Delivered on MacMania 15 in Australia, this talk gives an introduction to podcasting along with a few common tools on the Mac and on iOS showing the benefits of each.

1. Introduction to Podcasting
Allison Sheridan
November 2012
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 1

2. What’s a Podcast?
From Wikipedia:
“A podcast is a type of digital media consisting of an
episodic series of audio, video, PDF, or ePub files
subscribed to and downloaded through web syndication
or streamed online to a computer or mobile device.”
Say what?
Podcasts are simply Internet Radio and TV, but delivered
to you
What you want
When you want
Where you want
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 2

3. Can’t I Just Find Content on the Web?
Sure you can!
But how do you know when there’s fresh content?
Because podcasts episodes are delivered to you
You don’t to go figure out when there’s new content
Remember magazine subscriptions?
It’s like that - except without the paper waste and guilt
A podcast has continuing episodes
One video or audio recording is not a podcast
Just as a single article is not a magazine
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 3

4. Subscribe...Does it Cost Money?
No! Podcasts are almost all free
You shouldn’t expect to pay for comedy or news or
entertainment
But you do expect to pay for training - for example
Don McAllister’s ScreenCasts Online has a fee
Mac & iOS Tutorials
$23/quarter or $70/year
This is the ONE podcast worth paying for!
Tons of what I’m teaching this week, I learned from Don!
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 4

5. Quick Histor y Lesson
First there was RSS - Really Simple Syndication
A way to subscribe to things you read from the
Internet - using RSS readers
The “Podfather of Podcasting”, Adam Curry figured out
how to add an attachment to an RSS feed
That attachment can be:
Audio
Video
Even documents*
*Knightwise has what he calls Docucasts at knightwise.com
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 5

6. What Are Podcasts About?
Technology Finance Religion
Sports Health Medicine
Comedy Kids Fitness
Cars Government Business
Science Fiction Knitting ☚ ? Anime
Books Music Accessibility
Art News iTunes U -
University
Business Politics Education
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 6

7. So How do I Subscribe?
On the Mac
iTunes is the only game in town worth mentioning
On iOS
Apple’s Podcast app
Downcast
Instacast
Dedicated Podcast Apps
We’ll cover why a dedicated app can be fun
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 7

8. Podcast Discover y in the Wild
Keep your eye out for iTunes logo
Look for the word “subscribe”
There is no standard logo
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 8

9. iTunes for Mac
Find a Podcast
Subscribe to the Podcast
Open iTunes
Most Recent episode downloads automatically
Plug in your iPod and the recent episodes sync over
Let’s watch a movie of iTunes subscription in action...
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 9

10. Subscribe in iTunes
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 10

11. Apple’s Podcast App for iOS
Free!
Peruse available podcasts in iTunes
Featured Podcasts lists popular
podcasts that iTunes editors have
selected for special feature by subject
Filter by Categories
Filter by Audio vs. Video
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 11

12. Podcast App - Top Char ts
Top Charts column displays
Top 10 episodes & Top 10 podcasts
Based on a combination of recent
subscriptions, downloads and customer
reviews
iTunes reviews are IMPORTANT to the
discovery of podcasts
For you to find good content
For you to help others find good content
To help podcasters you like get discovered
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 12

13. Search the Podcast App
If you already know what you’re looking for, just use Search
Subscribe
Individual
Episodes
Download
Actual Individual
Podcast Episodes
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 13

14. Podcast App Reviews
Check # of stars
Write a review
Scroll to read reviews
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 14

15. Podcast App - Settings by Show
You can subscribe
But choose whether
to auto-download
Sort and play options
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 15

16. Podcast App - Info & Sharing
Clicking on an episode name shows
you any description the podcaster
has provided
Use the Share
button to send
the RSS feed
to your friends
Kinda dorky to send the URL though:
http://podfeet.com/NosillaCast/rss.xml
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 16

17. Downcast for iOS
Vastly superior to the “official” Podcast app $2 iPad/iPhone
Add podcasts manually, search categories, search by name
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 17

18. Downcast Downloading
You control when/how Downcast downloads your shows
Set to Wi-Fi only to save your cellular bandwidth
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 18

19. Downcast Streaming
Don’t have to fill up your iPhone/iPad with shows
Stream on demand
Find Podcast Choose Episode Download or Stream
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 19

20. Downcast Alternate Listening
I’m sure ALL of our podcasts are so riveting, you
wouldn’t want to miss a MINUTE of them
Downcast lets you:
Rewind 30 seconds with a button or
a screen swipe
Rewind 15 seconds
Fast Forward 30 seconds or 2 min
Speed up to 3X
Even has a sleep timer!
Social share puts episode title (instead of RSS feed like
Podcast app)
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 20

21. Downcast Settings
Multiple devices? Use iCloud Sync
Refresh podcasts only in specific locations
Zillions more settings!
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 21

22. Instacast for iOS
$5 iPad, $2 iPhone
Default is to search by
most popular podcasts
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 22

23. Instacast Peruse for Video
Video tab - must assume this is also by most popular?
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 23

24. Instacast Enhanced Podcasts
Enhanced podcasts are AAC files instead of MP3s
An enhanced podcast
contains extra information
Chapter markers
Images for chapters
URLs to products
Enhanced podcasts are cool,
and are a LOT of work
Hard for a listener to tell
how long a show is
They only work on iOS & Mac
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 24

25. Instacast Find by Genre
Podcasts contain meta-
data that tells the genre
Here we’re searching
for Technology shows
Software How-To
Wonder why my logo
is wrong here? It was
right on Downcast and
iTunes!
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 25

26. Instacast Search by Title
Search by
Title
Author
Description
My logo is right here!
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 26

27. Instacast Search by Description
Hmmm...
Search by my podcast
name doesn’t find it
Does finds podcasts on
which I have appeared
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 27

28. Instacast Subscribe by URL
On many websites they offer a link URL to the podcast
This allows you to
enter the long and
annoying URL
Notice I can ONLY
subscribe, I can’t
choose one episode
to stream or
download
Lots of wasted space
on the iPad version of Instacast
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 28

29. Instacast Main Screen
Once subscribed, latest show starts to play automatically
Pushed a LOT of
buttons trying to
figure out how to
stop it
Bottom right found
a nice way to view
other episodes
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 29

30. Instacast Options
Still trying to stop the audio from playing
Clicked on universal
symbol for share in the
bottom left
Two choices were Edit
and Options
Within Options are
Settings - many of the
same as in Downcast,
but can’t tell it only wifi for downloading (critical feature)
Note none of this is to actually share the episode
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 30

31. Instacast Sharing
Still trying to find sharing button AND to stop playback
Nope - it’s not the universal sharing button at the top either
You have to tap on the episode icon itself to get sharing
options
Only option is tweet or email, no Facebook
Sends annoying RSS url instead of description of the
episode
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 31

32. Instacast Playback
FINALLY found the playback options
Tap on the logo for the show at the bottom left of the
screen, not the episode
You speed listeners will be
disappointed to know it only
goes up to 2X
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 32

33. Dedicated Podcast Apps
With all these options why would you want/need a
dedicated podcast app?
Extra features!
We’ll use the NosillaCast App as the example
$2 iOS (iPad version coming soon - no extra fee!)
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 33

34. NosillaCast App Live Show
NosillaCast app allows you to play recorded episodes
but also supports the live show
Chat room is a big part of the live show
NosillaCast app lets
you connect to the chat
room and listen to the
live audio stream while
you’re on the go
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 34

35. NosillaCast App Settings
Sign up for a chat room ID right from settings
Get live show reminders
Annoy Allison mode (a popular favorite)
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 35

36. NosillaCast App Episodes
Episodes tab lets you view past shows
Selecting one gives you playback (up to 3x!)
Also gives you the
shownotes
FULL shownotes, not
just the excerpt like
the other apps
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 36

37. NosillaCast App Social Sharing
Text message, Twitter and Facebook are all supported
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 37

38. Final Thoughts
Things to remember
Podcasting is just a term for Internet radio and TV
But it’s delivered to you instead of having to go get it
Podcast is
What you want
When you want
Where you want
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 38

39. My Live Show Setup
Just to Scare You
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 39

40. Miniature Link Farm of Doom
Downcast $2 in the Mac App Store
Instacast $2 iPhone $5 iPad in the Mac App Store
NosillaCast App* $2 in the Mac App Store
* Donald Burr of Otaku No Podcast developed the NosillaCast App
http://podfeet.com
Sunday, November 25, 12 40