It seems to me to be an issue with iTunes 9 as opposed to OS 3.1. I see sorting issues now that didn't exist yesterday. I've only updated iTunes. I'm still running OS 3.01.
I'm having the same problem. While trying to fix this by creating different playlists with different filters I noticed that only the Podcasts selected in the Podcast tab are synced to the iPhone. If no Podcasts are selected in the Podcast tab and I try to sync a playlist with Podcasts, it doesn't even show up on my iPhone. So the different sort order can be explained by the fact that the playlist is being synced empty to the iPhone and then being filled by filters on the iPhone itself.
I was having this exact problem with my podcasts, which really ticked me off. Then I read your post.
Here's how I fixed it on my computer:
Trashed iTunes out of /Applications,
Popped in my Snow Leopard Disk,
Installed the iTunes package off the SL disk,
Recovered my iTunes library from the backup prior to my upgrade of iTunes
Voila, everything is sorted properly again. My iPod touch is running 3.1.1, with podcasts sorted correctly again.
I also got back the zoom button functioning as switching between the mini player and full sized player again, which was my second gripe about iTunes 9.
I'm also having this problem (in another thread titled iPhone No Longer Sorts Podcasts By Release Date After 3.1 Update). It is indeed iTunes that is doing it as the play order was correct after I had done a sync with iPhone OS 3.1 but after I upgraded iTunes and did another sync the play order went crazy.
Also I think the crazy play order is reverse download order (i.e. it's probably using some date or sequential id used internally by iTunes).
I downgraded mine back to 3.0 and setup everything again since the backup couldn't be restored from. It has fixed the sorting issue and the jerkiness of the podcasts list. I also reported both issues to Apple. Let's hope they fix it soon.
I am having the same issue on iTunes 9/ iPhone OS 3.1. More annoying is that some of my podcasts do not even list their release date. I like to listen to things in chronological order, as most of my podcasts are news-related. I hope Apple can patch this quickly.
I have a Smart Playlist which collects all of my Podcasts and all I would want is for the play order to match the current ordering in iTunes. At the moment, it just seems to be a random order.
I can get this to work for songs (ctrl-click->Copy To Play Order), but Podcasts are different for some reason.
I am seeing all of these symptoms - just wanted to add my name to the list in order to emphasize the importance of fixing these defects rapidly to Apple. FYI, I sync with a Windows XP machine, although the platform does not seem to matter as some of the posts on this topic are from Mac users.
My two-year contract is up in December. While not before, I now am seriously considering another alternative to the iPhone. Updates, while adding features, have been less than satisfactory regarding the iPod function on the iPhone.
I have found udpates to have issue with ordering of podcasts in particular. This update is by far the worst and is, for me, unusable.
Apple, please listen: I need podcasts to be reliably in date AND TIME order. The podcasts I listen to on a regular basis have three episodes per day, corresponding to the hours the talk hosts broadcast. I want to start listening to the first episode of the day, that is the first hour, and be confident that the other two episodes will follow in the correct order.
If it has not been emphasised already, some of the podcasts are missing the date in the lower right hand corner of the list. Having the episodes completely out of date or time order makes listening - even finding - the proper episodes impossible.
Apple, please not tell us to live with it. My next phone/PDA/MP3 player purchase will be dictated by your responsiveness to this issue. I would guess that I am not nearly the only one.
I spent a lot of time Friday with an apple tech -- it appears the library is getting clobbered by iTunes, but not for eery podcast -- one fix is to trash the podcast and resubscribe. Of course, then you lose episodes that may not be available and you lose the read/unread and position information.
I do hope they fix this. I resubscribed to my daily podcasts, but have left the others I don't listen to often intact in hopes it is corrected -- the data's still there on the mac, so an update should be able to fix this.
