Using Google Reader As An Alternative To iTunes

Did you know that when it comes to podcasts, not everyone likes iTunes? It's true.

I find it tedious and awkward to download podcasts the traditional way. I don't want to subscribe to them via iTunes (which automatically begins downloading any queued podcasts the next time you open the program) for two main reasons.

1. I sometimes only have the time to 'cherry pick' individual episodes that look interesting, rather than the whole kit-and-kaboodle (some of which I may delete due to time restraints anyway).
   
   
2. I'm not in the habit of loading up iTunes terribly regularly, except when downloading specific songs. I don't use it as a music player very often as my song collection fits in its entirely on my iPod itself, and I prefer to use a jack plugged into our sound system rather than put up with the tinny efforts of the laptop speakers. So if I subscribe to a podcast via iTunes, it's quite possible I'll have thirty queued episodes, each an hour long, ready to go the next time I open up the program. This KILLS our internet download limit. And takes a sweet FOREVER.
   

So what's a podcast-loving, time-restrained gal to do? Look no further than Google Reader!

Now, I might be the last person on the planet to clue onto this fact, but Google Reader is useful for all sorts of reasons, some of which aren't related to reading blogs at all. I know, shocking. Anything with an RSS feed can be subscribed to via GR - including podcasts - but unlike iTunes, everything is done manually, rather than automatically. In my case, this is a GOOD thing.

Here's how I do it.

The first thing to remember is that not every random page URL will work. If you just want the podcast, and not the blog entries associated with the same site, then you need a unique podcast-only feed. Finding it isn't always as easy as it seems.

Nearly every blog or site out there will, of course, publish an RSS icon (or a text link) in some prominent location in order to subscribe to blog content, or if you have a browser that supports it, up there at the end of your address bar, you might see a mini RSS icon - it pops up whenever you're on a site that has a feed attached to it (if you look up there now, you'll see one up there to quickly sub to Lizzie's Home :) But for podcasts, there can be several different ways of finding that unique podcast feed.

Here are just a few that I've come across - not every site will be the same, but it will give you a jumping off point.

Level 1 ~ Podcasting Is My Day Job

If you're looking to use Google Reader to subscribe to a well-known or professional podcast, such as a major church's sermon series or to a radio show , then you're in luck. Most of these folks give clear links to their unique 'feed page', usually front-and-centre on their home page. Let's take your average Australian radio duo, Hamish & Andy (disclaimer: possible toilet humour on that one. Examples given are just the ones that came to mind first :)

(Click on each image to enlarge)

You don't even have to plug your brain in for this one. You just choose your preferred subscription service (iTunes and RSS both feature in this list) from the drop down menu...


...click on your standard Google subscription button...


...and Bob's your uncle.

Level 2 ~ Podcasts Are Important, Sure, But Isn't iTunes Easier?

Yes and no, LOL. I personally prefer to do things this way for all the reasons listed above, but that certainly doesn't mean everyone has to! Even websites which have podcasts as a large part of their offered media (a church site, for example), sometimes don't make it terribly easy to see there's life beyond the standard iTunes subscription button. Or at least they make it generally harder to find the unique podcast feeds.

Here's an example from Mars Hill Church.


Way down the bottom of their home page, there's a teeny tiny text link to 'Feeds' (sometimes, like this example, you'll need to go a-searchin' for that elusive link, and site maps can help if you can't seem to find what you're after first go).


Once you're there though, you have a ton of options. Mars Hill, like many similar sites, offers vodcasts as well as regular and music podcasts and lists each option's unique pod/vodcast feed link button on the one page - handy.


From here on out, it's the same deal as the first example. Click on button, all done.

Level 3 ~ If You Can Find It, Good Luck!

Every now and then, you'll come across a lesser-known, or poorly designed site that still offers a podcast you'd like to keep track of through Google Reader, but whose design makes it incredibly difficult to work out how to get that unique podcast feed.

KFUO radio station out of the States is a good example:


This is the home page. Funds - sourced directly through listener donations - clearly go into paying the station costs (and rightly so!) and not toward web design! After several months of diligently returning to the site each Tuesday to get a right-click-to-download link to the most recent podcast, I figured there had to be a better way.

But before we get into that, here's a good example of what happens when you take a random site's home page URL - even one who specializes in podcasting, such as KFUO - and try to put that into the subscription window in Google Reader (obviously, doing this for a blog would work perfectly, if being subscribed to the blog content is what you're after, but unique podcast feed URLs are a very different kettle of fish :)


This fails because the URL you put in isn't the unique podcast URL. So what do you do instead? Go back to the picture of the KFUO home page. There's a very small 'XML Podcast' link in the left hand menu, and it takes you here:


If the site offers multiple podcasts, as this one does, then they're generally collated and listed on a single page for ease.


Right click on the appropriate link, select 'copy' (or 'colour in' the text link, right-click and then copy)...


...and paste the URL into the Google Reader subscription box.


So...What Now?

So those are a few examples of how you can find, and subscribe to, the unique podcast feeds of sites that you love through Google Reader. Now what do you do with your new found power?

Since one of the main reasons I keep track of my podcasts this way is to kind of 'store' them until I'm ready to download them, I can happily go a couple of weeks just letting them build up. I have a 'Podcasts' folder set aside specifically to do this (if you look closely at some of the Google Reader shots, you might see it on the left) and currently subscribe to five unique feeds, one of which is a vodcast.

The best part? When I'm ready, I don't even need to return to the site itself to download the podcast.


To keep the podcasts out of my general 'unread' pool, I 'star' each one as it comes in, then click 'mark all as read'. This won't delete them, so don't freak out! It just removes them from your unread item count.


Clicking on the 'Starred Items' at the top of the left hand menu will bring up your whole list. When I do this, I usually have a few from each of my five podcasts, all jumbled up in order of when they were published.

Let's look at your average podcast subscription screenshot in Google Reader:


There's a convenient little player build in to each entry, and I'll use that sometimes for ease, but I generally prefer to download the podcasts to my computer so I can sync them up on my iPod later.

If you look closely at the picture, you'll see an 'Original Source' text link underneath the embedded player. Right-click, 'save target as' or 'save link as' and when the save window appears, choose your location on your computer, rename file if necessary and hit 'save'.

Wrapping Things Up

Perhaps you think this is a horribly convoluted way to achieve the same thing that can be done automatically via iTunes. You're right, sort of! If there's a podcast that you are 100% committed to (ie, would listen to every single episode) and you're the kind of person who plugs in their iPod each time they turn on the PC, then these methods may not make much sense to you. I personally find them brilliant for my needs :)

A wonderful side benefit of subscribing to podcasts in Google Reader is that, like regular blog subscriptions, the resulting list of past posts are a sort of handy, simple 'archive' list, sometimes going back months or even years. If the podcast site archives their programs, rather than remove them from the system (to be fair, some do, to save on the exorbitant hosting/bandwith costs - an hour long sermon can be HUGE) then you could conceivably download a podcast that is over a year old, long after it disappears from the main list on the site. Using KFUO's Wrestling With The Basics example above, I was just now able to download a program from Jan 6, 2007, right from within Google Reader - no trawling through archived pages on a website, if they exist at all. And it all comes complete with Google Reader's usual features, like Shared Items, Notes, and the handy search function (know you heard a sermon about the fruit of the spirit about a year ago but can't remember who did it or when exactly it was 'published'? Pop in the keywords in the search box).

Be aware, however, that not every site will do such a long archive - another podcast I regularly listen to removes their podcasts after a couple of months, and if I'm behind and have that many 'starred' and awaiting download, I might find the earlier one or two won't be available (ie, they've not been archived on the main site). This is all worked around really easily by keeping an eye on your undownloaded podcast count and just downloading to your computer every now and then, even if you won't have time to listen to them right away. Once they're on your computer, they're there until you need them :)

Putting the podcasts onto your iPod is RIDICULOUSLY easy:

1. Open iTunes (you don't even need to plug your iPod in yet).
2. Open the folder into which you've downloaded the files.
3. Drag from the latter to the former. They'll pop right up on your iTunes list. I have a playlist I call Audio and I just throw everything on that.
4. Plug in your iPod. If you've set it up this way, it should sync files automatically, otherwise manually sync using the option in the file menu.
5. Eject, unplug, and rock your podcasts as you wash dishes/hang the laundry/clean up the vomit the dog left behind after eating your favourite sock.

Enjoy!