How to change the location of downloaded podcasts

Background

Several Android devices offer support for multiple storage cards - usually one internal (non-removable) and one external (removable). Currently Android provides an official support for only one storage card, and each device exposes the second storage card in a slightly different way.

On some devices the external storage card is exposed (mounted) as "Read Only" and that has some implications on how it can be used to store downloaded episodes (see the box below). It also appears that as devices are being upgraded to Android 4.4 KitKat most manufacturers are starting to make the External SD card ReadOnly.

We recommend to always use the Internal SD card as it is universally supported across all devices and versions of Android. Also, when using the Internal SD card, podcasts episodes are downloaded to a public folder that remains after BeyondPod is uninstalled.

On devices running Android KitKat, applications are not allowed to write to public folders on the External SD card - they can use only a single, "application specific" folder. While this folder can be used to download episodes, a side effect of using this "application specific" folder for downloading episodes is that if you uninstall BeyondPod, everything that is stored in this folder (feeds, settings and downloaded episodes) WILL BE DELETED.

If you expect your device to be upgraded to KitKat, we recommend to wait and switch to the External SD card after it is upgraded.

If your device was recently upgraded to KitKat and the External SD card has become ReadOnly, please check the following FAQ for more information.

If you still want to use the External SD Card:

  • BeyondPod Settings > General Settings > Podcast Download Folder

As part of the switch, BeyondPod will move all downloaded episodes from your current location to the new (external) location. You can use the same process to move the download folder back to the internal SD card if needed.

Troubleshooting

If "Podcast Download Folder" option above is disabled, then your device exposes the External Storage Card in a different location that is unknown to BeyondPod. In this case, you have to manually specify its location. Here is how you can pick any folder on your device. For example if the External Storage Card is exposed as /mnt/my_sdcard Use: BeyondPod Settings > Menu (press Menu key) > Advanced Settings. Under "Episode Download Path" enter the path to the External Storage Card (/mnt/my_sdcard in this case).

At the end of the move process, BeyondPod will restart in order to switch to the new location. On some devices this restart may not fully complete and your episodes can show up as "streamable" (not downloaded). In this case simply restart your phone to ensure that everything is restarted completely.

On some devices you may need to move BeyondPod App itself to the external SD card before changing the podcast download location to the external SD card. To move BeyondPod App to the external SD card, go to Android Settings > Applications (or Application Manager), select BeyondPod and then tap on Move to SD card. Once BeyondPod is moved on the SD card you can change the podcast download folder (as described above).