iLounge

bababooey182 · 07-13-2005, 06:12 PM

Before I started listening to podcasts, I just always played music in shuffle mode. Now in iTunes 4.9 I've subscribed to multiple podcasts. I want to put several podcasts on my shuffle, then fill the rest of the space with music.

I clear my shuffle, then drag-and-drop the podcasts I want to listen to *in the order I want*, then autofill with music.

The problem is that the podcasts are not played in order on the shuffle. When I turn on the shuffle directly to play-in-order mode, it does play the podcasts, but not in the order I put them on the shuffle. I've also confirmed this by triple-clicking the play button to go back to the top of the shuffle's files, and the first one it plays is not the first one I loaded.

Any ideas?

mrqcho · 07-14-2005, 11:47 AM

I have the exact same problem.
I usually have in my shuffle an audiobook on the first spot in the playlist as a first item, for convenience, and three-times-play-tap access whenever.

Now, I add the podcasts after said audiobook for convenience as well, but whenever I add podcasts now, they are not in the right order, and they even take away my audiobook spot at first (when it clearly is at first on the playlist when i sync it with iTunes.

anyone else experiencing this problem?

chrisleeuk · 07-22-2005, 10:55 AM

Yes with itunes 4.9 and my shuffle life is still random, even with shuffle mode off.

Any attempts to re-order the files in Itunes and then update the shuffle makes no difference.

I just can't figure out what its sorting files on, anyone else got any ideas?

I am using Windows.

mrqcho · 07-28-2005, 10:53 AM

does anybody else have this problem?
do any of you listen to podcasts in the shuffle.

This is really really annoying.

bababooey182 · 07-28-2005, 11:37 AM

A while ago I saw some threads on one of the apple forums about this. (Apparently only certain classes of accounts in ilounge can put http links in messages, so I can't post a link here. But it was somewhere in http-discussions dot info dot apple dot com.)

Anyway, as you're aware, the only way to get podcasts onto the shuffle is drag and drop. But the thread said that regardless of the order you place them on the shuffle, iTunes reorders them in chronological order based on the podcast show date. (I don't know if that is a shuffle-specific thing or not.)

So after seeing that information, I think I've found it to be true. All podcasts get put on my shuffle in order of their show date. This wouldn't be too bad if I only subscribed to one podcast. But when you subscribe to multiple podcasts, they get interleaved based on their show dates.

If you subscribe to podcasts A, B, and C, and you drag/drop all episodes of all podcasts to your shuffle, depending on the show dates and times, you'll get something like this:

B1
A1
B2
B3
C1
A2
C2
C3
A3

It's annoying, but at least now that I know the pattern I have a better chance of blindly finding the particular podcast I want to listen to.

John

chrisleeuk · 08-01-2005, 05:27 AM

Based on some investigation (both myself and other posts) this appears to be the case, at least on my Windows itunes running on XP...

1. Podcasts are treated differently on the Shuffle. Regardless of the Sort order you set in itunes they always appear at the start of the playlist on the actual device.

2. The Shuffle does not always follow the playlist order shown in the list. However if you right click on the ipod in the source list and select 'Copy to Play Order' all music will be correctly ordered, Podcasts however will still be at the start.

3. I have a partial fix for the Podcast ordering issue. The solution is to add the podcasts to your library. The disadvantage is that your podcasts will be mixed with your regular library. You can use smart play lists to get around this disadvantage.

GETTING PODCASTS INTO THE LIBRARY...

NOTE: Don't try selecting and dragging your podcasts to the library it does not work correctly. Instead..

On the File Menu select 'Add Folder To Library...'

Browse to the location of your music folder and inside this find a folder called 'Podcasts'

Select the folder and click OK.

Now your podcasts are in the library, but you will need to do this again periodically when new podcasts are added.

Now you can copy your Podcasts from your Library into the shuffle and they will now appear in the correct order (providing you remember to select 'copy to play order option' as described above.

PODCASTS IN THE LIBRARY A PAIN.

It can be a pain having all your podcasts shown in the library with your music and Podcasts mixed up.

To solve this simply create two smart play lists (File Menu, 'New Smart Play List'
) the first just for podcasts, you can use a rule such as..

Genre CONTAINS Podcast

For the music smart search use something like..

Genre DOES NOT CONTAIN Podcast.

So now you can view your Music and Podcasts in seperate playlists and you can still browse by selecting 'Edit' 'Show Browser' from the menu.

OTHER STUFF

Personally I like to see the new podcasts that I might want to copy, and not stuff I have listened to. To do this I created another smart play list...

Genre STARTS WITH Podcast
PlayCount IS LESS THAN 1
Grouping DOES NOT CONTAIN HidePodcast

The grouping part allows me to hide certain podcasts I want to keep but not listen to right now..

Because I can't be bothered to copy the podcasts I have started working on a little application that will automate the transfer of podcasts to the library. The other thing it does is automatically convert high bit rate MP3's to lower bit rate AAC's which in some cases can half the size of the Podcasts. This gives me more space on the humble shuffle.

Hope this is not too confusing.

mrqcho · 08-01-2005, 05:40 AM

though this is not concerned to this thread, but you helped me with my issue, i gotta tell you, i actually already made an application that does what you need.

basically, i give it the root folder of my music.

It searches all my library first, to check on songs that are missing (renamed and the filename changed [iTunes wouldn't be able to get to it], and deletes those, after that it searches the root and all the subfolders of my music folder, and adds whatever it finds that is music that is not on my library)

It's basically an iTunes sync feature, which it doesn't have.

It is pretty neat, and I even added a window at the end, that tells you how many songs it deleted, and how many it added.

I'll post the source code here, if somebody wants to transfer it to vbs so it can be runnable.

I made it on Javascript, and run it through a program that runs it, but it should be transferable.

In case anyone is interested.

07-13-2005, 06:12 PM	#1
bababooey182 Freshman Lounger Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Seattle, USA Posts: 21	iPod shuffle, podcasts, and play order? Before I started listening to podcasts, I just always played music in shuffle mode. Now in iTunes 4.9 I've subscribed to multiple podcasts. I want to put several podcasts on my shuffle, then fill the rest of the space with music. I clear my shuffle, then drag-and-drop the podcasts I want to listen to in the order I want, then autofill with music. The problem is that the podcasts are not played in order on the shuffle. When I turn on the shuffle directly to play-in-order mode, it does play the podcasts, but not in the order I put them on the shuffle. I've also confirmed this by triple-clicking the play button to go back to the top of the shuffle's files, and the first one it plays is not the first one I loaded. Any ideas?

07-22-2005, 10:55 AM	#3
chrisleeuk Freshman Lounger Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 10	Same Here. Yes with itunes 4.9 and my shuffle life is still random, even with shuffle mode off. Any attempts to re-order the files in Itunes and then update the shuffle makes no difference. I just can't figure out what its sorting files on, anyone else got any ideas? I am using Windows.

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search
Display Modes	Rate This Thread
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode	Rate This Thread:

iLounge

Topic: iPod shuffle, podcasts, and play order?

Topic: iPod shuffle, podcasts, and play order?

		iLounge Forums » iPod & iPhone Discussions » iPod shuffle
iPod shuffle, podcasts, and play order?

07-14-2005, 11:47 AM	#2
mrqcho Junior Lounger Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 40	I have the exact same problem. I usually have in my shuffle an audiobook on the first spot in the playlist as a first item, for convenience, and three-times-play-tap access whenever. Now, I add the podcasts after said audiobook for convenience as well, but whenever I add podcasts now, they are not in the right order, and they even take away my audiobook spot at first (when it clearly is at first on the playlist when i sync it with iTunes. anyone else experiencing this problem?

07-28-2005, 10:53 AM	#4
mrqcho Junior Lounger Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 40	does anybody else have this problem? do any of you listen to podcasts in the shuffle. This is really really annoying.

07-28-2005, 11:37 AM	#5
bababooey182 Freshman Lounger Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Seattle, USA Posts: 21	A while ago I saw some threads on one of the apple forums about this. (Apparently only certain classes of accounts in ilounge can put http links in messages, so I can't post a link here. But it was somewhere in http-discussions dot info dot apple dot com.) Anyway, as you're aware, the only way to get podcasts onto the shuffle is drag and drop. But the thread said that regardless of the order you place them on the shuffle, iTunes reorders them in chronological order based on the podcast show date. (I don't know if that is a shuffle-specific thing or not.) So after seeing that information, I think I've found it to be true. All podcasts get put on my shuffle in order of their show date. This wouldn't be too bad if I only subscribed to one podcast. But when you subscribe to multiple podcasts, they get interleaved based on their show dates. If you subscribe to podcasts A, B, and C, and you drag/drop all episodes of all podcasts to your shuffle, depending on the show dates and times, you'll get something like this: B1 A1 B2 B3 C1 A2 C2 C3 A3 It's annoying, but at least now that I know the pattern I have a better chance of blindly finding the particular podcast I want to listen to. John

08-01-2005, 05:27 AM	#6
chrisleeuk Freshman Lounger Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 10	Based on some investigation (both myself and other posts) this appears to be the case, at least on my Windows itunes running on XP... 1. Podcasts are treated differently on the Shuffle. Regardless of the Sort order you set in itunes they always appear at the start of the playlist on the actual device. 2. The Shuffle does not always follow the playlist order shown in the list. However if you right click on the ipod in the source list and select 'Copy to Play Order' all music will be correctly ordered, Podcasts however will still be at the start. 3. I have a partial fix for the Podcast ordering issue. The solution is to add the podcasts to your library. The disadvantage is that your podcasts will be mixed with your regular library. You can use smart play lists to get around this disadvantage. GETTING PODCASTS INTO THE LIBRARY... NOTE: Don't try selecting and dragging your podcasts to the library it does not work correctly. Instead.. On the File Menu select 'Add Folder To Library...' Browse to the location of your music folder and inside this find a folder called 'Podcasts' Select the folder and click OK. Now your podcasts are in the library, but you will need to do this again periodically when new podcasts are added. Now you can copy your Podcasts from your Library into the shuffle and they will now appear in the correct order (providing you remember to select 'copy to play order option' as described above. PODCASTS IN THE LIBRARY A PAIN. It can be a pain having all your podcasts shown in the library with your music and Podcasts mixed up. To solve this simply create two smart play lists (File Menu, 'New Smart Play List' ) the first just for podcasts, you can use a rule such as.. Genre CONTAINS Podcast For the music smart search use something like.. Genre DOES NOT CONTAIN Podcast. So now you can view your Music and Podcasts in seperate playlists and you can still browse by selecting 'Edit' 'Show Browser' from the menu. OTHER STUFF Personally I like to see the new podcasts that I might want to copy, and not stuff I have listened to. To do this I created another smart play list... Genre STARTS WITH Podcast PlayCount IS LESS THAN 1 Grouping DOES NOT CONTAIN HidePodcast The grouping part allows me to hide certain podcasts I want to keep but not listen to right now.. Because I can't be bothered to copy the podcasts I have started working on a little application that will automate the transfer of podcasts to the library. The other thing it does is automatically convert high bit rate MP3's to lower bit rate AAC's which in some cases can half the size of the Podcasts. This gives me more space on the humble shuffle. Hope this is not too confusing.

08-01-2005, 05:40 AM	#7
mrqcho Junior Lounger Join Date: Jul 2005 Posts: 40	though this is not concerned to this thread, but you helped me with my issue, i gotta tell you, i actually already made an application that does what you need. basically, i give it the root folder of my music. It searches all my library first, to check on songs that are missing (renamed and the filename changed [iTunes wouldn't be able to get to it], and deletes those, after that it searches the root and all the subfolders of my music folder, and adds whatever it finds that is music that is not on my library) It's basically an iTunes sync feature, which it doesn't have. It is pretty neat, and I even added a window at the end, that tells you how many songs it deleted, and how many it added. I'll post the source code here, if somebody wants to transfer it to vbs so it can be runnable. I made it on Javascript, and run it through a program that runs it, but it should be transferable. In case anyone is interested.