Any1 replaced their podcatcher (eg iPodder) with iTunes 4.9?

[BSquared]

Just curious to see if anyone's decided to use the new iTunes podcast subscription feature for subscribing to and managing their podcast subscriptions? Basically I am lazy and hoping that someone else has done all the hard work of working out the pros and cons for me :wink:

[volwrath]

Ive only used iTunes to search for new content. I will not use that heapin mass of sh!......

[jimk]

I'm doing it as an experiment. I'm finding I can live with the problems it has because it simplifies how I use podcasts every day.

So in the end I guess I like it, I just wish it had a few key improvements.

[no1slistening]

I've had Doppler since I started podcasting. I only really use it to check my feed when I have a new show.

I constantly use iTunes for all my subscriptions now. I may be in the minority, but I think it rocks. I've got so much content going now. More than I did before. And I can pick up where I left off with the bookmark feature. Call me crazy (you're crazy), but I really like it. I use it more than I ever have before when I just used it for music ... and that was basically never.

[sydbarrett]

No
tried a few subscriptions on iTunes and found
-would not play 3 segments of podcast, would play first segment then stop even in continuous play or repeat mode. i would have to scroll to 2nd segment and hit play.
-could not get old podcast downloaded using iPodder to appear in new podcast section of iTunes, and yes i did update iPod software.
-i like everything in playlist section of iPod, i don't really need a separate podcasting sections, because i do quite frequently go from podcast to music to tv show, to etc.
-i just find iTunes a bit restrictive, where iPodder you can do more.
-i really like that iPodder cleans up iTunes as well as original mp3 and that i control when and which episodes.

Nope, i'm sticking to good ole iPodder and i'll pass on Wal-Mart (itunes)

[theFerf]

I'm doing it as an experiment. I'm finding I can live with the problems it has because it simplifies how I use podcasts every day.

So in the end I guess I like it, I just wish it had a few key improvements.

what features exactly are you looking for? the new alley was slated for release on 7/1 but thanks to the early iTunes release i have been the catch up game instead. My Alley will allow you to create playlists and manage them on the podcast alley site, and you will simply add one url to iPodder. Thats it, one url, one time. from then on, you manage subscribes and unsubscribes from My Alley. I never even have iPodder up any more, it stays in my tray. new podcasts show up in their respective playlists in Itunes (for me, music, random and tech) as well as on my ipod. i add and remove all shows from my playlists from my alley.

</plug>

[volwrath]

When do you think My Alley will be going live?

[theFerf]

it was supposed to have been done already, but itunes messed up a few things here. hopefully by the end of this week i will have moved to a new server and released the new my alley.

[docsnavely]

yay! yay! hip hip hooray!

[mfnoffice]

it was supposed to have been done already, but itunes messed up a few things here. hopefully by the end of this week i will have moved to a new server and released the new my alley.

Chris....Thanks for everything you've been doing. The casters from February on back realize how far you've come and how much work you've put in this project. So "Thank You" from a grateful Podcast Nation!

You have set the foundation for other great directories to build from (i.e. Podcast Pickle) and that is very cool.

Good luck with the server move and the New Release of "My Alley." I would have e-mailed you this directly. But, with the amount of e-mail you're getting and reply time (average a few weeks), this was the best place to tell you.

Jim Goetz
Firehouse Radio

[sydbarrett]

a keyword search that includes individual podcast descriptions.

one click at podcast genre level that will play recent podcast

[Marius]

I've found that you can make ipodder style smart playlists with the new itunes podcasting feature. While it's true that podcasts are not automatically added to the music library, you can manually add the itunes podcast folder to your library. This will add all of your downloaded podcasts to your library and then you can use them in smart playlists to create auto-updating playlists. However, adding the folder will not make future podcasts appear automatically in your library. You will need to manually re-add the folder every time you want to update your smart playlists. So i think that the best way to use this is to leave itunes on, let it download new podcasts for you favorite podcasts (like when you are away at work) then when you sit down at your comp to synch you ipod, quickly re-add the podcasts folder to update all of you individual podcast smart playlists and then synch your ipod.

[jimk]

I'm doing it as an experiment. I'm finding I can live with the problems it has because it simplifies how I use podcasts every day.

So in the end I guess I like it, I just wish it had a few key improvements.

what features exactly are you looking for?

Well, I'd like to be able to manage how each feed is handled independently. For example, I sub to FTL, and I don't get to listen to them as fast as they come in. I'd like to keep them all. But a show like Distorted View that comes in every day and is short enough that I usually get to it every day, I'd like it to delete as soon as I listen.

That's the big one. I'd also like iTunes to see the Podcasts area as an option for Smart Playlists. I like to do all sorts of weird stuff with smart playlists.

[AmberStar]

Well I am just absolutely loving the new iTunes.

[cc_chapman]

I won't be doing it for a couple of reasons.

The biggest one is that I don't like the way that Podcasts only play one at a time on my iPod. I like them playing through them one after the next and it doesn't work that way.

iTunes also doesn't seem to be updating very quickly. It took 48 hours for my latest show to show up in my subscription.

It certainly makes it simplier for new users. Hopefully they will make it so you don't have to go through the music store to get to the podcasting directory. I know they are hoping people will stop by and buy something, but it is very distracting.[/list]

[s]

I'm frustrated with it already, and will probably go back to iPodderX. Like CC, I really don't like not being able to go from show to show in the Podcasts lists. How useless is that? Especially considering that some shows come out daily, some weekly, etc, the only way for me to find out who has a new episode out is to manually scroll my way into each and every one of the 15 or so shows. NOT. FRIENDLY. AT. ALL.

And like JimK, I like Smart Playlists. Actually, I set up iPodderX to automatically add various podcasts to different playlists -- On the Media goes into "Podcasts - News" while Insomnia Radio goes into "Podcasts - Music" etc -- and I have a smart playlist called "New Podcasts" that contains all unrated shows. All of these playlists are sorted by date, because that's a fairly rational way to think about shows that come out on a schedule, no?

Good tip to hear about manually dragging the Podcasts lists into the library -- but does that duplicate the bleedin' files? And to have to do it manually every time...way to take us backward!

The only thing that tempts me to stick with iTunes is the way the show notes show up on the iPod. I'm not sure if this will be the brilliant new feature I hope it can be, but on a random variety show like mine, I think it will help my listeners who might not want to wait till my end credits to find out what song I have playing in the background during my first little ramble. Super super handy. I have a feeling that show notes WON'T be available if I try the drag-Podcasts-to-Library trick, though...we'll see.

Here's hoping 4.9.1 or 4.9.2 is smarter.

[cdoelle]

That is easily the most annoying part of iTunes... I too have started using playlists - it is extra work, but like you said, it will probably be addressed in future versions.

[ferg]

My Alley will allow you to create playlists and manage them on the podcast alley site, and you will simply add one url to iPodder. Thats it, one url, one time. from then on, you manage subscribes and unsubscribes from My Alley.

It's a nice feature from a listener's perspective, Ferf, but my question is this - how will that affect our iTunes stats? As of now, it really doesn't matter unless you're pushing the top 100 - but how are those top 100 measured? I'm operating under the assumptiont that that's based on people who subscribe to your podcast by clicking the "subscribe" button in iTunes.

[frankmcma]

I actually really like iTunes..its not perfect..but I was using ipodder before and iTunes just seems much more thought out. At first I thought I missed how ipodder put each show in a different playlist, but now I have gotten to like how itunes puts all current shows in one playlist. I am always way behind on listening so having them in one place is cool.

I also like how I can subscribe and unsubscribe easily. I'll stick with it for now, until something more compelling pops up!

Frank

---------------
Media Artist Secrets Podcast
http://www.mediaartist.com/

[Marius]

What i've beem saying is that you don't need to make unsmart playlists. You can use itunes with ipodder style smart playlists.

Make your own smart playlist that adds files to itself that have the title of the specific podcast you want. So if you want a daily source code smart playlist, have the smart playlist add files to itself which have daily source code in the album name. Download the podcast using itunes. Then when your podcasts are downloaded, manually re-add your itunes podcast folder. This will cause all of the new smart playlists you have made for itunes to update, just like when you had used ipodder.

So you can still have nice ipodder style automatically updated playlists, you just have to delete you old ipodder ones, make new smart playlist ones, and remember to manually re-add you podcast folder to get them to update. And no, this does not create duplicate entries in itunes.

[s]

And no, this does not create duplicate entries in itunes.

Well that's good to know at least. Still, it's a manual pain-in-the-*** step when podcasting is supposed to be all about automation. Hopefully an update in the (nearer than distant) future will correct that. I'm also hoping it will still allow me to read show notes while listening. I'll check it out tonight and post here if no one's replied to that issue yet.

Update: Yes! Indeed, manually adding the Podcasts to the Library adds them to my New Podcasts smart playlist, and I can still read the shownotes on-screen. Huzzah! (It took me a second to figure out that by "drag into your library" you meant, select all and then drag the titles, not drag the little Podcast source icon...it don't move. :-))

And considering I use my iPod as a HD and have to manually eject it each morning, this added select-and-drag isn't the worst inconvenience for what is essentially Beta software. The only buzzkll about it now is that I need to come up with a new scheme for clearing things out of my New Podcasts smart playlist, because even inside the Smart Playlists, Podcasts don't have a way to change "My Rating" using the click wheel; the shownotes are now where ratings used to be. Harumph.