It’s Baaack – “Podcaster!”… I Mean… “RSSPlayer”

Back in September I bought a copy of the banned Podcaster. I loved the app that allowed OTA downloads of a variety of podcasts.

I loved it, but Apple didn’t.

Seemed the app was in conflict with Apple’s "Apps may not duplicate core functionality" policy.

Well low and behold Podcaster is back as RSSPlayer. And it is the same great app… sort of.

RSSPlayer can download content just like the current iTunes app. It, however, is governed by the "Laws of the 3rd Party App". It won’t run in the background, can’t share content with other apps and you an’t search for new feeds through the app itself. So… I guess it isn’t the same great app. But at least it is just $1.99 during the introductory period.

All of this does raise the question of what is going on??? A host of new browsers and now this app… has Apple suddenly gone soft? No, far from it. Rather, there are two forces at work I suspect.

First, developers are learning where Apple draws the line and are able to play brinksmanship more effectively. Things are now transparent enough that they can know where the line ACTUALLY IS (at least until it’s not) and not cross it.

Second, the free market is actually at work in a good way. The competition is heating up. Android is moving forward, the Palm Pre is arriving soon and everyone is launching application stores with less restrictive policies. Apple’s days of being able to say "you’ll take what we say and like it" may not be gone but they are certainly beginning to feel a bit of pressure. And while we won’t be seeing a totally open situaion any time soon, it certainly appears that things are easing up just a bit. Competition is good!

Now… gimme some background running applications already!

You can grab a copy of RSSPlayer HERE in the App Store.

Personally, I’ll keep using my original version on my iPhone and stick with iTunes on my Touch.