[SOLVED] I HAVE HAD IT! Linux/Podcasts/Android...

[appalbarry]

Wow. It feels as if nothing has changed since this post back in 2009.

All I wanted to do was:

1) Download podcasts on my PC
2) Sync them to a player on my Android phone.
3) Listen to them in the car.

I'm in Canada, the land where an $80 a month basic cel package includes ONE gig of data, so I very specifically don't want my phone downloading audio via the cel network. I want all downloads to happen on my desktop, with a sync once a day to my phone via USB or WIFI.

gPodder looks like it should do this, but after the first couple of time refuses to sync stuff intelligently. The gPodder Android app seems to be just plain weird and doesn't even seem to have a way to connect to gPodder.net. I am hoping to avoid an long painful week of trying various podcast and Android clients.

FWIW, I use DeadBeef for music playback, so you should figure that I like small and simple.

[Moem]

I'm not sure I understand the problem...
The downloading works, I assume.
As for syncing... I would simply connect the phone and use my file manager to put the podcasts on it.
I assume that the playing works? Surely a podcast is just another audio file?

Is there something that I'm not getting? I bet there is.

[0ddity]

Why complicate the process by bringing your PC into it? Just use Android podcast software (I recommend Podcast Addict) and manage your podcasts with that directly on your phone. You can disable mobile streaming, and download episodes of podcasts you are subscribed to when you are connected to WIFI, and then listen to them wherever you want without using data.

[appalbarry]

Podcast Addict looks like the solution. It allows you to lock it down to only use WIFI, which is good. And yeah, if I can trust it on the phone I've no need for the desktop application. Right now I've just installed the free, ad supported version, but I expect I'll update to the paid one if it works well.

One gripe though, if there's an easy way to get the OPML from another device into Podcast Addict I couldn't find it. I wound up copying it from the desktop pc to a random place on the phone, then copying it from there into the com.bambuna.podcastaddict folder using the Android file manager. The menuing is pretty confusing, and I expect there are features that I'll never find because they're buried in obscure places. And strangely the com.bambuna.podcastaddict folder shows up in the file manager on the phone, but refuses to appear in Nemo when the phone is connected via USB.

Once again this all proves that the Play store is largely a disaster. A search for "podcast player" brings up about 200 results, and no rational person is going to try more than a couple of them.

[0ddity]

You can import OPML easily by clicking the + symbol on the main screen of podcast addict, and scrolling down. The interface is a tad confusing at first, but is quick and easy to navigate after you spend a little time with it. It is the best though, I've been using it for years, and it is still well supported and still receives regular updates.

[appalbarry]

I have it working now, but wow, the interface is downright crazy. Two hamburger menus - one on the left, and one on the right - WAY too many settings and choices. I thought that I had it set up the way I wanted it, and thought that it had downloaded the podcasts, jumped in the car hit "Play" and was told "Streaming is only available over Wifi" and consequently was left with nothing.

I honestly can't tell you what I finally did, but it now does what I want.

What's needed are a choice of super simple settings: 1) WIFI only, or Cel and WIFI 2) Download episodes or Stream them 3) Delete episodes after playing or keep them.

Those three would cover 99% of people just fine.

[appalbarry]

Just to close this out, I'll agree that Podcast Addict is pretty impressive. Lord knows it has about 500 more options and settings than any person will ever need. If you need to fine tune, REALLY fine tune every aspect of your pod listening experience, and if you appreciate a superb set of tools for finding and adding new podcasts, this is it.

BIG praise for the developer, who answers emails quickly and solved my issue.

[0ddity]

Agreed on PA. I also really appreciate that it is full featured, with unobtrusive ads, and that those can be removed for a reasonable price. I've been using it for years, and don't bother with half the features, but it doesn't matter, it does what I want without fuss.