Display 'Latest episode' date in search results

[keunes]

Checklist

• [X] I have used the search function for open and closed issues to see if someone else has already submitted the same feature request.
• [X] I will describe the problem with as much detail as possible.
• [X] This request contains only one single feature, not a list of multiple (related) features.

App version

3.0

Where did you get the app from

Google Play

Problem you may be having, or feature you want

When I search for a podcast I often find podcasts that are old and inactive.

Suggested solution

Display 'Last episode: 2 Dec 2021' (same date formatting as elsewhere in the app) for podcast search results provided through Podcast Index. This can be displayed on a line below the podcast author.

Screenshots / Drawings / Technical details

Leverage newestItemPubdate from from https://podcastindex-org.github.io/docs-api/#get-/search/byterm

[antennapod-bot]

This issue has been mentioned on AntennaPod Forum. There might be relevant details there:

https://forum.antennapod.org/t/search-setting-suggestion/2549/9

[hmncube]

@keunes I working on a PR for this issue and I would like to confirm if this is the correct position and screen for the date? (Ignore the wrong dates)

[keunes]

That's great @hmncube! That is indeed the position I had in mind.

[ByteHamster]

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure about this. It makes the screen quite a bit more busy. Also, it is not really clear to the user what these dates mean.

[keunes]

It makes the screen quite a bit more busy.

Can't deny it does a bit. But this is not a screen that's seen often, and I agree with the OP that this is relevant info when searching for a podcast.

it is not really clear to the user what these dates mean.

This was the proposal: display 'Last episode: 2 Dec 2021'. Above we just confirmed the location/placing.

[ByteHamster]

It's one of the first screens that users see. So I think we should try to make it look as good and clean as possible. Any ideas for a redesign that integrates the date without cluttering the screen?

[jstetten]

Any ideas for a redesign that integrates the date without cluttering the screen?

Two ideas spring to mind:

1. Change the date font so that it's smaller, fainter, and right-aligned, so as not to compete for attention on first look. Also use a library to change the date format to relative (a week ago, 5y ago, etc.) instead of absolute, because this is much easier for everyone to process.
2. If that's still too much, then simply sort the podcast result list by last episode release date, which will still convey the bulk of the desired relevance info without the clutter.

[jstetten]

Regarding the above...I admit I have yet to explore most of the AntennaPod code, but I've long wondered how search results from the discover screen are ordered anyway. The one thing I miss from the bigger mainstream apps are that search results are nearly always are listed in order of "popularity", which I assume is some combination of subscription/download/stream count, update frequency, maybe search frequency, etc.

In AntennaPod, search results seem somewhat sorted by popularity, but also are peppered with plenty of podcasts from "1970" as above, abandoned podcasts, 403s, request timed outs, etc. I've never changed the search provider settings because this hasn't been a problem & I've even discovered some nice podcasts this way. But, I claim it would be nice to mimic these other apps' behavior here because it's certainly what the vast bulk of users would expect coming from those apps. Plus, let's face it, popularity is often the best first-round metric to go by anyway when you're in discovery mode.

[jstetten]

(Follow up: Having read deeper on search relevancy, it appears, as I suspected, that most of the "dead", or at least less-relevant, search results do indeed come from Podcast Index. While they are definitely making progress to increase the relevancy of their trending results, and while AP developers are in healthy dialogue with them to incorporate/improve said results, it does appear that Apple (being Apple) will be the reference source for what's popular/trendy in podcasts for quite some time to come. I'm almost positive there was a way to change search provider settings before. No matter, I see that provider weightings have already been discussed and hardcoded now, so perhaps the current mix is the best compromise for now.)

[hmncube]

@ByteHamster Is the first point here acceptable?

Change the date font so that it's smaller, fainter, and right-aligned, so as not to compete for attention on first look. Also use a library to change the date format to relative (a week ago, 5y ago, etc.) instead of absolute, because this is much easier for everyone to process.

[ByteHamster]

I created a few mock-ups with different variants of the list items. I think I like the ones with horizontal lines most. That's also consistent with the rest of the app. What do you think @keunes?

So the questions are:

• Author above or below title?
• Lines as item separators?
• Limit title to 1 line?
• Font sizes?

[keunes]

Nice!

Author above or below title?

Above (feels more balanced)

Lines as item separators?

Nope (feels calmer without, and separation to me looks clear enough)

Edit: Just noticed you liked them with lines. Hard to discuss taste, but regarding consistency: as this quite a different corner of the app this minor inconsistency is fine I think. In the long run we might want to reconsider the looks of the other lists. At the same time, Material recommendation is to add dividers for large list items.

Limit title to 1 line?

I would say no, as the end of the title may contain important info (e.g. weekly, daily) and the height differences don't disturb

Font sizes?

Looks good 👍 (there's no difference between the versions, right?) Is this the default (body medium)?

[ByteHamster]

I agree that multi-line titles are probably best. Some feeds specify the file format after the title, so that would get lost otherwise. But with multi-line titles, I think that the separator lines help to make the screen more "organized". Somehow, adding clear separators makes the screen less busy to me (even if it actually uses more objects on screen).

There are slightly different font sizes. One is the current size (Android's list heading small font, can't remember the exact name) and one (slightly smaller) the font we use in the rest of the app.

[keunes]

with multi-line titles, I think that the separator lines help to make the screen more "organized

Fine for me, don't feel really strong.

There are slightly different font sizes.

As said: I didn't notice. I would go for the M3 standard.

[ByteHamster]

Okay, so the final question: What do we show on the default search page, where some feeds (from PI) have a latest episode date and some (from iTunes) don't?

[keunes]

Display whenever available, I would say. If not available, wondering if it should say 'unknown' instead of the date, or just hide the line. (Probably the latter.)