Ipad & podcasts

Does anyone have an Ipad?

If so, do you know any app or any way to set up your favourite podcasts so you get an alert of some kind where there is a new episode?

Or even you just can just hold a list of your favourite ones somewhere and have a quick link so you can check if a new one is there?

_

I cant see how to do it in itunes, and when I look in the app store there is tons of stuff, going on about syncing an Ipod and an Ipad, etc etc... I dont want any of that (but I dont care if the app does it and I dont use it if it only costs a couple of quid)... I just want an easier way of checking to see if there is new content than having to search and find the podcast in itunes each time.

 

To aid, here is how I see my simple Itunes setup for the podcasts I track.
First, the most obvious thing to do when using a podcast feed located and available directly through the the iTunes store is to do download it via their service.
Afterward, you should see the show's title/folder within your Itunes library, under the header of podcasts.
Following, the right-click settings that can and should be displayed for each individual program you follow goes like this: update podcast, show all available episodes. subscribe podcast, allow / do not allow auto delete.

Personally, I do not like to subscribe to podcasts because I'm the sort of user who is very conscious of what downloads to my system and at what time/day said download is received. It just helps me segment my time dedicated to whatever efforts I decide to plunk down for, whether it be for entertainment, relaxation or work.
However, if you are on the opposite end of the spectrum, S_F, you should subscribe to the podcasts you follow, click-thru the shows that are already within your iTunes library, and tweak the 'Podcast Settings' you'll find in the lower bar of the Itunes screen, leftward. It should come up as a centered pop-up status window, and will read: Check for new episodes, Settings for..., (all of your podcasts currently recognised by iTunes) When new episodes are available, Episodes to keep.

It should be a simple sliding experiment from here on out, but if you are an archivist like me, and additionally do not mind holding onto the episodes/segments you've already listened to, the settings should be checked to read: Every day, uncheck default settings, download the most recent one, all episodes.

I had my own experience in which I discovered the "Legacy of Laughs" (Old Time Radio Comedy) podcast, saw its huge library of programs (like Laurel and Hardy, and the Stan Freberg Show), and was excited to pore through them all. The thing is, within the span of the last two months, the author(s) of the Itunes feed, they changed the settings to only display their 10 most recent episodes, and not all 200+ episodes which I saw back in Dec.-Jan. This got me bitter, I was only collected around 15 eps. of the collection, and was forced to find a different RSS feed to try and collect the episodes I missed. (It doesn't have the comprehension I was originally looking for, but the replacement castroller.net feed sufficed for the time being).

In this case, had I automatically subscribed to the iTunes podcast, checked the setting for download all, and then just be notified of the newest available episode, I wouldn't have come into this predicament (of incompletion). It just goes to show that even you if you like certain podcasts on iTunes, you are really subscribing with the hopes that the feed remains static and forever archived and always downloadable, but this rarely happens to be the case, as most of the podcasts I have display only 25/50 most recent eps., and they roll-out the older ones once the new updates come in.