Filed under: How-tos, Podcasts, Apple, AppleScript
iTunes 101: How to prevent podcasts from spoiling
Like milk, podcasts will spoil if left unused for a period period of time -- at least in the mind of iTunes. iTunes will automatically unsubscribe from a podcast that hasn't been listened to within the last 5 updates, and more than 5 days have passed since an episode was played.The rationale, as Apple states in the documentation for podcast providers, is to "minimize unnecessary bandwidth costs for both the user and the podcaster," as well as making it more likely that episode downloads align with the actual plays of the episode.
But I like the option of being current on all my podcasts, as well as being selective about which episode(s) I want to listen to. And being the rebel that I am -- using a two button mouse in 2001 while everyone else was still control-clicking -- this means that I will sometimes not listen to a podcast within these set parameters.
In the past, iTunes would keep me in check by forcing me to manually click on the exclamation mark next to each podcast to resume updating the podcast. Needless to say, this became a chore after the 10th click. You can also select all your podcasts, right-click and choose "Update Podcast" to force a global update, but why do three steps when AppleScript is there to reduce those to one?
iTunes will keep me in check no longer, as Doug Adams (of Doug's Scripts fame) provides a solution for this issue with his Update Expired Podcasts v2.0 AppleScript -- which batch updates each of your podcasts. You could even set up an iCal alarm that runs the script every day to force a fresh set of podcasts.
Update Expired Podcasts v2.0 (download link) is donationware, and is available for download at Doug's Applescripts for iTunes site (link). It's finger clickin' good.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Bill Deys said 8:26AM on 7-08-2009
Or you could use an aggregator service like CastRoller that eliminated having to have a feed for every podcast. You off load all the subscriptions to the service, let it check for new episodes and just check one combined feed.
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Michael Rose said 8:28AM on 7-08-2009
Hmm. Doesn't that break iTunes sorting/categorizing of the podcasts?
Bill Deys said 8:35AM on 7-08-2009
I don't know exactly what kind of sorting your talking about. Do you mean in the iTunes Podcast Directory? If that is the case, I personally have NEVER used it. Never liked it, it's too hard to find things for one. When I was using iTunes I prefered to use the "Advanced > Subscribe To Podcast" method to give iTunes the direct feed rather then have Apple handle the updates.
Most services, and I know CastRoller specifically does, offer their own directory as well as more advanced social features. For instance you can add your friends, and see what they are listening to and share episodes with them, etc.
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Michael Rose said 3:21PM on 7-08-2009
No, I mean the sorting of podcasts by name in the iTunes app, not the iTunes store.
I'll try Castroller and see if it does what I'm describing or not.
Sojourner said 7:59PM on 7-08-2009
I'm glad someone came up with a way to fix this design defect in iTunes. If I want to download 8000 podcasts and not listen to them all, that's my problem - not iTunes'.
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emil said 10:47AM on 7-08-2009
I agree it's annoying to have to constantly click those exclamation points, but try to be sympathetic with the podcast providers who have to shell out to keep delivering you podcasts that you aren't even listening to! As you pointed out in the article, Apple does this for a reason -- bandwidth isn't free, and Apple isn't picking up the tab.
Even the most popular podcast on iTunes (This American Life) has been pre-rolling their shows with pledge-drive/donation requests as their funding is starting to dry up amid the recession.
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BulkHedd said 10:56AM on 7-08-2009
I wish I could do something like this on my Windows desktop. My main computer is my MacBook but I use the Windows machine mostly to download video podcasts and push them over to my TiVo HD. Since I don't ever watch them in iTunes I am constantly having to click the exclamation marks.
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Joe said 11:35AM on 7-08-2009
This is strange. I don't know that I've ever noticed this behavior, although I do listen to podcasts almost daily. But there's one daily on that I listen to, and a couple weekly ones that I listen to when I'm caught up on the daily one. I've had times when I was away from the computer for a week, or didn't have the ipod for a week (when the old one was stolen), and I've just never encountered this situation. Maybe I'm just using it the way Apple expects me to.
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marc said 11:42AM on 7-08-2009
i understand the reason for apple doing this, but i listen _exclusively_ to podcasts on my ipod, and use my MBP to download them, so i get the annoying message too.
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veriosmorris said 11:44AM on 7-08-2009
if your unix inclined you can also cron this to run with osascript instead of using ical.
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essentialparadox said 1:26PM on 7-08-2009
Just go into the podcast properties and change downloading to "manual" and download the episodes you do want to listen to. It doesn't unsubscribe you, and keeps the episode list of available episodes updated.
Like pointed out, I think it is a bit unfair to download episodes you won't even be listening to, whether you know yet or not. The best solution is manual downloading for those podcasts you infrequently listen to.
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ncsunruh said 7:36PM on 7-09-2009
yeah i don't think i've ever had this problem. maybe it just automatically checks every time i open itunes, but that still doesn't always make sense because i've gone for long periods of time without opening itunes and still maintained a subscription.
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Steve Waller said 5:02AM on 7-12-2009
Hi - this solution is just what I am after, and the script does exactly as described. The part I am having some difficulty with is getting the script to run by using iCal.
I am choosing the "Run Script" option, but all iCal does is open the script and then I need to choose the "Run" option, which obviously isn't ideal for unattended use! Is there perhaps something that needs to be done to make the script executable perhaps?
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