Do you still use iTunes for podcasts?

I haven’t used iTunes for podcasts in 18 months. Today I relaunched iTunes and was reminded how glad I am that I no longer use it. Oh, the old days when iTunes would stop downloading a podcast because I haven’t listened to any episodes recently.

iTunes has stopped updating this podcast because you have not listened to any episodes recently. Would you like to resume updating this podcast?

I found myself having to manually update all 90 podcasts that I subscribe to. Yipes.

And then on top of that, my iPhone wouldn’t download new episodes. Over the course of a month, my playlists with 90 podcasts would only show a couple episodes. I’d call that pretty broken.

Since April 2018, I’ve been using Downcast–both on iOS and MacOS. I love it. I’ll have to write a complete review of Downcast sometime.

It seems the great majority of people continue to use iTunes for podcasts. During episodes, podcasters are often asking listeners to leave reviews on iTunesโ€”how vastly important it is to leave a review, because they get so many more listeners with iTunes ranking them better.

I haven’t looked at the iTunes charts since last year. I guess people still do that? I fire up the old iTunes to see what they have.

iTunes New & Noteworthy

The “New & Noteworthy” section did have an interesting recommendation. “How To! With Charles Duhigg“. I’ll give that shot.

Their about description:

Solving lifeโ€™s problems, one question at a time.
What if Dear Abby were an investigative reporter? Each week, Pulitzer Prizeโ€“winning journalist Charles Duhigg (The Power of Habit) takes on listenersโ€™ toughest problems and, with the help of experts, finds the answers to questions youโ€™ve always wanted to ask but couldnโ€™t. Until now.

A taste of their latest episodes:

How To Fire a Bad Employee
Itโ€™s not as easy as you think. It takes preparation, compassion, and a strategically located box of tissues.

How To Give Your Mom a Kidney
Maryโ€™s mother needs a new kidneyโ€”as long as it doesnโ€™t come from Mary. Whatโ€™s a good daughter to do?

How To Rob a Bank
Can someone who robbed more than 30 banks teach us how to plan the perfect heistโ€”and getaway?

How To Withstand Pain
Can a runner learn how to complete a grueling ultramarathon with the help of the โ€œIceman,โ€ a Dutch extreme athlete who sits in freezing water for fun?

How To Be Funny
What happens when Jesus, an Oklahoma pastor, and a New York comedian walk into a studio?

Sounds like a cool podcast. Maybe iTunes still has a function after all.

And for fun, here’s a screenshot of my current iTunes podcast library. It feels dated.

iTunes podcast library

And for comparison, here’s my podcast playlists in the Downcast MacOS app. I’ll do a review of Downcast some day!

Downcast playlist view

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1 thought on “Do you still use iTunes for podcasts?”

  1. 18 months ago when I moved away from iTunes to a new podcasting app, it was a nice attempt to cut down on the podcasts I subscribe to. At the time I had maybe 20 podcasts. But now Iโ€™m at 100.

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