There is much to enjoy about the new Apple Podcasts on macOS Catalina, such as the amount of podcasts choices to stream (700 thousand and counting), ability to create own stations, being able to listen offline all combined with the easy and intuitive nature of the new user interface.
And if you fancy convenience, then it can pick up the podcast where you left it on another device by utilizing the ‘Listen Now’ feature.
Related:
- How to update iOS and iPadOS using Finder and macOS Catalina
- Use Terminal to track the sync or update progress of your iPhone in Finder
- iCloud in macOS Catalina, an overview of the key changes
- Everything new in Mail for macOS Catalina
- PSA: macOS Catalina will kill your 32-bit apps — here’s what you should know
- How the new Find My app privately locates your offline devices
In terms of performance, the app launch speed is impressive and it doesn’t consume too many resources on your machine.
In this short article, we will overview some of the Podcast app features on macOS Catalina and contrast it with the Podcasts functionality in the old iTunes.
Contents
- 1 Podcasts on macOS Catalina sit neatly organized
- 2 Subscribing to new podcasts is a click away
- 3 Understanding Podcast app settings in macOS Catalina
- 3.1 Sort Options for Episodes matched with iOS Podcasts App
- 3.2 Keep or delete episodes after Playback
- 3.3 Settings for Podcast shows provide additional controls for customization
- 3.4 Using Siri with Podcasts app on macOS Catalina
- 3.5 Sync podcasts in macOS Catalina have been moved to Finder App
- 3.6 Limited Options in the Beta surrounding Stations, playlists and Shuffle functionality
- 3.7 In Summary,
- 3.8 Related Posts:
New solutions to old issues
Over the years, we have seen readers ask the very same questions when it comes to Podcasts.
“I listen to podcasts using iTunes (my only reason to use it), and I am growing to hate it. Is there an alternative that does the following?”
- Will not download the podcast unless I specifically do so
- Will play a podcast to the end and then stop. What happens next is for me to decide, not the app (this is why I cannot stand iTunes anymore)
- Make it reasonably easy to find the podcasts I listen to and add them to a list
- List all available episodes for a podcast, ideally with the summary if that is available
The new podcasts app from Apple on macOS Catalina is the simple and straight-forward answer to all of the above questions and more.
Instead of opening up iTunes and then changing the media-type to ‘Podcasts’, you now open up the new Podcasts app on your MacBook.
The app opens up in seconds and is ready to be used. The app response time is simply refreshing.
Podcasts on macOS Catalina sit neatly organized
The first and foremost thing you notice is how clean the user interface is compared to the old iTunes. Your library is now neatly categorized into recently updated, shows, episodes and downloaded.
In a hurry and want to catch up on one of the episodes that has already been downloaded onto your MacBook? Click on ‘Downloaded’ and there they are all ready to be streamed.
No more navigating hidden menus in iTunes to locate downloaded items.
The search field has been added to the top left corner of the app screen making it a breeze to search for new shows or tracking down episodes in your current library.
The Podcasts store is also available within one click via the Browse button on the main navigation panel.
You can also access the top-charts in the same area. This shows you the top shows in the Apple podcasts store as well as the Top episodes.
Subscribing to new podcasts is a click away
Subscribing to a new show from the store is super easy. Click on the ‘…’ button and choose to Subscribe or click on the +Subscribe button. Adding one of the top episodes displayed in your library is even easier.
Simply click on the ‘+’ button and it automatically adds the episode to your library.
The store browsing and selection features are very much similar to that of iOS 12/13.
If you use the Podcasts app on your iPhone or iPad, you will be very much at ease with the new app on macOS Catalina.
Apple Automatically imports your old stations and podcasts
When you upgrade to macOS Catalina, your old stations and your podcast library is automatically synced and made available on the new Podcasts app.
You don’t have to roll up your sleeves to figure out how to import your old library into the app. That’s a major plus to the new Apple Podcasts app on this new macOS.
Setting up notifications in the Podcasts App
Notifications have been made an integral part of the new app’s design. You can now set up your podcasts to show notifications inside the app when there are new episodes released of your favorite show.
Setting up these notifications is a very straight forward process.
Click on Podcasts > Notifications… and you will see all your favorite stations listed on the screen. Enable or disable the notifications toggle for your shows here.
Episode Notes easily accessible in the main app window
Before you click on an episode to listen, you can now check out the notes that highlight the episode content.
This is similar to the ‘description’ feature in the old podcast on iTunes.
Now the episode notes feature has been placed at the top right corner of the app providing easy access to the notes.
Where is the Up Next queue in the new Podcasts App?
The Up Next queue is located on the right-hand side of the main screen.
When you are playing a Podcast episode and click on the ‘list’ icon at the top right corner of your screen, you will see the up next queue pop up.
One issue with the Up Next queue is that its kind of slow.
Takes a little more time to refresh and there aren’t too many controls to manage the queue in this Beta.
We are hoping that this section will continue to evolve as the app gets finalized to be released later this year.
Understanding Podcast app settings in macOS Catalina
One of the reasons some users hated the old iTunes was due to the complexity around navigation. iTunes tried to do too much within the same app.
You had menus for Music, TV shows, podcasts, backup, restore and everything else within the same app.
By having a unique, standalone app that focuses only on Podcasts, Apple has made accessing personal preferences super easy.
Click on Podcasts on the top menu and then choose ‘Preferences…’
All your Podcasts settings have now been organized into three familiar tabs:
- General
- Playback
- Advanced
Use the general tab to set up the frequency for when you want to download new episodes of a show as well as control if you want to automatically download new episodes.
The Playback tab provides you with all the controls related to playback which include skip time for forward and rewind buttons, headphone controls and more importantly playback control between episodes.
This is where you choose if you want the app to move on to the next episode and play it automatically or stop the stream at the end of the currently playing episode.
This was one of the major pain points for many users in the old iTunes.
Either it didn’t function properly or people had a hard time figuring out how to set it up on their MacBook.
Continuous playback feature was much easier to set up in iOS 12 in the Podcast settings as opposed to the old iTunes on macOS Mojave.
The advanced tab provides you the ability to control if you want your podcasts to sync across all your devices as well as allow you to choose if a played podcast will automatically be removed from the app.
If your podcasts are not syncing across your Apple devices and you have already enabled Podcasts to use iCloud, this is the setting to check. The ‘sync Podcasts’ option also facilitates the ‘Listen Now’ feature.
No more navigating complex menu options. All preferences are available to you in one central location.
Sort Options for Episodes matched with iOS Podcasts App
The Podcasts feature in old iTunes had sort options by playlist order, podcast title and Recent update at the top menu.
In the new Podcasts app in macOS Catalina, the sort options have been more aligned with iOS 13.
You can either sort by ‘Date Added’ or ‘title’. The sort option is available via the View menu at the top of the screen.
Keep or delete episodes after Playback
Many users like to keep their podcasts organized by deleting older episodes from their devices. This also helps them to manage storage on their MacBook.
In the new Podcasts app on macOS Catalina, you can manage retention or deletion of episodes in a few different places.
Podcasts preferences Advanced tab provides you the ability to automatically delete any episodes that you have already listened to on your device.
You can also manually remove an episode from your downloaded folder by clicking on the three dots at the right-hand side of the episode and choose ‘Remove’.
You also have the ability to control this behavior by each show that you have in your library. The Settings for the shows provide you the options as explained in the next section.
Settings for Podcast shows provide additional controls for customization
The available options to manage your podcast shows are available next to the subscribe button. Click on the three dots and choose ‘Settings’.
This shows you the subscription status, notification status for the show, playback behavior of episodes for the show and a ‘CUSTOM’ section.
Custom provides the ability to do the essentials around downloading episodes, keeping episodes after playback, limit the number of episodes and more.
This option allows you to customize your preferences by each show which is different than the overall options that were available via the centralized Podcasts Preference settings.
Using Siri with Podcasts app on macOS Catalina
You can use Siri on your MacBook to play Podcasts. Click on Siri and say ‘ Siri Play my newest Podcasts’ and it springs into action.
Similarly, you can use Siri to find out which Podcast is currently playing and control the playback speed of the episode.
In our limited testing, Siri misfired when it came to actions around pausing the podcasts.
When requested, it shows ‘Paused’ in the status but the podcasts keep on playing. Similarly, we were hoping for Siri to pipe in the podcasts to our HomePod but we were unable to do so.
Sync podcasts in macOS Catalina have been moved to Finder App
When you connect your iPhone or iPad to your MacBook with a cable and open the Finder app, you will be able to access the function to sync your Podcasts.
This replaces the old iTunes functionality but provides you with the same options that you had before for syncing manually. Check the article below for details.
Click on the Podcasts tab in the Finder’s device browser, and you will see the ability to sync selectively. This helps users who do not use iCloud with their Podcasts app.
Limited Options in the Beta surrounding Stations, playlists and Shuffle functionality
There are still a few areas that are not very clear, probably since this is the Beta version. Although we could see the Stations that we created in Mojave in Catalina, there are no controls to work with the stations.
We couldn’t find ways to create a new station or remove an existing station.
Since we were able to create new stations in the Podcasts app in iOS 13, there is a good possibility that new features will be added before the app is primed for public release in September.
Similarly, there was no way to check for Playlists. When you clicked on options available for an episode, there was no menu item that allowed you to drop the episode into a Playlist.
The macOS Catalina Podcast app design is consistent with the options available in iOS 13 where the available categories in ‘My Library’ are Shows, Episodes, Downloaded Episodes and Station.
The other feature that is missing in the new Podcasts app on macOS Catalina is the ‘Shuffle’ feature.
In the old iTunes, you could right-click on the Podcasts, Stations or your playlists folder and choose ‘Shuffle’ to shuffle the playback. In the new app, we couldn’t locate any options to shuffle episodes.
The podcast transcription search feature is missing so far in the Beta version. That will definitely be an attractive feature if it works well.
In Summary,
The Podcasts app on macOS Catalina has come a long way from being an afterthought element stuck in iTunes to a beautifully designed and intuitive stand-alone app on your MacBook.
If you regularly use podcasts on your iPhone or iPad, the user interface and functions will appear very familiar to you.
On the other hand, if you only used iTunes to listen to podcasts via your MacBook, you will be pleasantly surprised by the performance and usability of the app.
We hope that some of the limited options are just inconveniences of the beta version and the app will continue to improve its offerings as it is made ready for the final release later this year along with the release of macOS Catalina.
Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.
Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.
In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.
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Having only recently upgraded to Catalina, I which I hadn’t, for a variety of reasons.
However, the Catalina Podcasts app (and Books for audiobooks) is a disaster. Podcasts are hidden away in library folders with cryptic hashed file names. It isn’t possible to organise podcasts in folders on an external disk and syncing to my iphone is very hit and miss – some sync, some don’t and some turn up in the Music app.
Can anybody recommend a good podcast player for MacOS which also sync across to iOS?
I’m a bit old school and run with an iPod Nano, 7th, or 8th gen (iPhone is too bulky).
I’m really struggling with the new separated setup.
I mostly listen to podcasts and I’m having trouble syncing my iPod properly.
My settings are to delete played episodes, but they don’t delete, episodes double up, episodes aren’t automatically in the same folder, I might have 10 episodes of something; three in one folder, seven in the other.
The program tells me I haven’t got enough space to sync my iPod, but if it did it properly and got rid of played eps it would be fine.
When I go into “finder” I can see the episodes that are syncing, some are from years ago and I can’t delete them, but those same episodes aren’t on the podcast program, so confusing!
It’s like the podcast program and the sync program in finder don’t talk to each other properly and then you put the iPod in the mix and its a disaster!
So far this is one of the stupidest updates I’ve had to deal with. the old iTunes may have had its foibles, but it was much easier to use than this new iteration!
I just want to listen to podcasts!
As far as I can tell, there is no way anymore to change the media type of a file from “music” to “podcast”. I download a lot of radio shows that I want to listen to as podcasts, since it’s more convenient for that kind of program. I’ve tried contacting Apple support but they have no idea how to do it and don’t seem to think it’s a big issue. It is to some of us.
Hi Mark,
From our testing, you are correct. In macOS Catalina, you cannot change the media type to a podcast.
Although this is not the answer you are looking for, you can listen to audio files in the Books app via File > Add to Library…
I just tried opening Podcasts after ‘upgrading’ to Catalina a few weeks ago. What a nightmare!
The thousands of downloaded podcasts I had have disappeared from my MBP.
I can’t get the episode display to function like it used to.
After spending an hour with it I have 2 comments:
1) What a POS;
2) Apple no longer follows the mantra Steve Jobs tried to build into anything with Apple’s name on it-“It just works”.
Not much from Apple ‘just works’ for the past while. Mores the Pity.
They make you upgrade hardware and software to stay current and have all your devices work together and when you do that, they reward you by breaking what used to work.
After over 30 years of Apple products, I’m getting beyond upset! I’m now looking for another company’s podcast player that I can import all my shows to from the backup.
Agree entirely!
I upgraded to Catalina with my external–where my iTunes library was–unplugged. Big mistake, apparently.
Was able to get Music figured out, but the Finder sync window>podcasts (cabled iPod nano or iPhone SE) only shows podcasts from before my switch to Catalina, despite unplugging the external and populating the new app with updated and downloaded podcasts. The window just refuses to import from the app.
I’ve tried temporarily removing plists, relaunching Finder, etc. I just can’t understand where Finder is keeping this old info, and how to purge it and make it look at the new info in the app.
How to rearrange Apple podcast shows icons on iMac? I see how to do it on iPhone and iPad but cannot figure out how to do it on iMac. There is no “edit” and “sort” buttons on the iMac version.
When I change the order of show icons on iPhone, the order is synced with iPad but not on iMac, though the same show icons are on iMac.
Hi Stafford,
To rearrange your Up Next playlist, tap the list icon in the top upper-right corner (looks like three lines with dots at the head). That opens up your Up next queue — then it works just like your iPad, grab the handle to move the item up or down your list.
Your shows, episodes, and lists should sync between your iPad and Mac as long as you sign in with the same Apple ID and you have certain settings enabled.
On your iPad, go to Settings > Podcasts and toggle on Sync Podcasts
On your Mac, open the Podcasts app and choose Podcasts > Preferences. Choose Advanced and check the box for Sync subscriptions across devices
Am I using the same app as the article’s author? The first thing I tried to do was import my OPML file containing my podcast subscriptions into the new Podcast app.
There is no way to do it. I a 100 or so subscriptions… doesn’t Apple expect me to manually add them to the new app? I’ve used OPML files as long as I’ve listened to podcasts, so about 12 years. Why was this feature removed?
Clicking and dragging podcast audio files into the app doesn’t nothing. in iTunes it would add it to my podcasts.
Ok, so they removed features that I used all of the time in iTunes. Perhaps they added some much requested features to bring the app up to par with it’s competition? Maybe they added silence trim, and audio boost ? Nope. Those are expected features since 2016.
The only thing that they got right was improved syncing. Let’s hope that Apple eventually reads and acts on the feedback that I’ve sent to them. For the moment. Podcasts looks to be abandonware.
Looks like I need to stop everything and take a community college course somewhere on how to manage my podcasts like I used to do.
Just upgraded to Catalina. Most of the unplayed podcasts I had (there were a lot) simply disappeared, while things I had unsubscribed to years ago appeared. Also appearing were dozens and dozens of episodes of things I had played in the last few weeks. And it appears that only one episode (not all the unplayed episodes) appears in the list in the station I created. Most of what I had downloaded before upgrading appears now to not be downloaded. It is all pretty annoying–does Apple have anyone test these things before releasing them? Not surprising though; virtually all the major OS upgrades have the same issue. I’ve always given itunes (and now podcasts app) about a 2 out of 10 in functionality. The only thing to say for it is that there doesn’t seem to be other options that are significantly better. It’s sad that that is what has to keep it the go to app for podcasts. I suppose I’ll get it to work, but I feel like it’ll take me weeks of organizing, downloading, listening, and figuring out what is missing.
The iTunes app was not well suited to all the things it was being asked to do but it actually could do the job you asked for except maybe stop at the end of every podcast.
Podcasts app is WORSE at doing the job in most ways. Oh how i hate it.
Preferences are clunky , awkward to use and glitchy.
The condensed list like view of Podcast and episodes within casts is gone.
No simple way to view all episodes neatly.
Episodes are hidden from users on the drive. (like Apple books) Episode name essential encrypted (like Apple Book names, again) are Another huge gripe, as I keep some podcast episodes on an external drive for future use w/o cluttering up my internal drive.
And NO they will not always be available for re-download.
I will now have to download from somewhere else than Apple on my Mac as well for my preservation copies.
I have been a Mac user since the mid 80s, I am getting close to switching to Linux. I HATE THIS COMPANY NOW!
There is no playlist and no way of finding out where the podcasts are stored.
All in all Apple should not have released such a flawed piece of software
I want to publish a podcast. How do I do it?
Hi Bob,
Awesome! Check out Apple’s guidelines and support on creating a podcast for their Podcasts app.
I want to know where the podcasts go when you save them. I like to save them as a smaller file and shove them on my ipod. So transfer through these apps is annoying. I liked the way it was. Any ideas on how I can find those files and set that up?
I don’t want to add to your pain – i spent 90 minutes on a Genius call with apple yesterday
Apple does not know where these files are stored !!!
problem is with the new Podcast app –
in the Music app you can go open Preferences/Advanced and then see where it is storing the files
you cannot do this with the Podcast app
Helpful. I assume the same with the books as well? I have some audiobooks. However, I did find that I can drag and drop them to my desktop. Though it is a workaround it’s still a bit of a pain. If you have updates can you let me know?
I found them! Go to [User]\Library\Group Containers, and one of the folders you see there will have a name ending in “apple.podcasts.” Inside that folder, look in Library\Cache, and you should see all the mp3s in there. Unfortunately, they’re not organized by podcast anymore, and the filenames are all just a bunch of random letters and dashes.
Yes, it’s a real pain.
You can, however, drag a podcast from the list under “My episodes” to the desktop (or wherever)–as long as it has been downloaded first–and it will exist as an MP3 with the number and title of the episode (but not the podcast name).
This is how I back up podcasts I want to be sure to save. I don’t trust the app.
Thanks for these suggestions, as well as the suggestions below.
I’m replying here because john’s tip is the one which worked for me. Almost!
First, I found the podcast episode I had dowloaded under the ‘Shows’ tab, then I selected the show that I wanted and, because I had saved just one episode from that show, it was easy to find. I dragged it onto the desktop. And, yes, it came with the episode’s name – that was a bonus!
I could have located the episode under the ‘Downloaded’ tab, but because I have saved many episodes of various shows, and this particular episode was from 2017, it took a long time to scroll down to find it. (Annoyingly, the page down key didn’t work.)
MM’s suggestion was going to be my preference. I like to see where things are. I don’t like Apple’s new idea of hiding things. But I don’t even have some of the folders that MM mentioned in his reply.
I did find the folder Brett referred to and I agree with him that the episode’s names have been changed. I can at least recognise which show they’re from by the thumbnail. But the idea of changing the episode’s name is, to me, nonsensical.
Terry Reeves has said that the same was done with Apple Books That hasn’t been my experience. I have been able to locate all of my books and store them in my chosen location. I don’t have any experience with the TV app so I cannot comment.
Unrelated to Podcasts, but related to Catalina, I’d like to add the following comments.
Whilst I’ve been writing this reply, Finder has crashed on me. I never saw that happen before Catalina. And every. single. time. I type a full-stop, (or a comma or almost any other punctuation mark) Catalina has been programmed to insert a space. And I cannot find where to turn off that stupid feature. Talk about catering to the least ‘capable’ people in the world!
~/Library/Group Containers/243LU875E5.groups.com.apple.podcasts/Library/Cache
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/10/macos-10-15-catalina-the-ars-technica-review/
The podcast are stored on the Mac and it appears that there is no easy way of changing this….? Also the name of the podcast has been changed… why would Apple do this …?
The did the same with apple books. I’m betting the same with TV app.
I think they hate their customers now.
There is probably a minor benefit in programming/indexing the files and it goes back to the original Steve Job’s philosophy of the computer as appliance/black box in 1984.
Updated, everything should now come from the internet (preferably from their store), and the user should never have to know how the “magic” works.
Fewer and fewer options, more and more “big brother Apple knows best” (which as ALWAYS been their attitude, so actually ending up the reverse of that 1984 ad campaign.
I have grown to hate the company which made the products I spent my life supporting at a university and teaching others to use.
Well, heck. I am an iPod Shuffle user, downloading my podcasts to my Shuffle. Not anymore! Unless someone will help me out. Maybe I need to join this century? I liked my system, but alas, no more. Please and thanks for any help.
Hi Ann,
When you connect your iPod Shuffle to your Mac with macOS Catalina, does it show up under Locations in the Finder app?
Hi
I have a large podcast archive in iTunes some of which no longer have an RSS feed
I am concerned that the new Podcasts app seems to move and rename all of the files to something unintelligible as mentioned here
https://kirkville.com/locations-of-media-files-in-macos-catalina/
Can you spread any more light on what happens in the upgrade process ?
The article seems to suggest the are moved to a ‘cached’ folder which to me suggests that Apple now considers podcast files temporary in nature and can be freely deleted at anytime
This is not what I want when/if I upgrade to catalina
Thanks