How to listen to iTunes audio podcasts on Android tablets & mobiles.

Many users of the iPad & iPhone are aware of podcasts or netcasts, and subscribe to programmes that are regularly downloaded, updated, and synced to their devices with iTunes via the Podcast tab.

Android users also have many options and applications available to view or consume netcasts, but are unsure how to instruct their Android devices to subscribe to the same content. The following steps will show how to do this.

On your PC or Mac, open iTunes, select the Podcasts category in the left menu and single click a podcast in the subscribed list located in the right pane. Ctrl-Click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) a podcast you desire to listen to on your Android device, and choose the Copy Podcast URL option. Open TextEdit (Mac) or Notepad (Windows), and paste the copied URL into the blank editor window. This is the address of the RSS feed of the netcast/podcast. If you wish you can repeat these simple steps and copy and paste all of the URLs of the podcasts you wish to listen to on your Android device into the text editor document window. If pasting multiple URLs be sure to begin each link on a separate line.

To listen to the podcasts on Android, I chose to use the free Google Listen application found on the Android Market. If installing for the first time, be sure to tap the OK button to give the app permission to run on your device, then open the application after download is complete.

A podcast can now be added by tapping the My Subscriptions menu, then Add a subscription on the following menu. In the Add a subscription window, you need to enter one of the podcast URLs pasted into the “Document O’URLs” created earlier on your computer. If you are new to Android you may be more comfortable copying the line manually by retyping a single URL line into the text box. If, on the other hand, you are more comfortable with Android – the TextEdit or Notepad document can be saved in Dropbox or sent via email and opened on your tablet. From an email app or Dropbox editor, copy a single URL address line to paste into the white text box. Regardless of the technique you opt to use, after the URL is entered tap the Add button.

The Reader application then retrieves a list of programmes using the RSS podcast feed just added, and a Subscribe button will appear on the top left area of the screen. Tap this, then select an update frequency in the Queue… window. I chose the Newer than a day option to ensure my subscription is updated with the most recent programme. Tap the Back button at bottom left upon picking a Queue… option.

The podcast now appears in a list, and is most likely being updated with the progress displayed as a steady increasing number. When finished, tap the rectangle of the podcast, and it will begin playing. Standard media buttons, such as pause/play, skip forward/back, et al. are found at the bottom of the screen.

Enjoy your programme!