Update: in meantime Google has rolled out changes to their backend which make this tool redundant. Now, Google Podcasts URL’s shared via its Android App are automatically redirected to their web counterpart when run on desktop.

In the sea of podcast apps, I’ve settled for one that’s only available as an Android App.

Since all my music is there, my first option was Spotify, but unfortunately it doesn’t have some of my favorite Podcasts, such as The Joe Rogan Experience or Cyber – Motherboard (Vice) and etc … Pocket Casts seemed to have everything I wanted, but I didn’t want to pay for it, regardless of how little it cost.

So that’s how I ended up with Google Podcasts, which had everything I wanted except the desktop app. Which would normally be a deal breaker, but it wasn’t since there was a hack to get it working on desktop.

Which involved copying the podcast URL from Google Podcasts Android app. Modifying the URL, and then copy-pasting that link in a web browser. However, if you’re switching from listening to your podcast on your phone to your desktop, it gets very tedious modifying the URL each time.

Hence the idea for google-podcasts-desktop was born, which allows you to simply paste the URL and let it deal with making a desktop/web friendly URL and opening a new tab for you.

Of course, this is still far from being perfect, as process still involves copying the URL to note app of your choice. But project is licensed under GPL 3 open source license, and I welcome any changes and ideas you may have to make it better.

google-podcasts-desktop on GitHub

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