FluidCast
Your favorite podcasts, on all your devices
I'm a solo developer and VFX artist. Houdini is the tool I use most, and for the few months I've been trying to make AI actually useful inside it.
The options that existed were either priced for studios or required too much friction to get running. Houdini-mcp, for example, needed code changes just to work on the latest version of Houdini. So I built NodeArchitect.
What it does
You select nodes in your scene, ask a question, and get an answer grounded in your actual node graph — not a guess based on a generic prompt.
The things it's most useful for:
"What is this network doing?" — useful when you inherit someone else's scene
"Why is this breaking?" — debugging with full parameter context
"Generate VEX or Python for this" — with your specific node setup in view
"Turn this into a reusable HDA"
"Document this for handoff"
The 2.0 rewrite
The original version used text-parsing to interpret what the agent should do. It worked, but it was fragile — multi-step tasks would lose context, and debugging was unreliable.
2.0 is a full rewrite using native function calling. The agent now routes tool calls properly, and multi-step tasks are significantly more reliable as a result.
Other changes in 2.0:
New web UI — replaced the old PySide panel with a proper embedded web frontend. Streaming responses, syntax-highlighted code, HiDPI support.
Built-in MCP server — NodeArchitect runs on its own bundled MCP server, no separate install. External clients like Claude Code can also connect to your live Houdini session.
GitHub Copilot login — sign in with an existing Copilot subscription (including the free tier). No API key, no metered billing.
Per-tool consent — the agent pauses before anything mutates your scene. You can approve, edit, or reject before it runs.
Multimodal — you can now upload images (concept art, references) as context. The MCP server can also snapshot the Houdini viewport mid-task so the agent can see what it's doing.
Download and more info: https://bishopvfx.gumroad.com/l/houdininodearchitect
I've been building FluidCast for about six months now — a cross-platform podcast player with AI-powered ad skipping on iOS and Mac. It's been a gradual build: started iOS-only, added Android, Web, Windows and Linux earlier this year, and have been steadily shipping features since.
This update feels like a milestone worth sharing.
What shipped in 1.4.4:
The biggest business change is the Lifetime plan. FluidCast Pro has been subscription-only since launch (£2.49/month or £16.99/year). A lot of users asked for a one-time option, and I resisted for a while because of the cross-platform infrastructure costs. Eventually I decided the incremental revenue from converting hesitant users was worth it. It's priced at £89.99.
On the product side: transcript search is now live. You can search within episode transcripts to find specific moments. And ad skipping got a significant rework on iOS and Mac, more consistent detection, plus two new sensitivity controls (confidence threshold and bridge duration) so users can tune it to their preferences.
The launch offer:
To celebrate the Lifetime launch I'm running three things simultaneously:
90-day free trial on Pro Annual (no code needed)
60% off Lifetime with code LTLAUNCHPROMO (~£36 instead of £89.99), expires 14 September
A raffle for 5 free Lifetime plans — winners DM'd on 10th June
Details at: https://fluidcastapp.com/event
Still early days — would love any feedback from anyone who's navigated lifetime pricing on a subscription app, or thoughts on the ad skipping approach.
Just pushed 1.4 of FluidCast, a cross-platform podcast player I've been building solo. Download at: fluidcastapp.com
The headline features this release:
Video Playback — watch video podcasts natively in the app, no browser needed.
Podcasting 2.0 — chapters, seasons, and host/guest credits. The standard has been growing for a while and I wanted to support it properly.
Folders (Pro) — the most-requested feature since launch. Organise subscriptions however makes sense to you.
Episode Search — search within a show or across your whole library.
Episode-specific cover art — small detail, but it matters.
Also shipped: better description rendering, top episodes in discovery, sort by newest/oldest, and a fix for the iPad mini player clipping bug.
FluidCast is available on iOS, macOS, Android, Windows, Linux, and Web. Pro is £2.49/month or £16.99/year with a free trial.
Hey Indie Hackers
If you haven’t heard of it before, FluidCast is a cross-platform podcast player I’ve been building in public.
The goal is simple: one podcast app that works everywhere.
Today, I’ve launched the FluidCast Web Player.
That means you can now use it directly in your browser, no install required.
👉 Web Player:
Why build another podcast app?
Most podcast players are locked to one ecosystem:
- Apple-only
- Android-only
- Desktop-only
FluidCast is being built to work across platforms with shared core logic and a consistent experience everywhere.
The web player is a big step toward that vision.
With the web player, FluidCast becomes truly portable.
You can:
- Use it on Linux, Windows, macOS, ChromeOS
- Log in from a public or shared computer
- Access it from a work machine
- Try it instantly without installing anything
Open the link. Log in. Press play.
Your podcasts, anywhere.
What’s included
- Podcast search
- Show browsing
- Episode playback
- Clean, fast UI
- Cross-platform browser support
Focused and lightweight by design.
6 months free
To celebrate the launch, you can redeem 6 months free directly inside the paywall.
No code needed — just unlock it within the app.
FluidCast is being built step by step in public.
I’d love feedback, especially from other developers.
Thank you
I’ve just shipped a major update to FluidCast focused on making podcasts easier to listen to, with fewer ads to scrub through, transcripts, and a cleaner, faster UI.
To get 6 months free reply to this reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/iosapps/comments/1qu23hn/6_months_free_then_50_off_podcast_player_with_ai/
What’s new
AI ad-skipping (Pro)
FluidCast uses on-device Apple Intelligence to detect ads and sponsorship segments and skip them automatically. This works even offline after episodes are downloaded, which means far less manual skipping.
Transcripts
Episodes now have full transcripts with tappable timestamps.
UI overhaul & polish
The player has been redesigned, general UI polish and fixed some text rendering bugs.
Future improvements
Improve AI ad detection accuracy — Uses AI so not always accurate. Enable "Send ad results to developer" to help me improve accuracy.
Battery life optimization — AI ad skipping and transcript generation may use more battery life.
Feature parity — AI ad-skipping and transcripts are not yet available on cross-platform versions (Windows, Linux, Android).
What is FluidCast?
FluidCast is a cross-platform podcast app with a first-class iOS and Mac experience, alongside early alpha clients for Windows, Linux, and Android.
I started working on FluidCast after Plex Podcasts and Google Podcasts were discontinued. It felt like the podcast app space was shrinking — great native apps tied to one platform, or cross-platform apps that didn’t really feel native anywhere.
FluidCast is my attempt to do both: a polished, native Apple app, while still supporting most other platforms.
Available now on the App Store
👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fluidcast/id6754508580
iOS & macOS features
Clean, SwiftUI-based design
Automatic downloads
Notifications
Sleep timer
Transcripts
Queue management (Pro)
Cloud sync (Pro)
AI Ad Skipping (Pro)
Cross-platform status
Early alpha builds are available for:
Windows
Linux
Android
These builds share the same core app logic but are still rough and mainly intended for testing. iOS and macOS remain the primary focus.
Cross-platform builds can be downloaded here:
FluidCast is a cross-platform podcast app that starts with a first-class iOS and Mac experience, while early clients for Windows, Linux, and Android are now in alpha.
I began working on FluidCast after Plex Podcasts and Google Podcasts were discontinued. It felt like the podcast app space was shrinking — great native apps locked to one platform, or cross-platform options that didn’t feel at home anywhere. FluidCast is my attempt to do both: a polished, native iOS app, while supporting most other platforms as well.
Available now on the App Store 👉 https://apps.apple.com/us/app/fluidcast/id6754508580
iOS Features
- Clean, SwiftUI-based design
- Podcast search powered
- Automatic downloads
- Notifications
- Sleep timer
- Queue management (Pro)
- Cloud sync (Pro)
- Bookmarks (Pro)
- Cross-platform status Early alpha builds are available for:
- Windows
- Linux -
Android
These share the same core app logic, but are still rough and mainly for testing. iOS remains the primary focus.
These builds cross-platform builds can be downloaded below: 👉 https://fluidcastapp.com
Comment