We heard from someone that's connected to the app-making scene that Arment is working on a podcast app. It seems like it's just gossip right now, but it sure makes a lot of sense.
Arment is a big podcast person. For years, he hosted a show called "Build and Analyze" with Dan Benjamin. Lately, he's been doing a show called "Accidental Tech Podcast." He's also been a regular guest on Daring Fireball writer John Gruber's podcast.
Someone who listened to one of podcasts says Arment says his new app will use a lot of data. Arment also tweeted about building his own tools for recording podcasts, so he's getting into audio code, it seems.
In the past, Arment has complained about Apple's official podcast app, as well as what third party developers are making.
We emailed Arment for comment, and he wrote back, saying, "Pretty much everyone expects me to make a podcast app, so I'm not surprised that you heard that. I'm not ready to talk about what I'm building yet, but when I am, I'll do it through my own channels."
Arment has developed into something of cult figure thanks to
Arment was Tumblr's CTO when when Apple launched the App Store in 2008.
As a side project, he made Instapaper, an app that took text from websites, and saved it for reading later. Arment left Tumblr in 2010 to work on Instapaper full time.
Initially, he offered a free version, then a $5 paid version shortly after. Eventually he dropped the free version.
Last year he sold Instapaper to Betaworks for an undisclosed amount. By the time he was leaving Instapaper, it was doing $1 million a year in sales, according to Betaworks CEO John Borthwick.
His next move is of interest to people that follow technology, and in particular, the app market.
After Apple announced iOS 7, a major overhaul of the iPhone and iPad's operating system, Arment said he believed the new design would provide "fertile ground" for any developer. He believed current developers would struggle to support both the current version of iOS and the new version.
As a result, "Anyone can march right into an established category with a huge advantage if they have the audacity to be exclusively modern."
There are many podcasting apps in the App Store, but none are perfect. Arment seems like a good person to develop a new, better solution for listening to podcasts. Especially, if he has an eye on making it iOS 7-centric.