How to get podcasts on IPhone 5s

February 10, 2015 1:41 PM

I just got an iphone and I go into itunes but I cannot figure out how to get podcasts, like I do on my ipod. any tips? thanks
posted by TRUELOTUS to Technology (11 answers total)

You need to download the podcast app in iTunes with the 5 and up.
posted by raisingsand at 1:48 PM on February 10, 2015

There is a Podcast app from Apple. Have you tried downloading it from the app store and using it? What were you using on your iPod?
posted by I am the Walrus at 1:49 PM on February 10, 2015

Best answer: You'll need to download the free Podcasts app from the App Store on your phone. I don't know why they've separated it from the iTunes app, but they did so about a year and a half ago.
posted by tckma at 1:51 PM on February 10, 2015

There's also Overcast, which is pretty good.
posted by Etrigan at 2:03 PM on February 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: thanks buds :)
posted by TRUELOTUS at 2:05 PM on February 10, 2015

And you'll quickly find the Apple Podcasts app is a piece of garbage. Recommend Overcast or Downcast.
posted by JoeZydeco at 2:23 PM on February 10, 2015 [6 favorites]

Another vote for Overcast. Downcast was also pretty good; I gave up entirely on Apple's Podcasts app when it became clear that it was just not a priority for them.
posted by RedOrGreen at 3:24 PM on February 10, 2015

I like Podbay. It's also free.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 8:31 PM on February 10, 2015

Downcast over the stock Podcasts app, ESPECIALLY if you are not on unlimited data. I had all the settings in place on the stock app to prevent cellular downloading, but somehow Skynet managed to slurp up almost my whole monthly Gb of data overnight, DESPITE me being at home safely connected to my wifi network.
posted by joelhunt at 7:31 AM on February 11, 2015

I'd suggest Overcast in your case. You can export you podcast subscriptions from iTunes as an opml file, then once you have installed Overcast you can click on the opml file and you will have the option to send it to Overcast to import the subscriptions. Overcast is free, but the features you get with your in-app purchase are worth paying for.

Downcast, Instacast and iCatcher (along with several others) are excellent options as well, but they all focus on more advanced features, and this results in interface quirks. Totally worth it, if like me you are subscribed to fifty podcasts, some of which have fussy feeds (Slate+ - I'm looking at you!). Overcast, on the other hand, has a purity of purpose that makes its interface friendlier without giving up too much functionality.

If you absolutely HAVE to keep your play-state synchronized between your iPod and your phone, then the Apple Podcast app will do that, sort-of, maybe, if this version of iTunes isn't buggy, and this version of Podcast isn't buggy, and iCloud is working, and the relevant engineer or manager at Apple didn't go SQUIRREL! and decide that synchronization should now just work in a different way.

Suffice that that way lies madness - keep your podcasts on your phone (or stream them from your computer - Overcast has a web interface for that).

PM me if you can't google up instructions for exporting the OPML from iTunes - I can whip up some step-by-step instructions.
posted by wotsac at 8:13 AM on February 11, 2015

Oh, and joelhunt - that was probably an iOS bug that you ran into. There were some early releases of iOS 8 where certain types of downloads tagged for WIFI only would still go over the mobile network. Overcast ran into this in one of its early releases.
posted by wotsac at 8:16 AM on February 11, 2015