Manage Podcast Content in Apple iTunes
Tips On How To Easily Optimize Subscriptions and Episodes
Aug 4, 2008
There is a huge amount of choice available in the iTunes Podcast Store and many users download more content than they can possibly listen to. This article will discuss how to subscribe to content and then manage it.
Subscribing Is Easy
Click here to see a related article on how to view podcasts in iTunes.
A click on any podcast in the iTunes Store will bring up an information page that provides a program description, user reviews, and links to other similar content. The “related podcasts” area is helpful because other users have browsed the directories and their top choices are visible. This is similar to what Amazon has done with listing books that were purchased with the currently selected book.
A table at the bottom shows all available episodes with descriptions of each. To listen to an episode without subscribing, double-click on one and it will play without being stored on the PC. To download a single episode, click "Get Episode" on the right, and to subscribe click on "Subscribe" near the show's icon. Other information such as length and price, which is usually free, is also detailed.
From the podcast information screen, navigate the podcast directory by using the small toolbar under the volume slider. Go up one level to see all the podcasts from the current podcast provider, and go up again to see podcasts grouped by similar content. The iITunes store is simple to navigate once this inconspicuous feature is understood.
View Existing Subscriptions
From the podcast home page, select "Podcasts" under the "LIBRARY" heading on the left side of the screen. A tabular list of all downloaded podcasts will appear and if the show has not been subscribed to, a “Subscribe” icon will appear. Click on this to subscribe.
A small triangle to the left of each title is used to toggle on and off the list of episodes within each show. A click on the triangle will change its direction and open up the podcast title to show all the available episodes. The table shows show length, date and description. A “TV screen” icon indicates it is a video podcast, and a checked box indicates that the show has been downloaded to the computer. If the box is unchecked, a “Get” icon appears.
Manage Episodes
When iTunes is started, either by running it manually or by launching it automatically by attaching an iPod to the computer, all podcast subscriptions will be evaluated. Any new episodes will automatically download to the computer. While this is happening the process can be managed by clicking “Podcasts” under the STORE heading. Episodes can be paused, cancelled or restarted.
If iTunes is loaded regularly, for example every few days, then the episode list will be up-to-date. If it has been a few weeks, only the recent episode will be downloaded, and all older episodes need to be manually downloaded. Under the tabular list of podcasts in the LIBRARY heading, click “Get all” on each podcast or manually select desired episodes. Some broadcasters only maintain recent episodes, but if iTunes doesn't show aged episodes they may be available on the broadcaster's own site.
Manage Subscriptions
It is simple to unsubscribe and delete podcasts. From the LIBRARY podcast directory, select the podcast and then “Unsubscribe” at the bottom of the screen. The downloaded episodes will remain until the podcast is right-clicked and “Delete” is selected.
There are more functions in iTunes which can be explored, but these are the basics. Apple makes intuitive software and afer a few minutes playing around, iTunes is easy to manage.
