Play podcasts on your Chromebook with Gpodder

There aren’t any native podcast apps for Chrome OS. However, if you need one to enjoy your favorite podcasts, don’t worry! Thanks to Linux support on Chrome OS, you can install a Linux podcast app to play your favorite podcasts.

How to enable Linux support on your Chromebook

Gpodder is a Linux app, and you’ll need to enable Linux support on your Chromebook to install it. Thankfully, enabling Linux support on Chrome OS is easy. To do it, start by launching your settings window.

You can launch the Chrome OS settings window by selecting the clock, then clicking on the “Gear” icon. Once in the settings area, scroll down and locate “Advanced”. Then, click on the arrow next to it to reveal the options.

Look through the “Advanced” options for the “Developers” section. Once inside the “Developers” section, find the “Install Linux” button, and click on it with the mouse. When you select this button, it will download and install a Debian container for you to use on Chrome OS. This process will take a while to complete.

When the container is done installing and setting everything up, it will automatically launch a terminal window. In this terminal window, run the apt update command. This command will check for updates in the container.

sudo apt update

Once you’ve checked for updates, run the apt upgrade command to install all pending upgrades.

sudo apt upgrade

With all updates installed in the container, Linux is ready to use on your Chromebook.

How to install Gpodder on Chrome OS

The Gpodder app is installable on Chrome OS through the terminal. To install the app on your Chromebook, open up the terminal. You can launch the terminal by searching for “Terminal” in the Chrome OS app menu.

After opening up the Chrome OS terminal app, find “penguin” and click on it. “Penguin” is the default name for the Linux container on Chrome OS. When you’ve selected “penguin,” you will be able to use the terminal prompt.

In the terminal prompt, type in apt install for the package “gpodder.”

sudo apt install gpodder

When you enter the command above, the terminal will collect all the packages and dependencies required to install Gpodder. It’ll then ask you to press the Y key to continue. Do so to continue and soon the Gpodder application will be installed.

Once you’ve finished in the terminal, the Gpodder app will be available to use on your Chromebook via the “Linux apps” folder.

How to create a Gpodder account

Gpodder doesn’t require an account to use, however, you should create one as it allows you to back up your subscriptions and restore them. To create an account, head over to the Gpodder website, and click on the “Register” button.

Note: a Gpodder account isn’t required for this tutorial. However, it makes things much easier, should you choose to use it.

Once you’ve selected the “Register” button, enter your username in the “Username” box, your email in the “Email Address” box, and your password in both password boxes. Click on the “Register” button to register your account.

Check your email account to activate your Gpodder account. When you’ve activated it, you can add your podcasts to Gpodder.net, and you’ll be able to use this account in the Gpodder app on your Chromebook to back up your podcasts.

How to add subscriptions to Gpodder

To add subscriptions to Gpodder on your Chromebook, launch the Gpodder app. When you open it up for the first time, you will see “Welcome to gPodder.” From here, you can select either “Choose from a list of example podcasts,” “Add a podcast by entering its URL,” or “Restore my subscriptions from gpodder.net.”

Select “Add a podcast by entering its URL.” Then, paste in the RSS feed for your favorite podcast. If you have a Gpodder account, select that option instead and download your podcasts from your Gpodder account.

Once you’ve added a podcast to Gpodder, it will refresh the podcast and show you episodes that are available for download. Download the episodes you wish to listen to.

How to listen to podcasts

You will need to install an audio player on your Chromebook to listen to podcasts in Gpodder. Open up the Chrome OS terminal, and select “penguin.” Then, use the apt install command to install the Audacious audio player.