Show HN: Steadcast – Free Mac podcast player for learning, not background noise(steadcast.co)
steadcast.co
Show HN: Steadcast – Free Mac podcast player for learning, not background noise
https://steadcast.co
5 comments
You should add features to address how we actually learn: Here are the 4 "Horsemen" of sticky learning.
1. The Generation Effect The Science: Your brain learns better when it attempts to solve a problem before it is shown the solution—even if you guess wrong. The struggle to "generate" the answer creates a cognitive hook that the correct answer can latch onto later.
2. Retrieval Practice The Science: Re-reading puts info in. Retrieval forces you to pull info out. Every time you retrieve a memory, you modify it and make the neural pathway stronger. The MIT study showed AI users failed because they never had to retrieve anything—it was all external.
3. Spaced Repetition The Science: Cramming works for 24 hours. Spacing works for life. You need to let yourself slightly "forget" information before retrieving it again. This effort to recall faded knowledge signals to your brain that this info is vital for survival.
4. Interleaving The Science: Traditional school teaches "AAA BBB CCC" (Block practice). Real life is "ABC BCA CAB." Interleaving mixes up different types of problems/subjects. It forces your brain to not just execute a solution, but to first identify which solution is required.
You can decide how best to incorporate these elements in what you built, but without guided practices that incorporate these practices, it won't solve the "we forget what we listen to" problem of learning through podcasts
1. The Generation Effect The Science: Your brain learns better when it attempts to solve a problem before it is shown the solution—even if you guess wrong. The struggle to "generate" the answer creates a cognitive hook that the correct answer can latch onto later.
2. Retrieval Practice The Science: Re-reading puts info in. Retrieval forces you to pull info out. Every time you retrieve a memory, you modify it and make the neural pathway stronger. The MIT study showed AI users failed because they never had to retrieve anything—it was all external.
3. Spaced Repetition The Science: Cramming works for 24 hours. Spacing works for life. You need to let yourself slightly "forget" information before retrieving it again. This effort to recall faded knowledge signals to your brain that this info is vital for survival.
4. Interleaving The Science: Traditional school teaches "AAA BBB CCC" (Block practice). Real life is "ABC BCA CAB." Interleaving mixes up different types of problems/subjects. It forces your brain to not just execute a solution, but to first identify which solution is required.
You can decide how best to incorporate these elements in what you built, but without guided practices that incorporate these practices, it won't solve the "we forget what we listen to" problem of learning through podcasts
nice, I've been looking for a free alternative to snipd with ability to use on desktop. I'm gonna check this out
Thanks, hope it clicks. Snipd was definitely in my head when I was building the Memories feature, though I went less highlight-share-y and more private-notebook with it. If you try it and the comparison breaks down somewhere let me know, that's useful feedback.
Steadcast is a native macOS podcast player (Swift, SwiftUI, AVFoundation — no Electron) designed around one idea: podcasts are how a lot of us learn now, but no podcast app actually treats them that way.
What makes it different:
• Learning domains, not genres. The app is organized around 10 knowledge domains (AI, science, history, philosophy, psychology, etc.) with 90+ editorially curated shows. No true crime, no celebrity gossip.
* On-device transcription. Every episode gets transcribed locally using the macOS 26 Speech framework. Every word becomes searchable. No cloud processing, nothing leaves your Mac.
•AI summaries. Apple Intelligence generates summaries that capture the key ideas from each episode.
• Memories. Press Ctrl+Cmd+K while listening and Steadcast saves a timestamped bookmark with the full transcript context around that moment. So when you hear something worth remembering, you can actually find it later.
• Smart Speed. Intelligent silence trimming with a live counter showing exactly how much time you've saved.
• Keyboard-first. Global hotkeys, full keyboard navigation — built for people who work at their Macs all day.
It's free on the Mac App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/steadcast/id6760033638
Requires macOS 26. Built as a solo project. I'd love feedback on the curation approach especially — is a podcast app that has opinions about what you should listen to a feature or a bug?