Q: Why isn't there an option to simply play all unplayed episodes from oldest to newest without manually adding them to a list or station?
I lis to around 10 podcasts a week. Sometimes I find it hard to keep up so I get quite the backlog. With new episodes every couple days I just want them all to fall into the "unplayed" category and an option to play all unplayed from oldest to newest. The older versions of the app did that. Is there a way with the newer version? Without the stations or adding them manually to the "up next" list. I can never remember what I have or haven't added to "up next" and there's no way to see the list that I can find. Any help would be appreciated.
iPhone 6, iOS 9.3.1
Posted on May 21, 2016 12:49 AM
Many people use iTunes to download, then just sync podcasts to their device. The beauty of a smart playlist is that you don't have to add or delete anything manually, it's all automatic.
That still works with podcasts?! I thought smart playlists on the computer didn't sync over to the Podcasts app on an iOS device anymore. I used to do this all the time when podcasts were still folded into the Music app, but I didn't realize it was still an option. Where do they appear in the Podcasts app? Under Stations?
ThaRadiofonik1, I think you're just going to have to set up a station for what you want. Once I figured out how to work with stations, it wasn't that hard, although now since I've moved to Overcast I no longer remember how to do it. You're basically asking "How can I create a playlist without creating a playlist?", and that's not going to work.
Here are the steps I wrote here a while ago for setting up a station - I hope they still work. After you've done this, you just have to go to the "My Podcasts" tab and choose the station:
- Go to the "My Podcasts" tab.
- Press "+" in the upper left corner, and create a new station.
- Name your station.
- Include all podcasts (or whichever ones you want).
- Select Station Settings (top of screen).
- Set Play (which means "play order", and is terribly titled) to "Oldest to Newest".
- Turn "Group by Podcast" off.
- Probably you'll want to select Episodes / All Episodes, and Unplayed only.
You'll have a station with all of your unplayed podcast episodes, sorted from oldest to newest.
Posted on May 22, 2016 4:24 PM