As I mentioned earlier, I really liked the ability of 1.x iPhones to play back only the audio portion of a video podcast. Video podcasts appeared under both Podcasts and Videos. If playback was initiated from the former, only the audio would play, while the audio and video played when initiated from the latter. This was very convenient when I needed to watch part of a podcast, lock and pocket the phone, continue listening, then resume watching later.

While I’m a bit fuzzy on the specific version, this feature was removed around v2.0, replaced with the ability to play videos back when the handset was in a vertical orientation. While I prefer the old behavior, I see no reason why you shouldn’t be able to have it both ways. If the audio simply continued playing when you locked the phone during Podcast video playback, that would be fine.

I’ve found two workarounds, neither of which I find satisfying.

1. Don’t lock the phone, but stick it in my pocket.
2. Download the audio-only version of the podcast as well as the video.

The first suffers from two severe deficiencies.

1. The proximity sensor is ignored; the screen doesn’t shut off, eating your battery life.
2. Should you (or something else in your pocket) activate the Home button, playback stops.

The second is also unworkable.

1. Not all podcasts offer an audio and video version.
2. You have to make note of your position and seek to it when switching. Playback resumes from where you left off with the old behavior.
3. Disk space and bandwidth is wasted.

I’ve enjoyed this feature since I found it on my 5th generation iPod, and I’m very disappointed to see it get axed from the iPhone.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 21st, 2008 at 11:37 pm and is filed under Apple. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.