BeyondPod has been one of the top podcast managers on Android for ages thanks to its robust feature set. However, development seems to have hit something of a rough patch. Users have been complaining about a beta release that's hopelessly broken for months, and it's been well over a year since the Play Store version has been updated.

BeyondPod used to get regular updates several times per year that were relatively bug-free, so what changed? According to employees in the BeyondPod forums, the app has been "owned and supported by Smart Data Systems since March 2016." The app has received precisely one Play Store update since that happened, in November of 2016. It sounds like the next update is still a long way from complete seeing as the current beta doesn't even work.

Users in the BeyondPod forum have been complaining for months that the v4.2.19 beta has experience-breaking issues with auto-downloads, adding feeds, and building Smart Playlists. Even basic features like notification playback controls are broken. The response from support hasn't been helpful, either. They point out it's just a beta, but betas should work, especially when you have users testing them.

We can't know exactly what's going on at BeyondPod, but it sounds like the sale in 2016 has caused some issues. A BeyondPod employee notes the development work has been contracted out by the new owners, so it's possible those devs are completely unfamiliar with BeyondPod's code base, or they might just not be very good. Whatever's going on, I hope this venerable Android app gets back on track.