iCloud doesn't like ChinesePod
psamet
July 04, 2015, 12:19 AM posted in General DiscussionSo I primarily listen to ChinesePod using the Music app on my iPhone. I download the podcasts from the site and then sync them to my phone via iTunes. I like this method because I can keep them organized in playlists, and having them offline doesn't eat up my phone's data limit.
As you may know, Apple recently released their new streaming music service. In order to take full advantage of this, I switched on the iCloud Music Library option on my phone. HUGE MISTAKE. I lost nearly all of my CP podcasts, because they are apparently not elligible for iCloud. Moreover, I could no longer sync any new podcasts to my phone the old-fashioned way. So I had to turn off iCloud.
Has anyone run into this problem? Is there a way to keep both iCloud and my ChinesePod library? Or is there a better way to listen to CP podcasts (offline, mind you) without going through iTunes?
psamet
Thanks, though I found another workaround by abandoning iTunes altogether. I'm now transferring podcasts to my phone via Dropbox. I can then download them using a document reader app (in my case, Documents). I was skeptical that Documents' interface would be suitable for audio, but I was pleasantly surprised. It organizes content in folders, has a shuffle mode, and retains metadata (not the transcript, I don't think, but at least the name and level of the lesson).
Gwilym-ChinesePod
I found a fix for the iCloud library thing. It's because our downloads are mp3's whereas apple uses AAC. What you can do is highlight the songs, convert to AAC by clicking the second button (you can configure conversion type and quality in preferences>General>import settings.
Once they are converted they should upload to the cloud.
On your phone, make sure iCloud Music is switched on in Settings>Music.
This way, all your custom playlists for ChinesePod will show on the new Music app on your phone without you having to do any syncing. Tap the lesson artwork to see the written dialogue.
I also suggest using iTunes' smart playlist function. You can auto group tracks into playlists by finding key words such as grouping = intermediate or album = dialogue. This way you don't need to do any dragging and dropping to organise your lessons.
Alternatively you can use Google Music which I also recommend. It's free, has an uploader for iTunes, and will play on any device inc iOS.
psamet
Gwilym, Your fix worked like a charm. And I never thought about the smart playlists before. It's genius. I can even adjust the "Date Added" parameter to group my current lessons (and archive dialogues). Makes things so much easier. Thanks!
Gwilym-ChinesePod
Yeah the great thing is that you could have many many different smart playlists and it still takes up the same amount of space. I'll write an article with a pictorial guide on our support site.
Gwilym-ChinesePod
I created a quick picture guide on our support site in case anyone else faces similar problems with the whole iCloud/Apple music thing :)
Using ChinesePod With New ICloud/Apple Music Services
psamet
Thanks, Gwilym!
podster
July 05, 2015, 02:05 PMre: "HUGE MISTAKE. I lost nearly all of my CP podcasts, because they are apparently not elligible for iCloud."
I don't have an answer to your problem, and I am not using iCloud Music Library. That said, you may be able to solve the problem by re-classifying your CPod content as "music" in your library instead of "podcast." You would have to do it one-by-one for each file though, I think. This solved a similar-sounding problem that we had with iTunes and the iTunes Library a while back.