Sharing Podcast Subscriptions Using OPML

The S60 Podcasting application is one of my favorite apps for downloading great audio and video. I listen to and watch Podcasts on my commute from work and home almost every day. I was happy when I heard that new Nseries devices, such as N95 8GB and N81, have the Podcasting application pre-installed! =)

Wouldn’t you like an easy way to share the Podcasts that you subscribed to with friends or send them all to your new S60 device from your previous S60 device?
Below I’ll describe in a few steps how you can do it.

- Step 1. install the Podcasting application on your new S60 device, if you have not done so already you can download it from the S60 Podcasting page. (Note: N95 8GB, N81, and other future Nseries devices have the Podcasting application pre-installed.)
- Step 2. open the Podcasting application on the S60 device that you have subscribed to Podcasts on and select the Podcasts folder. This is where all of the Podcasts you have subscribed to are listed.
- Step 3. In this step you will select the Podcast Feeds that you want to share. To select all of the subscribed Podcasts press Options -> Mark -> Mark All. This will place a check next to each of your Subscribed Podcasts. Alternatively you can just place a check next to only the Podcasts you want to send using the Options -> Mark menu selection or by pressing the Edit (Pencil Key or # Key for newer devices that don’t have the Pencil Key available such as N81) to place a check next to the Podcasts.
- Step 4. The next step is to send these selected Podcast Feeds to the other device. To do this simply press Options -> Send -> Via Bluetooth (or Via MMS). Then press Yes when asked if you want to Send the selected podcasts. Use Bluetooth in the case where the new S60 device is physically nearby, or use MMS when sending to an S60 device that is not nearby (for example, use MMS to send your Podcast Subscriptions to a friend that lives a few houses or blocks away.) With the case of Bluetooth make sure that both the sending and receiving devices have their Bluetooth set to On and Visible in order to make the process smoother.
- Step 5. When the sending is done, the next step is to import the Podcast feeds. On the device you sent the Podcasts to, an OPML file will be in the Inbox of the Messaging application. Open the OPML file and you will be asked, “Import OPML file to Podcasting directories?” Say yes to the question and a preview of the Directories listing in the Podcasting application will be shown. (Note: if the S60 Podcasting application is not yet installed this step won’t be possible.)
- Step 6. Back out from the Directories preview and then open the Podcasting application. Open the Directories folder and you’ll notice a new folder called Received. In this folder are all of the Podcast Subscriptions that were sent to you.
- Step 7. Now just open the Received folder and Subscribe to what Podcasts interest you. To Subscribe to all of them at once press Options -> Mark -> Mark All then press Options -> Subscribe.

Now that you know how to share your Podcast Subscriptions, go out and send some to your friends!

About OPML
Supporting OPML in the S60 Podcasting application has some great benefits including interoperability and openness with other systems. The reason it has good interoperability is because the OPML format is a standard file format that other Podcasting applications use. For example, I also sometimes use another program to download Podcasts on my work desktop, it’s called Juice (formerly iPodder) and is available for Windows or Mac. Juice has the option to Export or Import OPML files. Using OPML I can subscribe to my favorite Podcasts easily on S60 and PC.

I have exported my Podcast Subscriptions from Juice and uploaded the OPML file to OPMLManager, a site that allows you to share and host OPML files.

Feel free to use my OPML file to subscribe to some of my favorite Podcasts or to try out Importing an OPML file from the File Manager with S60 Podcasting.