Arment was also the Chief Technology Officer of Tumblr and founder of Instapaper[3] before founding Overcast, and he had created his own podcasts before launching the app.

[4] In March 2023, Arment told The Vergecast how he built and maintains Overcast by himself, and that he uses ad banners promoting podcasts to cover the costs of the free app.

In 2017, Discover Pods gave an endorsement citing the "smart speed" feature, which shortens quiet gaps in a podcast.

[10] In April 2019, Overcast introduced a feature that allowed users to share clips from podcasts to social media.

[12][13] In March 2021, Lifehacker writer David Murphy reviewed Overcast positively, citing its Apple Watch integration.