posted by jlepo on May 28, 2012 | 4 comments
I've been a member for a couple years.

Over the past several months I notice that my podcast downloads come with a notice, paraphrasing here: ‘If you subscribe you can get transcripts, yada yada yada....” and the usual pinyin and Chinese characters are not delivered to my iPhone. I can log onto popupchinese.com and see I am a Premium member. I tried unsubscribing and then re-subscribed by manually pasting the link into iTunes. It did not correct the problem. It’s a minor irritation, but often seeing the Pinyin on the screen helps me understand and pronounce.
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trevelyan on May 28, 2012 | reply
Hey Joe,

I thought I emailed you back -- let me double check. Just to provide an answer here in case others are having the same problem -- the only mp3s that should have that notice embedded in the lyrics section are those MP3s download from the free iTunes feed.

So my best guess without knowing the details is that you are somehow still downloading from the free iTunes feed instead of your own personal subscriber feed. I've double-checked for your account by downloading a sample podcast from your premium feed, and can confirm that the file is getting tagged with the transcript in the lyrics space: pinyin and english according to your display preferences. I will follow-up by email about this in a bit.

Best,

--david

jlepo on May 28, 2012 | reply
Yep David,

Thanks for such a prompt response.

I do think this is a function of my iTunes incompetency or else dysfunctional communication between iTunes and my iPhone and iPad devices. I subscribe to several other popcasts and one newscast has similar problems: it sends them to my computer where I can listen and watch but fails to synch with iPhone and iPad. This symptom is similar to what I am experiencing with Sinica and Popupchinese.

Thank you so much for your help!

Best,

Joe
trevelyan on May 28, 2012 | reply
Joe,

I've just sent off an email with a description of how I tried to debug this on my end, along with instructions on how to resubscribe to your premium feed in iTunes. I think this will solve things for you. Sorry again for the delay in getting back to you.

Best,

--david

seamus5 on May 28, 2012 | reply
David, is there a general notice about this? I actually didn't know this was possible or an issue. I am sure that I am signed up for the free feed... In fact, I just checked and I am... And had no idea a private feed was an option! So having this info would be helpful as I agree with Joe, it is great having that info imbedded into the cast!