How to download a podcast episode as an MP3

Downloads in a podcast app

The download button in a podcast app saves the episode for listening offline in that app. On Spotify, free accounts can download podcasts, and you have to go online at least once every 30 days to keep your downloads.^[1] That's what you want for a flight. If you need the file itself, to keep, edit or play somewhere else, get it from the show's feed.

Get the MP3 from the show's RSS feed

A podcast is published as an RSS feed, and each episode in it carries an <enclosure> with three parts: url, where the file is; length, its size in bytes; and type, such as audio/mpeg for an MP3.^[2] Apple requires one on every episode it lists.^[3]

1. 1
   Find the show's feed. Paste its Apple Podcasts or Spotify link, or its name, into the podcast RSS feed finder.
2. 2
   Open the feed address in a browser. Episodes are listed newest first, each inside an <item>.
3. 3
   Find the episode's title, then the <enclosure url="…"> below it, and copy the address.
4. 4
   Open that address. The browser plays or downloads the file; to save it, use Save As or the download button.

Some feeds send the file through a tracking address first, so the address may not end in .mp3. It still leads to the same file.

Download just one part

To save one moment rather than the whole hour, paste the episode into BitePods, set the start and the end, and press Download clip. It cuts an MP3 of up to ten minutes from the show's own MP3 file. Shows that publish another format are shared as a link instead.

Which way to use

When there's no MP3 to get

A show that is only on Spotify has no public feed, so there's no file to download outside the app. Some paid feeds use a private address tied to your subscription; don't share it. And an episode belongs to the show: saving it to listen to is fine, putting it up somewhere else is not.