Tip: Making ITPC links work with the official Podcasts app
My iPhone 5 arrived last Friday, and because my old iPhone 4 had gotten so cluttered with apps, I decided that instead of restoring from an old backup, I would go ahead and just start over completely.
Most of my important documents and logins are all stored in iCloud, so it wasn't a big problem to start from scratch. Doing so will allow me to cut back down on apps, making sure I only install the ones I'll use (at least to begin with). But one issue did present itself: Because I decided to no longer sync with my iTunes install on my Mac, I had to re-subscribe to all of my podcasts manually in Apple's new Podcasts app.
Most of those weren't an issue -- I mostly listen to famous podcasts like Adam Carolla's show and the Thrilling Adventure Hour. But a few of my podcasts are harder to find: They come only through ITPC links, which is a special browser protocol that will automatically subscribe you through iTunes when linked (with authentication where necessary, usually for premium content). I tried clicking on the ITPC links for my podcast in Mobile Safari, but Safari, unfortunately, doesn't recognize the link automatically. For a while, I worried that I'd have to sync up to iTunes just to subscribe to the few podcasts that use this authentication.
The solution? It turns out to be surprisingly easy: Just change the "itpc://..." specifier at the beginning of the URL to "feed://..." Instantly, when you load up that URL, iTunes will jump in and help you out. In fact, if you have the Podcasts app installed already (and if you regularly listen to podcasts, you should), the app itself will pop up, and load up the feed for you. It makes me wonder why the ITPC protocol itself isn't just supported in Mobile Safari, but nevermind. Changing the URL to "feed" will get you exactly what you're looking for.
