Hi, I like using downcast to listen to podcasts on my Mac.
I have never deliberately opened the native Podcasts app but it keeps popping up, seemingly at random times, and I can't work out what it's doing or what it wants from me. How can I stop that happening? I wonder if I need to choose some preferences somewhere to stop the native podcast app being default for anything.
I tried looking in the preferences in the Podcasts app but there doesn't seem to be very much there and nothing seems relevant.
Comments
The only thing I can think…
The only thing I can think of is activating a specific Apple podcasts link to the directory. Are you sure you're not visiting some site which is triggering that? Guess you need to look at Podcasts when it's open, at least after you've got past the initial privacy screens.
I didn't activate a link but will look again at the podcasts app
Ah, thanks for the suggestion. Well I definitely haven't followed any links to podcasts when this has happened. I'll try to look in the app window again next time it happens and see what it's actually doing. What are the privacy screens you mention?
Initial Screen
You'll know when you see it; it's a privacy reminder, not unlike the one that appears when you first open the Mac App Store, to the effect that Podcasts collects information. But once you press Continue and get past that and are on the main window, which will default to the Listen Now tab, you'll be able to see your predicted upcoming episodes or perhaps you'll find that you're on some show's specific catalog page and be able to make a guess as to what's happening. If you like, you can launch Podcasts yourself and see where you're at; it shouldn't interfere with any other app you're using.
The only thing which seems to be focused is browse
Hi,
I'm looking at the podcasts app again after it seemingly randomly opened (I have not clicked a link for this to happen). There doesn't seem to be any particular podcast focused. In the sidebar there are various things and the one which is selected is "browse". I thought I would check in the library section to see what is in there but I can't figure out how to actually select that.
I interact with the sidebar and try pressing on it with quick NAV on (pressing up and down arrows together) or trying pressing enter on it with quick NAV off but nothing seems to select it - VoiceOver is still always saying "browse selected" and I can't get it to say "library selected". Is there something very basic I'm missing about how to select things from the sidebar? If I knew how to select things from the sidebar perhaps I could check the library to figure out what it thinks is in my library so I can figure out why it keeps popping up.
This being a Catalyst app, I…
This being a Catalyst app, I'm afraid you have to expect and tolerate some less-than-ideal performance from VoiceOver. However, it ought to be sufficient to interact with the sidebar, then VO-left and VO-right to find the tab you want, then press VO-space (or use similar numpad or TrackPad gestures) to select it. Then stop interacting and explore the other views in that window. Listen Now is the place to find recently-played episodes, and the options under Library to find subscriptions and downloads. Note that the heading, itself, isn't selectable; it's the options underneath that are.
Good luck, and follow up if you need.