For years now I’ve been trying to limit how many Google services I use, but there is one that I just can’t seem to break away from no matter how hard I try: YouTube.

I watch relatively little video, and am not subscribed to any streaming or cable services, but the small amount of content I do watch all comes from YouTube, and I get too much enjoyment out of it to be able to give it up entirely. I don’t like Google as a company, and I find the way YouTube treats creators and employees to be absolutely terrible, but at the same time I really like all the content that people pour into the service.

That’s where Podsync comes in, which effectively turns a YouTube channel into a proper video podcast feed, complete with artwork and descriptions. Doing it this way has really changed how I interact with YouTube. I find that I stay more up-to-date with all my subscriptions, and it’s nice being able to have it integrated with my other podcast feeds. And of course it’s nice being able to load it all right into Vocal.

I should end with a caveat that this is pretty clearly a violation of YouTube’s terms of service, and it also bypasses any ads, so effectively you’re using Google’s bandwidth without them getting anything back in return from you. Whether this is unethical or not I will leave as a personal decision to the reader. I for one see it as a social good.