NOTE TO DEVELOPERS: if you automatically remove listened to tracks and downloaded the latest on WiFi without me having to play with the janky watch interface and you only charged $2 a month, Then this would be a good app worth 5 stars.
Developer Reply
September 24, 2018, rconradharris
Hi Jason. Setup is definitely more difficult than we'd like. We have some instructions in the store description; but we're planning on making a demo video which should hopefully help. Background downloads would be an awesome feature. I don't think it's possible at the moment, but if Garmin ends up adding support for it, then we'd definitely consider adding it in.
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