I was finally able to try Sandy’s suggestion, and it works, bringing the MP3 files into Pod Wrangler as podcasts. They appear under “Local MP3 Files” on the main menu. This means:
- While playing back, I can skip backward and forward by using the “<<” and “>>” buttons.
- Pod Wrangler remembered where I stopped listening when exiting the app, and started playing from that point when I went back in.
I haven’t worked out an easier way to do it yet, so for now I will follow these steps when a new MAPP show comes out. Note that Pod Wrangler is only available for iOS; I used BeyondPod on Android years ago, and it probably still supports the handling of local MP3 files as podcasts.
The steps for Pod Wrangler on iOS are:
- On computer, log into the Podcacher Clubhouse and go to the Listener Lounge.
- Click the link for “MAPP Show #XX”.
- Right-click on the “Listen to the Show” link and select “Copy link address” (Chrome) or “Copy link location: (Firefox) from the popup menu. I use Linux, so I’m not sure what it’s called in Internet Explorer or the new browser that comes with Windows 10.
- Paste that link into an email to myself.
- Open the email on phone or tablet and copy the link to the clipboard (on iOS 8, tap the link and hold until the pop-up menu appears, then select “Copy”).
- Open Pod Wrangler and tap “Add”, then “Add by MP3 file”. The URL box should be automatically filled with the URL copied in step 3.
- Tap the “Add” button.
The MAPP show will now appear under “Local MP3 Files” on the main menu. Note that what you see in the list is the MP3 file name, which doesn’t include the MAPP show number, so you can’t tell which is which if you have more than one show.
It’s not nearly as easy as listening to a regular show that comes through the podcast feed, but it only takes a couple of minutes, and it’s worth it to me to be able to go back and pick a show up where I stopped listening, and to back up and listen to the last 15 or 30 seconds if I got distracted for a bit.