Old versions of podcasts keep showing up in iTunes

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Level 1

11 points

Old versions of podcasts keep showing up in iTunes

I subscribe to a bunch of podcasts in iTunes and periodically, editions of a few of the podcasts from several years ago that I have already listened to will show up in my library. It's a huge pain in the ***, because I have a Station set up that consists of all my podcasts sorted by release date from oldest to newest, so these old ones that I don't want to listen to again always flood the top of my Station list. How do I keep these old ones from coming back to haunt me?

MacBook Pro w/ Touch Bar (2018 or later)

Posted on Dec 26, 2018 7:36 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Dec 27, 2018 2:37 PM in response to dh490311

Hello dh490311,

Thank you for using the Apple Support Communities. I understand you're finding that previously played podcasts are showing up at the top of your Station.

It sounds like you may need to change a Station Setting to clear this up. Try opening iTunes and then select your Station. On the far right side of iTunes, look for and click the gear icon, and then make sure "Unplayed only" is checked. This should filter out any podcasts that have already been played.

I hope this helps!

Kind regards.

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Answer 2

brenden dv

Community Specialist

Dec 27, 2018 3:58 PM in response to dh490311

Hi dh490311,

We appreciate that follow-up information.

Which device or devices do you use now to play podcasts? Are you using the "Sync Podcasts" function? This is found under Settings > Podcasts on your iOS devices, and iTunes > Preferences > Store on PC/Mac.

Also, how frequently does this seem to happen? Does it seem to happen after any particular actions that you've observed?

Is iTunes up-to-date? How about your computer, and any iOS devices you also use with Podcasts? I have a few links that will help you update if needed:

iTunes: Update to the latest version of iTunes

iOS devices: How to back up your iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch and Update your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

Mac: Back up your Mac with Time Machine and How to update the software on your Mac

Cheers.

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Answer 3

rose_10

Community Specialist

Dec 30, 2018 6:10 AM in response to dh490311

Hello dh490311,

Thanks for that additional information. Since this is an ongoing issue and seems to involve a few devices, I recommend getting in contact with Apple to investigate this further. You can use this link to Contact Apple Support.

Take care.

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Answer 4

dh490311 Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 27, 2018 3:02 PM in response to Joseph_S.

"Unplayed only" is already checked. If it makes any difference, these old episodes are coming in from as far back as 2013 and I don't remember listening to almost any of them. I was using an iPod then, not Stations, so that was another difference. Also, these are coming in from the cloud; back then they were downloaded. It's not that I don't enjoy the content, but I'm falling way behind on my podcasts that have to do with current events, and when these big batches of ancient podcasts come in, it's dozens of all the same podcast in a row. I much prefer the variety of listening to current podcasts in the order they're released.

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Answer 5

dh490311 Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 27, 2018 4:11 PM in response to brenden dv

I play my podcasts on an iPhone 6s updated to the latest version of IOS (12.1.2; I have Automatic Updates selected). I sync it backed up locally and encrypted to a new MacBook Pro with soft touch bar with the latest version of the OS (again, I update both the OS and iTunes automatically). I am using the Sync Podcasts function.

It's a little hard to tell how often it happens. Sometimes I think it most reliably happens after an iTunes or iOS update, but now I think it can happen any time I sync.

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Answer 6

dh490311 Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 27, 2018 10:56 PM in response to brenden dv

Here's another weird symptom. I just deleted 8 of the old podcast episodes from iTunes on my MacBook Pro, synched my iPhone, and they seemed to disappear from my Station, but then they reappeared on my Station on the iPhone without showing up on iTunes on the MacBook Pro. So in addition to the iTunes on the MacBook Pro getting old editions of podcasts, the iPhone is doing it all on its own as well, and I have no way of deleting them from the phone after that other than listening to them. There is no way I have found to mark a podcast on the phone as listened to without actually listening to it, or of deleting it from a station if it isn't in iTunes on the computer, and even then it doesn't seem to stay deleted..

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Answer 7

dh490311 Author

Level 1

11 points

Dec 31, 2018 9:27 AM in response to rose_10

I spent hours on the phone with Apple Support, only for them to ultimately tell me that this is an issue for the podcast publishers, not for them. I have difficulty believing that. If this were a publisher problem, many people would be experiencing the same thing, and Apple would have gotten enough calls about it to create some kind of Known Issue documentation that their Advisors could find quickly without spending hours on the phone with me going through every setting imaginable and trying many troubleshooting options. Secondly, it's not just one podcast I'm having the problem with, it's several. I'm the single point of failure here. There's got to be something about my configuration that's causing this. But I'm stuck.

Thanks for your time and attention.

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Old versions of podcasts keep showing up in iTunes

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