iTunes Guide

Ok, you've got your all-singing, all-dancing iPhone or iPod.  To you it may just be a phone or music player but that sleek little device is also a real-life fountain of knowledge - a working "Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy".  How?  Podcasts!

If you've ever sat on a train or tube and found yourself sat next to someone laughing out loud to a video they're watching on their iPhone or caught snippets of what sounds like a lecture leaking from their headphones then the chances are they are watching/listening to a podcast.

There are video and audio podcasts covering pretty much every topic or subject under the sun.  Many are pure entertainment but just as many are great sources of information and an effortless way of learning about or keeping up to date on any subject that takes your interest.  Most, like the root6 TV podcasts, are part of a continuing series and, with a few simple steps, can be "subscribed" to using iTunes - automatically downloading new episodes as they become available and copying them directly to your iPod/iPhone whenever you plug it in to your computer.

If you want to join the growing numbers of subscribers but don't know where to start, then this guide is for you...

1. Find a podcast you want to subscribe to. You can either browse or search for one in the iTunes store or follow a given link provided by the podcaster on their website - e.g. the root6 TV iTunes link
   

2. You should then find yourself on the Podcast's iTunes page, containing a description of the Podcast and a list of all the available "episodes"

   

3. Some podcasts have to be bought but many are free. Either way you should be able to play or download samples, if not entire episodes.

   When you've found one that you would like to subscribe to, simply click the grey "subscribe" button near the Podcast title and icon.

4. A confirmation window will then pop up. Click "subscribe" again to agree to the subscription.

5. iTunes will then start downloading the most recent episode and the podcast added to the "podcasts" section of the iTunes library. The number in the small blue circle is the number of unwatched episodes on your computer.

   

6. By default, iTunes will check for new podcasts everyday, download only the most recent episode and keep all episodes. However, you may want to change these settings and can do so by left clicking the podcast in the podcasts library and selecting "settings" at the bottom of the screen.

   You can change the search frequency, which episodes are downloaded and which are stored.

   

7. Double clicking a Podcast in the library will bring up a list of all the available episodes. Episodes not stored locally will have a "get" button next to them, which you can use to download that particular episode. Or you can use the "get all" button to download them all. Double click a locally stored episode to play it.

   

8. To have access to downloaded podcasts on your iPod/iPhone you will first need to set up synchronisation. Connect your device to the computer and it should appear, listed under "devices" in iTunes.

9. Select the device from the left hand menu and then navigate to the "podcasts" tab.  Tick the checkbox by "Sync Podcasts" and by default iTunes will copy all unwatched podcast episodes to the iPod/iPhone, and remove watched episodes from the iPod/iPhone every time it is synchronised.

   

10. To sync automatically every time the device is connected, click the summary tab and make sure the automatic sync checkbox is ticked under options.

Happy podcast subscribing!