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Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

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Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#31

Post by scarface74 »

mindB wrote: post #29
giobox wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This obviously works, you can even use iTunes as the source of the RSS feeds, there's not really anything proprietary to how Apple did podcasts, its just a database of the RSS feeds - just right click the podcast search result in iTunes and click "Copy Podcast URL". However, copying RSS feed links is a pretty terrible way to discover content. Most normal people want a search or recommendation engine of some kind (you…

I just really hate that there doesn't appear to be any way of getting RSS links to podcasts from Apple's database using just a browser. I have no other reason to have itunes installed and won't be installing it just for this.

Apple has an API

https://affiliate.itunes.apple.com/resources/documentation/i...

Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#32

Post by [deleted] »

mindB wrote: post #29
giobox wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This obviously works, you can even use iTunes as the source of the RSS feeds, there's not really anything proprietary to how Apple did podcasts, its just a database of the RSS feeds - just right click the podcast search result in iTunes and click "Copy Podcast URL". However, copying RSS feed links is a pretty terrible way to discover content. Most normal people want a search or recommendation engine of some kind (you…

I just really hate that there doesn't appear to be any way of getting RSS links to podcasts from Apple's database using just a browser. I have no other reason to have itunes installed and won't be installing it just for this.

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#33

Post by PerfectElement »

djhworld wrote: post #26

Can't recommend PocketCasts enough, it's really all you need. One of the nice things about it is it will sync episode progress across devices, so if you pause on one app, you can resume playback on another.

After testing several podcast apps for Android, this was the one that stuck.

The ability to quickly scroll through unfinished episodes was the killer feature that others are lacking. I listen to different podcasts depending on what I'm doing (running, cooking, preparing to sleep, etc), and all other apps, at best, required several clicks to find an unfinished episode from the previous day.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#34

Post by pgroves »

djhworld wrote: post #26

Can't recommend PocketCasts enough, it's really all you need. One of the nice things about it is it will sync episode progress across devices, so if you pause on one app, you can resume playback on another.

I've used PocketCasts for quite a while now and would move away from it if there was a decent (cross-platform) alternative. It has some serious problems downloading (I think it actually hits their mirror of all podcasts, and the downloads will stall out for several minutes at a time). And for some reason streaming a podcast is the app's worst fear and it has a UX to do everything it can to stop you from doing it.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#35

Post by shrikant »

mindB wrote: post #29
giobox wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This obviously works, you can even use iTunes as the source of the RSS feeds, there's not really anything proprietary to how Apple did podcasts, its just a database of the RSS feeds - just right click the podcast search result in iTunes and click "Copy Podcast URL". However, copying RSS feed links is a pretty terrible way to discover content. Most normal people want a search or recommendation engine of some kind (you…

I just really hate that there doesn't appear to be any way of getting RSS links to podcasts from Apple's database using just a browser. I have no other reason to have itunes installed and won't be installing it just for this.

You can use this service to extract the RSS link from iTunes podcasts.

http://itunes.so-nik.com/

Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#37

Post by hopesthoughts »

shrikant wrote: post #35
mindB wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just really hate that there doesn't appear to be any way of getting RSS links to podcasts from Apple's database using just a browser. I have no other reason to have itunes installed and won't be installing it just for this.

You can use this service to extract the RSS link from iTunes podcasts. http://itunes.so-nik.com/

I use this all the time! A lot of podcasts hide their RSS feeds for some reason. Either that or they're using SoundCloud, and they really don't make feeds easy to find over there.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#38

Post by 1123581321 »

kirillzubovsky wrote: post #36

I would highly recommend signing up for http://banter.fm . It's limited to a small group right now, but once they launch, your parents are going to love it. Very easy to consume and engage.

Can you explain what it does? I signed up for the beta, but there isn't much explanation on the site and I haven't received an invitation yet.

Re: Ask HN: Best way to search and collect platform-agnostic podcast links?

#39

Post by kirillzubovsky »

1123581321 wrote: post #38
kirillzubovsky wrote: post #36

I would highly recommend signing up for http://banter.fm . It's limited to a small group right now, but once they launch, your parents are going to love it. Very easy to consume and engage.

Can you explain what it does? I signed up for the beta, but there isn't much explanation on the site and I haven't received an invitation yet.

It's a social network for podcasts which helps me discover new and interesting episodes without actually subscribing to those shows; I really enjoy being able to discuss each episode with my followers. Banter is also a sexy podcast players that makes listening to shows enjoyable.
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