Podcast Won’t Sync
Sometimes when I sync my iPod (6th Gen 80GB iPod Classic) I get messages that say a certain “podcast is not syncing because the video format is not supported by my iPod”. I don’t get it. Podcasts are designed for iPods I thought, so if the format is not compatible for an iPod, then what is it compatible for??? Is there a setting I need to change in my iPod/iTunes?
Podcasts use something called RSS feeds (Really Simple Syndication). RSS was designed to provide a way for people to get the entertainment and information you want, where you want it and when you want it.
iPods are just one of those ways to get your content. Podcasts can be formatted in a variety of ways, including iPods, Apple TV, iPhone, Zune, xBox, etc.
Some podcasts offer multiple feeds, some podcasts offer just one feed. For examples of different feeds, take a look at this page where I talk about the different options for watching GeekBrief.TV. The amount of feeds offered will depend on how the producer thinks their audience watches the show, and how much time they’re able to put into post production.
If a show offers only one option, and that doesn’t work on your iPod, you have a couple options. You could ask them to provide an iPod format, or you could take the format they provide and convert it using software.
iSquint is a great free option for getting files onto your iPod. Visual Hub is what I use for more flexibility. Windows users can use Videora.
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Thanks so much Cali for addressing my question. I appreciate your time & effort. As always your information is first rate! :)
Thank you for having so many different formats of GeekBrief available! Sometimes I just want to watch the show online (at work.. heh) and sometimes I want to download them to my ipod to watch on the go. :)
I have experienced the same thing and frankly if they can’t provide it in an iPod compatible format I’m not going to watch given that the iPod is the most popular mp4 format.
I have had experiences where some podcasts - Mahalo Daily is one - are generally compatible but every now and again one episode won’t download to my iPod. This is annoying but normally means I unsubscribe from the show rather if I do anything at all. I figure they need to get it right not expect me to do something to convert to a compatible format. There’s always another show out there :)
@Bernadette I have to say, we’ve had our share of episodes going out with a mistake. I understand the frustration, but just know that it’s definitely not intentional when a show delivers an episode that isn’t playable on the iPod. I can only speak for myself, but if that ever happens, we have it fixed within a hour.
I don’t understand why they have them in the itunes store and they don’t work on my ipod… with certain ones it tells me it doesn’t work with my ipod nano but sometimes they just don’t sync to my ipod :( It’s strange because it’s in the same video format as other podcasts that work on my ipod.