Jesse808

Q: Why can't I skip to "next track" when listening to podcasts?

I just purchased an iPod shuffle (4th generation). I like to listen to podcasts. I synced about 7 podcasts to my iPod. When listening to my iPod, I cannot skip to the next track using the "next track" button. The only way to get to the next track is to use the voice over function. Is this how the iPod is supposed to work with podcasts?

MacBook, Mac OS X (10.6.5)

Posted on Dec 23, 2010 11:18 AM

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Q: Why can't I skip to "next track" when listening to podcasts?

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  • by Jesse808,

    Jesse808 Jesse808 Jan 11, 2011 11:55 AM in response to Repent
    Level 1 (1 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 11:55 AM in response to Repent
    Are you using a 4th Generation iPod shuffle?
  • by saber12,

    saber12 saber12 Jan 11, 2011 12:25 PM in response to Repent
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 12:25 PM in response to Repent
    I've found that the forward/back buttons only work when scrolling through groups of alike podcasts, such as a group of Science Friday episodes. That would be a nice feature for scrolling through all of my podcasts, but in order to do that, I need to use the voiceover method described earlier. It's definitely a pain -- and one that seems easy to fix. But I've gotten used to it.
  • by Repent,

    Repent Repent Jan 11, 2011 1:49 PM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 11, 2011 1:49 PM in response to Jesse808
    yes I have two 4th gen Shuffles. Bought the 2nd Shuffle hoping it would fix the issue of podcasts getting cut short at the end. It didn't so the fault is in the device not the podcast.

    I can step forward and backwards through each podcast playlist but you cannot jump from one playlist to another by using the forward/backward buttons.
  • by Rob Drimmie,

    Rob Drimmie Rob Drimmie Jan 12, 2011 1:24 PM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jan 12, 2011 1:24 PM in response to Jesse808
    It is a confusing method of operation, but with a bit of practice and experimentation it works. Poorly.

    The Shuffle treats Podcasts as though they are a playlist of episodes. To switch podcasts, you need to switch playlists.

    Press and hold the VoiceOver button for about 1 second to enter what I call 'Playlist Navigation Mode'. Once you are in Playlist Navigation Mode, you can release the button and use the previous and next buttons to seek through playlists and podcasts.

    While in Playlist Navigation Mode, if you press the Play button you will return to Normal Mode.

    The ordering of the playlists and podcasts is a little unusual. Let's say you have a set like mine:

    Playlists:
    Playlist A
    Playlist B

    Podcasts:
    Podcast 1
    Podcast 2
    Podcast 3

    There are only 5 "sets" of audio content (2 playlists + 3 podcasts), but there will be 6 items you can select while in Playlist Navigation Mode:

    All Playlists
    Playlist A
    Playlist B
    Podcast 1
    Podcast 2
    Podcast 3

    It gets additionally confusing because the shuffle reorders this list, moving whichever Set you are in to the first item in the list. So if you are listening to Playlist B, the list will be read in this order:

    Playlist B
    All Playlists
    Playlist A
    Podcast 1
    Podcast 2
    Podcast 3

    Or if you are listening to Podcast 2, it will be read in this order:

    Podcast 2
    All Playlists
    Playlist A
    Playlist B
    Podcast 1
    Podcast 3

    So it takes the currently active Set, and bumps it to the top of the list.
  • by cyclenorm,

    cyclenorm cyclenorm Feb 15, 2011 2:00 AM in response to Rob Drimmie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2011 2:00 AM in response to Rob Drimmie
    I've created playlists in iTunes entitled "Podcasts" and "MyMusic." After downloading podcasts, I select all podcasts in the Library, then Control Click and select "Add to Playlist" to add them to the Podcasts playlist. I do the same with music I want to load to my iPod shuffle. I then drag each playlist to the iPod. I can choose which playlist to play on the iPod using the VoiceOver button, and choose to listen at random or in order in either playlist and skip forward and back using the normal buttons. The disadvantage is that the iPod and iTunes can't automatically synch, so you have to delete podcasts from the library manually.
  • by Billy_Town,

    Billy_Town Billy_Town Apr 12, 2011 6:08 AM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 12, 2011 6:08 AM in response to Jesse808
    This problem may be "answered" but I've already returned one iPod Shuffle back to the shop before finding this answer. As such I'd be surprised if Apple don't get some pressure from retailers to rectify this.

    As a primarily Pocast user it does, however, answer my unanswered question of why I was never able to play both music and podcasts on my 3rd generation shuffle...
  • by laelito,

    laelito laelito Apr 18, 2011 9:35 PM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 18, 2011 9:35 PM in response to Jesse808

    Apple really dropped the ball on this one. there is no easily identified documentation anywhere that explains this extremely unintuitive and confusing behavior.

     

    To recap, the 4G iPod Shuffle treats every podcast title as it's own playlist. For instance, if I add 3 "This American Lifes," and 5 "Fresh Airs," the Shuffle will automatically create 2 playlists; a "This American Life," playlist featuring my 3 individual podcasts and a "Fresh Air" playlist featuring my 5 individual "Fresh Air" podcasts. If I then add my own playlist, and fill it with individual podcasts from those two shows, I will than have 3 different playlists. Even though I've only actually created one.

     

    And there's another perplexing wrinkle to this podcast/playlist disaster. The automatically generated podcast playlists do NOT allow you to fast-forward to the next track (why Apple, why?). But, if you create your own playlist (and fill it with a bunch of podcasts), you CAN fast-forward to the next track.

     

    Confused yet?

     

    Me too. But here's the easy-peasy workaround:

     

    1) Create a new playlist. You might call it "Fast-Forward"

    2) Add some podcasts to this new playlist. Go nuts.

    3) Eject your Shuffle, plug in your headphones, and press play.

    4) The Shuffle will prioritize your custom playlists, so it will begin playing from this new playlist first.

    4) Press fast-forward.

    5) Marvel at your functional fast-forward button.

     

    It's a pretty easy fix, but what a mess.

  • by timelyfromburlington,

    timelyfromburlington timelyfromburlington Apr 20, 2011 3:11 PM in response to laelito
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 20, 2011 3:11 PM in response to laelito

    I cant add any playlist containing podcasts to my 4g shuffle, does your method work with podcasts?

    thanks a bunch

  • by timelyfromburlington,

    timelyfromburlington timelyfromburlington Apr 20, 2011 8:20 PM in response to timelyfromburlington
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Apr 20, 2011 8:20 PM in response to timelyfromburlington

    i dragged(?) the playlist of podcasts i made onto my shuffle (in addition to syncing the podcasts normally), and it seemed to work well. I was able to skip forward and back between podcasts using the next/prev buttons but i think somehow i managed to not get all of hte podcasts in that playlist ? as if they got lost in the transfer, having been included on the playlist on itunes but not in the playlist when i listened to it on the shuffle

     

    moral of the story: make a smart playlist, and drag it onto the device. in addition to syncing normally

     

    is there any outlook on an update for hte 4th gen shuffle to revamp the controls at all?

     

    this has been my first use of apple's forums, very cool

  • by andrefromboise,

    andrefromboise andrefromboise Dec 5, 2011 8:59 AM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Dec 5, 2011 8:59 AM in response to Jesse808

    1) Create playlist with name of podcasts

    2) Place podcasts into playlists

    3) You can now navigate to the playlist on the iPod and play skip through the podcasts using the next/back buttons.

     

    Or use voice over  by holding down the top button for about two seconds and then selecting the podcasts by its number 'podcasts 1, podcast 2,'. At least I think thats how it works.

     

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------

    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4322 > Changing Playlists:

     

    When VoiceOver is enabled, you can hear the title and choose any playlist you've synced to iPod shuffle. If audiobooks or audio podcasts are synced to iPod shuffle, their titles are also read as part of the playlist menu. If VoiceOver is disabled in iTunes, playlists are identified by numbered order, but not by name (for example, "Playlist 1, Playlist 2," and so on).

    The playlist menu announces items in this order:

    • The current playlist (if applicable)
    • "All Songs" (default playlist of all the songs on iPod shuffle)
    • All playlists, including Genius playlists, in alphabetical order
    • All Genius Mixes, in alphabetical order
    • All podcasts, in alphabetical order
    • All iTunes U collections, in alphabetical order
    • All audiobooks, in alphabetical order

    -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------

     

    Hope this helps

  • by vmalonso,

    vmalonso vmalonso Mar 14, 2013 1:20 AM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Mar 14, 2013 1:20 AM in response to Jesse808

    I solved it easily.

     

    I created a Play list on my iPod.

     

    Now I add the podcasts I want by dragging them to the playlist and that's all.

     

    Now I can switch from one to another by pressing the next track button and previous track button.

     

    Hope it helps.

  • by davidklausa,

    davidklausa davidklausa Jul 7, 2014 4:05 PM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 7, 2014 4:05 PM in response to Jesse808

    I have an ipod CLASSIC, which has always been able to skip to the next podcast, but recently it has been treating each episode like its own separate entity. So on a given episode, it will say "1 of 1", when it used to say "1 of 36" - so I have to press menu then manually skip to the next track. Very annoying. Anyone know what happened and how to fix it?

  • by BingoBingoBingoBingo,

    BingoBingoBingoBingo BingoBingoBingoBingo Sep 24, 2014 1:33 PM in response to Jesse808
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 24, 2014 1:33 PM in response to Jesse808

    What a ridiculous and nonsensical change from their previous shuffles. Is there no way to just use the shuffle like a 2 GB drive, drag the stuff that I want to onto it (some songs, 6 chapters of an audiobook, 5 different podcasts) and then listen to what I want by hitting the FF/skip/nextside of the b utton to advance to the next track?

     

    If I drag media onto my shuffle, and then arrange the order that I want on the shuffle and then unplug it, Apple looks at what I've done and decides to FIX it for me and prevent me from being able to skip to the next track? Why? So now pushing FF/skip/next does nothing, instead of doing something. Great. Thanks Apple.

     

    Why do Apple designers and programers insist on making things so complicated that a "simple" users can't do the BASIC thing they want to do without massive workarounds?

  • by BingoBingoBingoBingo,

    BingoBingoBingoBingo BingoBingoBingoBingo Sep 25, 2014 11:06 AM in response to vmalonso
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 11:06 AM in response to vmalonso

    vmalonso wrote:

    I solved it easily. I created a Play list on my iPod. Now I add the podcasts I want by dragging them to the playlist and that's all.

    Now I can switch from one to another by pressing the next track button and previous track button. Hope it helps.

     

    I don't know why that works for you but it doesn't seem to work for anyone else including me. Podcasts from different sources (as in anything that's not episodes of the same podcast title) are treated as separate "playlists". Similarly, ripped CDs of chapters of the same audiobook are treated as different playlists, even when they are dragged onto a playlist I created and then dragged together onto the shuffle. Everything about them in the "info" tab is the same except for the sequence appended to the track title ( The Shining 1/10, The Shining 2/10 etc.) yet shuffle ignores that I put them on a playlist and brought them in together and insists that I use the"voice over" button to navigate to  the different tracks. So stupid Apple.

  • by dogpoker,

    dogpoker dogpoker Sep 25, 2014 4:09 PM in response to lowpuller
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 25, 2014 4:09 PM in response to lowpuller

    Use the voice over function, but to speed up the process, use the "forward" button by clicking once to jump to the next item in line.  You don't have to wait for the voice to finish before moving on.  When you reach the item you want, hit the stop/go button (middle of the circle on my Shuffle) and the search will stop and your selection will play.

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