Passage: Podcasts & Books Help

Coming soon. Passage: Podcasts & Books has not been released. This manual previews the current development version. Controls and launch availability may change; features still in qualification are identified in their guides.

Passage brings rule-based podcast follows, personal audiobook files, flexible playback, and optional private iCloud sync into one listening library. Start with the basics or jump directly to the part you want to understand.

Start listening

• Getting Started: A first listening session: find a show, choose a follow, download audio, and understand the main library areas.
• Discovery, RSS, and Recommendations: Find podcasts through charts, directory search, direct feeds, publisher collections, and show recommendations.
• Following Podcasts: Follow all episodes or create several named, rule-based follows from one publisher feed.
• Episode Rules and Examples: Exact include/exclude logic, text matching, duration thresholds, patterns, and practical recipes for named follows.
• Playlists, Collections, and Up Next: Combine dynamic follows and individual items, understand queue scope, and return to starred or unfinished listening.

Shape playback

• Playback and Per-Show Settings: Speed, skip intervals, sleep timer, global defaults, show overrides, and preferred episode audio sources.
• Voice Enhance and Volume Leveling: Understand Passage’s single voice-treatment switch, independent loudness control, show overrides, and sensible listening comparisons.
• Smart Seek and Likely Ads: How repeated-audio evidence informs skips, optional automatic skipping, undo, exact-file safety, and detection limits.
• Gap Reduction: Development Preview: Off, Mild, Medium, and Aggressive pause controls, their purpose, and the current qualification boundary.

Manage your library and files

• Downloads, Retention, and Storage: Automatic and manual downloads, episode limits, cleanup policy, recovery, cellular choices, and offline expectations.
• Audiobooks and Chapter Management: Import your own audio, combine files, edit book details and chapter names, manage progress, and safely relink sources.
• iCloud Library Sync and Audiobook Files: What syncs, what stays local, exact-audio handoff, separate book-file transfer, and local versus cloud removal.
• Importing, Exporting, and Backups: OPML show transfer, local episode import, audiobook export, metadata backup, and the difference between a backup and sync.

Explore publisher and platform features

• Chapters, Transcripts, and Episode Information: Navigate timed text and chapters, choose languages, inspect publisher metadata, and understand offline document availability.
• Live Events and Notifications: Publisher live status, supported streams, DVR and Go Live, transition alerts, and live-to-archive expectations.
• Podcasting 2.0 and Publisher Features: A practical map of rich metadata, alternate sources, live programming, collections, and advanced services still on the roadmap.
• Passage in CarPlay: Prepare listening, use persistent speed and sound panels, and understand device-local playback and hardware limitations.
• Passage on Mac: Native desktop library, keyboard controls, Now Playing, audio output selection, volume, and file management.
• Notifications and Background Updates: Alerts for completed matching downloads, live transitions, system permission, and background scheduling limits.
• Themes, App Icons, and Library Layout: Personalize Passage’s presentation while keeping follows, playlists, and listening state intact.

Get help and stay informed

• Supporting Passage: Free features, optional one-time support, illustrated digital keepsakes, purchase restoration, and publisher-support differences.
• Troubleshooting and Common Questions: Practical checks for missing episodes, downloads, sound, transcripts, handoff, book files, and support purchases.
• Coming Soon and Release Status: What the prerelease documentation means, current platforms, features under qualification, and unannounced store details.
• Privacy Policy and Data Choices: The canonical Passage privacy policy, optional iCloud data flows, and practical privacy controls.
• Credits and Acknowledgments: Apple trademark credit, publisher content, Passage artwork, and the current dependency boundary.

Contact support · Privacy Policy · Privacy choices · Passage product page