In the previous section, we saw that there are podcast applications for your mobile device that will help you find podcasts. And just as you might choose different delivery options for your mail (e.g., U.S. Postal Service, FedEx, UPS etc.), you have some options for accessing your podcasts. For example, if you have an iPhone, a popular subscription application is Apple Podcasts/iTunes. On the other hand, Android users might select Google Podcasts or Podcast Addict.
In addition to being a search engine that you can use to find podcasts, you can use these podcast applications to subscribe to your favorite shows. That way you will be alerted to new episodes. Just like subscribing to your favorite magazine, when you subscribe to a podcast, you will automatically receive the latest episodes. These shows will be downloaded to your computer or mobile device so that you can listen to them offline.
On the website of a podcast, you’ll typically see multiple subscription options. For example, here are some subscription options for QuOTeD, my podcast.
An audio montage of on-the-spot answers to one good question.
Podcast Links and Moving Between Devices
Sometimes I’ll be on my laptop and I’ll see that someone on Facebook mentioned a podcast that looks interesting. Depending on the link that is used, it might not be easy to access the show. Besides, I typically listen to podcasts using my iPad. In this case, I will open Apple Podcasts/iTunes on my iPad and do a search for the title of the show.
Subscribing to Podcasts
Let’s review our sample podcast websites from before and find the subscription options that are available.
Subscribing to Podcasts via RSS
You can also subscribe to any podcast using an RSS reader. What’s that? Let’s find out.