Shifty Jelly offered a little Pocket Casts 4 teaser earlier in the month. At that time they offered a fairly decent look at the new features and had said that the release was coming this month. Well, true to their word, Pocket Casts 4 is now available in the Google Play Store. Those who have already purchased Pocket Casts will be able to grab the update for free. Everyone else, Pocket Casts 4 remains priced at $3.99.

The thing about Pocket Casts 4 — the update brought quite a lot in terms of new features and new looks. In fact, there is so much to say that Shifty Jelly used the “what’s new” section in the Play Store to note “what’s not new.” Basically, the name and the fact that it plays podcasts has stayed — almost everything else has changed, beginning with the looks. Pocket Casts is now sporting an updated user interface using the Holo style. More important here, not only does Pocket Casts look better on a smartphone, but it now looks equally nice on a tablet.

Pocket Casts 4 also brings more control. In this case you now have the ability to control your listening from the notification center and lock screen as well as from a wired set of headphones or Bluetooth headset. Or as Shifty Jelly notes, “basically your favourite app is only ever a tap or two away.” Another addition with this update is built-in support for variable speed playback. Users have the option to listen from normal up to 3.0x and even go back. Yes, you can adjust down to 0.5x.

A few other notable additions include syncing and backup as well as smart playlists. The latter here will mean the ability to create lists based on criteria such as playing status, whether it is audio or video, download status, whether you have it starred and more. The syncing and backup is just as the names imply. With this you can backup (and later restore) your subscription list or sync your files (including current place) across devices. Those interested, or those simply looking for the update can visit the Google Play Store using this link.

[via Shifty Jelly Blog]