Download ALL latest episodes, rather than THE last?

[weetzie 0]

Right now I have my podcasts set to download the most recent episode. However, some of my podcasts update every day. I'm not always around to be able to check every day, and it seems like it's just downloading the latest one, and not the one before that.

 

I feel like if I select "download all" it will download ALL the past episodes... I don't want to test it because I have a lot of podcasts with hundreds of past episodes...

 

Anybody know how to get around this?

[Graham 1]

It works as you want it to. It will download any episodes that haven't been downloaded. If you've already deleted them it will not download them again. You know you can click on cancel when you're downloading a podcast anyway, right?

[Ignoracious 1]

First of all, I think it is a mistake for a podcaster to post more than one episode per day. However, I can understand that some listeners prefer to subscribe to an aggregating podcast feed (a podcast channel), such as IT conversations or TWIT. The workaround I use is to check for updates every hour. However, sometimes, this doesn't work either, because the operator of the podcast channel has uploaded two or more episodes at the same time.

 

I guess, unless Apple gives podcast listeners through iTunes more control over the download schedule, the final solution has to come from a cron script, in combination with an Applescript (to interact with iTunes), that lets you set an update frequency via the cron script and uses the Applescript to look for any new episodes in the last 24 hours (or whatever period you want the Applescript to look back in time for new episodes) and download only those. Of course, for that script combination to work reliably, you (or the Applescript) would have to disable the iTunes periodical check for new podcast episodes, otherwise it could interfere with the scripts.

Edited August 16, 2007 by Ignoracious

[desertrose0601 1]

Right now I have my podcasts set to download the most recent episode. However, some of my podcasts update every day. I'm not always around to be able to check every day, and it seems like it's just downloading the latest one, and not the one before that.

 

I feel like if I select "download all" it will download ALL the past episodes... I don't want to test it because I have a lot of podcasts with hundreds of past episodes...

 

Anybody know how to get around this?

 

Actually you are heading in the right direction. You do need to use the "download all" feature. The thing to notice in the preference pane is the phrase before "download all", which reads "When new episodes are available". So basically what happens is, when you originally subscribe to the feed, it is going to download only the latest episode; but after that, it keeps track of which ones are new for you, and will automatically grab those - whether they post one or ten a day, it will know that for you, those ones are new. It also doesn't grab episodes older than the date that you first subscribed to the feed unless you specifically tell it to.

 

So don't worry that's it's going to suddenly flood your harddrive with hundreds of episodes - that won't happen. It's really quite an intuitive software and it does actually work like you think it should.

[weetzie 0]

^^ Excellent, guys! Thank you for your help. And yes, I could just press cancel, but I'm not always sitting there staring at my downloads. Additionally, to another replier, I wasn't talking about podcasts being released more than 1x a day, but if I'm gone from an internet connection for a week or so, I miss a lot of updates, and sometimes more than one for any given podcast, such as a daily radio show, or something...

[cfsporn 0]

I used to download and listen to all previous podcasts before the current one. Then I realized that that was stupid.

[Ignoracious 1]

I used to download and listen to all previous podcasts before the current one. Then I realized that that was stupid.

Why would that be stupid? If you love the podcast so much, that might be something well worth doing, even if it are 300+ episodes of 30 minutes. Fortunately, most podcasters don't include all their episodes in the RSS feed.

 

Anyway, the best (and intended) way to download podcasts is not to notice what podcast episodes have been downloaded. The process should be fully automated, so you only have to connect the iPod to your computer and let the files be uploaded, after which you disconnect and listen to the podcasts on the go. You shouldn't go into iTunes and download the shows, or see the shows downloading.

 

Of course, for people having wireless access points, this downloading should be via wireless networks, not by connecting to a computer with a USB cable. It seems that digital rights management (DRM) considerations restrict how media files are transfered to your iPod. Once DRM has been eliminated, wireless synchronizing would make things so much more easier and user-friendly.

[cfsporn 0]

Why would that be stupid? If you love the podcast so much, that might be something well worth doing, even if it are 300+ episodes of 30 minutes. Fortunately, most podcasters don't include all their episodes in the RSS feed.

 

Anyway, the best (and intended) way to download podcasts is not to notice what podcast episodes have been downloaded. The process should be fully automated, so you only have to connect the iPod to your computer and let the files be uploaded, after which you disconnect and listen to the podcasts on the go. You shouldn't go into iTunes and download the shows, or see the shows downloading.

 

Of course, for people having wireless access points, this downloading should be via wireless networks, not by connecting to a computer with a USB cable. It seems that digital rights management (DRM) considerations restrict how media files are transfered to your iPod. Once DRM has been eliminated, wireless synchronizing would make things so much more easier and user-friendly.

Well, not stupid. I guess I used the wrong word there. But it can be very time consuming.

[Ignoracious 1]

Well, not stupid. I guess I used the wrong word there. But it can be very time consuming.

Well, you'll get no argument from me there. This method of listening is only recommended for people who have a lot of time on their hands, e.g. if they're doing long commutes.