Download lessons directly to iPhone

[R3belD0gg]

Hello, I am a returning member from several years ago. I recently decided to start learning Japanese again and I really enjoyed the lessons here (Hoping Peter and Naomi-sensei are still around!) Anyway, I figure I really should brush up and just plow through absolute beginner stuff to get started.

First off, I really like the design of the site. I haven't had a chance to poke around much, but it seems to be an improvement from when I was here last. Can't wait to refamiliarize myself with everything. I remember loving the audio dictionary here.

Anyway, my question is about downloading lessons directly to my iPhone. The large portion of my listening will be done on my phone as I'm a trucker and have lots of time to listen while driving. I see that I can access the mobile site and stream content, but that will kill my data plan and battery. Is there any way to download at least the audio (and maybe video?) if not all of the transcripts, etc... without using iTunes on my PC? I can't see a way to access the premium feed through the iPhone podcast app or access older lessons.

I don't see an app in the App Store, except "Word Power" which I went ahead and DL'ed, but it seems to just show the mobile site with no options to download...

I guess for now I'll just download through iTunes and transfer to the phone but I'm hoping there is a way to bypass that seemingly unnecessary step.

Sorry if this is a dumb question, I'm sure the answer is somewhere on the site but I'm getting a bit sleepy and probably missed it. Thanks!

[NoelHauser]

Hello R3belDOgg San

Welcome back to Japanesepod101.com! About your question, I recently found a way to do just that! You will need a premium membership though, to gain access to the "my feed" feature. From there you can customize exactly which lesson series you want to receive, lets say, beginner season 1. After following the steps provided you'll have your own custom feed to subscribe to.
Now the iPhone podcast app leaves much to be desired but there is another app on the store called "Downcast". It's a paid app but is really worth the 2 or 3 dollar price tag. Once you have installed this, add your custom premium feed to the list of podcasts and download away! All the lessons from your chosen series will be listed there and you can download them directly to your iPhone! No iTunes involved at all! This app works really well with 3G or wifi and you can customize it fully. The best part is that it allows you to arrange your podcasts in alphabetic order, something that is impossible in iTunes or in the native podcast app.

Well, this has really helped me so I hope this helps you too!

Happy studies!
Noel

[R3belD0gg]

Thanks, I'm going to have to check that out. I looked at the "My Feed" thing but when I used it I only got the most recent lesson rather than the entire season. To be fair, I was kinda sleepy when I was doing it so I need to take another look.

For now, I'm just making playlists in iTunes after downloading all of the lesson audio, then making two more playlists, one all vocabulary and one all dialog. If that podcast app you suggested would allow me to create playlists like that, it would be perfect! I really don't like having to download 75 audio files for every season.

[Jaseysmail3934]

I'm having this same problem too. I'm using the MyFeed feature, and yet I'm unable to see the previous lessons from the seasons I've selected.

I don't want access to the most recent lesson. I want to be able to get the lessons from the season on the go :/
(On the upside, I got downcast and it seems to have added successfully, there's just no content on the feed)

[team.relationships]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for poiting out this issue.
I met this issue too when I tried to download some series, but I didn't manage to bypass the use of iTunes yet.
Noel 's solution seems to be the best I've read on this subject (thank you!).

I forward this topic to my team hoping they have a solution for you.
Thank you for your message and for coming back to us!

Feel free to ask us anything you need!
Have a nice language journey,

Mélanie
Team japanesePod101.com

[R3belD0gg]

I looked again tonight and it seems the problem is more with iTunes. I figured out how to add the feed and download all items, then transfer to the phone. It's not as easy as it should be, but that Apple's fault. The podcast app from Apple offers no way to see that feed like you do on the PC iTunes.
...
Just deleted the rant I just typed because, lying in bed about to go to sleep, I realized I was using the wrong link in the podcast app... The first link My Feed gives you is for iTunes. I read to enter the URL for the feed into the Apple podcast search bar to access RSS feeds... Will try again tomorrow after work, using the other link.

Need sleep... お休みなさい。

[R3belD0gg]

Just an update for anyone having this problem: Go to the site from your phone and view the full site, not the mobile site. Go to My Feed, do as you would on the PC/Mac. It will load into the podcast app, PDFs and all. Make sure to have a PDF reader.

[team.relationships]

Hello R3belD0gg !

Thank you a lot for finding out a solution and sharing it!
I hope you're enjoying our podcasts!
Feel free to ask us if you have any question.

Cheers,
Mélanie
Team JapanesePod101.com