I used Overcast for years. The thing that kept me there wasn't the UI or the smart speed feature, it was the All Episodes playlist. One reverse-chronological feed of every podcast I subscribe to, newest at the top, ready to go.
I've been wanting to switch to Apple Podcasts, but that feed didn't exist. Or at least, it didn't exist by default.
Instead, you get a per-show experience. Each podcast has its own page, its own queue, its own download behavior. It's fine if you listen to two or three shows. It falls apart when you subscribe to fifteen and just want to see what's new.
Turns out, Apple Podcasts can do this. It just buries it behind a feature called Stations.
What Stations actually are
A Station in Apple Podcasts is basically a smart playlist. You pick which shows go in it, set some rules, and the app builds a feed for you.
The key here is that you can add all of your subscribed shows to a single Station and sort it by newest first. That's your All Episodes feed.
It won't look exactly like Overcast. But functionally, it does the same thing.
Setting up the Station
Open Apple Podcasts, go to the Library tab, tap ..., then tap New station. Then create a new Station.
Here's what I'd configure:
Name it something obvious. I just call mine "All episodes." You'll see it in your Library alongside your shows, so keep it simple.
Add your shows. You can choose all of your subscribed podcasts, or be selective. I add everything. The whole point is a single feed.
Set the sort order to Newest To Oldest. This is what makes it feel like Overcast. Newest episodes across all your shows appear at the top, regardless of which podcast they belong to.
Choose "Hide Played Episodes" as the filter. This keeps the feed clean. Once you've listened to something, it drops out. No clutter, no scrolling past episodes you've already heard.
That's the core of it. Once it's set up, you can tap into that Station and get a single, chronological list of everything new across your subscriptions. If you want to reorder episodes manually (I do this sometimes), set the Play to Manual.
Other settings worth adjusting
While you're in the app, there are a few other defaults that are worth changing if you're coming from Overcast.
Limit episode downloads
By default, Apple Podcasts can be pretty aggressive about downloading episodes. For shows that publish daily, that adds up fast.
Go to Settings > Podcasts and look for the download settings. You can also adjust this per show by tapping the three-dot menu on any podcast page and going into Settings.
I set mine to keep 3 episodes downloaded per show. That's enough to stay current without filling up storage. If I fall behind on a show, I don't need ten episodes cached locally. I'll stream the rest if I get to them.
Skip forward and back buttons
This is a small one, but it matters if you've built muscle memory around specific skip intervals.
In Settings > Podcasts, you can adjust the Forward and Back skip durations. Overcast defaults to 30 seconds forward and 15 seconds back, which is pretty common. Apple Podcasts lets you set these to whatever you want.
I keep mine at 30 forward, 15 back. If you were using different intervals in Overcast, match them here so the transition doesn't feel off.
Continuous playback
By default, Apple Podcasts will auto-play the next episode in your Up Next queue. If you're using a Station, this means it'll keep going through your feed, which is usually what you want.
If you'd rather have it stop after each episode, you can manage this through the Up Next queue. But for the "just press play and go" experience, leaving continuous playback on makes the Station feel closer to how Overcast handled its playlist.
Notifications
Apple Podcasts can notify you when new episodes drop. If you're subscribing to a lot of shows, this gets noisy fast. I turn off most notifications and just check my Station when I'm ready to listen. The feed is already sorted by newest, so I don't need a push notification to tell me something's there.
You can manage this per show in each podcast's settings.
What you lose
There are definitely some gaps.
Overcast's Smart Speed and Voice Boost are genuinely good features. Apple Podcasts doesn't have anything equivalent. You get a basic playback speed control, and that's it.
The queue management in Overcast is also more intuitive. Apple's Up Next works fine, but it doesn't feel as snappy as dragging episodes around in Overcast.