Level 1

31 points

ios 13.2 deleting podcasts randomly

I recently upgraded to iOS 13.2 on my iPhone XS. Since then, my phone has deleted 1200 podcast episodes four separate times. These are podcast episodes I loaded onto my phone myself, not podcasts that I am subscribed to through iTunes. None of these episodes had been played. Twice it happened while I was listening to a podcast. Suddenly the podcasts just stopped playing and the episodes were gone. When I connected my phone to my MacBook, the episodes automatically re-synced to my phone since they were unplayed. My podcast settings have not been changed between iOS13.1 and 13.2 (or for years for that matter) -- they are set to auto delete off my phone once played, but again none of these have been played.

Seems like this is a bug in iOS 13.2. Has anyone else experienced this? Since I don't lose the files, it is more of an annoyance than anything to have to re-sync with my MacBook, but it is annoying nonetheless. Just another of the many bugs I continue to find with Apple products.

iPhone XS

Posted on Nov 5, 2019 6:36 PM

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jfyuga Author

Level 1

31 points

Posted on Aug 13, 2020 5:50 PM

I just wanted to update with my experience of switching podcasts over to audiobooks in an attempt to bypass these deletion problem.

I am running Mojave on a MacBook Air with the good version of iTunes before Apple destroyed it (and podcasts) in Catalina.

I converted all of my podcasts that were not part of an RSS feed over to audiobooks and play them through the Books app. I was able to edit the metadata as needed to get the files in the order I wanted and everything has worked perfectly. I am able to play them back at the speed I want, unlike being stuck with normal speed if they were classified as music. None of my files have deleted, and I am still able to use the podcast app for any podcasts I listen to that download through RSS feeds straight to my phone. I no longer worry about syncing podcasts with my MacBook Air.

The main reason I did not switch to Catalina when it first came out was because Apple destroyed the podcast functionality. You could no longer import your own audio files into Podcasts, and you cannot import files into Music and then change their classification to podcast to backdoor the files into the podcast app.

Once I figured out audiobooks is a good workaround, I decided today to upgrade from Mojave to Catalina. Mistake. Apple also destroyed the functionality of Books on the Mac. Now if you have an audiobook, you cannot see the chapter names in Books on the computer. All you see is the title of the audiobook and the length, and you cannot edit the metadata at all. So if you import your own files into Books, you will not be able to edit the metadata to make sure they are named right, in the right order, etc.

So I have downgraded back to Mojave and plan to stick here until Apple's developers decide to stop breaking things and trying to be so creative and "smart" that they forget about the end user.

If anyone has any workarounds to any of the problems I mention above in Catalina that I may be missing, please let me know.

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120 replies

Deadmeme

Level 1

8 points

Jun 4, 2020 11:44 PM in response to Izzy223cafe

lol, this needs to be repoted to apple. through the apple support app.

kenman40

Level 1

4 points

Dec 16, 2019 9:06 AM in response to jfyuga

It's been to me too. Also deleting items stored in my itunes library (or at least indicating not downloaded). Extremely frustrating but it is good to know that i'm not the only one having this problem. I also have reloaded both to Itunes and to the phone only to have them all disappear several days later.

To a resolution in the new year hopefully.

jfyuga Author

Level 1

31 points

Dec 22, 2019 4:48 AM in response to Dan Lincoln

I spoke to Apple about this on November 12. I was told to probably expect an update in about 5 days although possibly earlier. 40 days and three requests for an update later, Apple hasn’t bothered to respond to me at all.

Dec 30, 2019 5:43 AM in response to jfyuga

I had a similar issue a couple weeks ago, but I don't sync podcasts with iTunes or manually upload any - apple just unsubscribed me from most of the podcasts I had subscribed to and removed all episodes from my Listen Now section. The ones they left me subscribed to ironically had dozens of downloaded episodes that I hadn't listened to in a year. The ones I listen to more regularly are all deleted. This morning I just resubscribed to a bunch and downloaded some episodes I missed. It again unsubscribed me from a couple of those and deleted episodes of them.

Crazy that Apple hasn't addressed this yet...

Dän

Level 1

4 points

Feb 7, 2020 1:33 AM in response to jfyuga

I'm also having the problem, using iOS 13.3.1, and for me it happens rather quickly, not just once a week as some people mentioned. I sync the podcasts and a few hours or a day later they are gone.

Is there any way I can inform Apple about this without going through the motions on the support hotline?

Deadmeme

Level 1

8 points

Feb 26, 2020 6:24 AM in response to jfyuga

I have had the same issue on my iPhone 8 Plus 256 GB on IOS 13.3.1.

I have synced 2067 podcasts to the iphone 7 times now, they keep disappearing from my podcast liberary on the iphone after several hours of listning. I have automatic delete after listening turned off yet it still happnes. its annoying as ****. apple please fix it.

Feb 27, 2020 9:58 AM in response to Deadmeme

Same for me, on an newer iPhone Xs Max 25 GB. I have plenty of space. I sync the podcasts to the phone and they disappear after a bit. I have stopped my updates, but still not working on IOS 13.3.1

46586

Level 1

10 points

Mar 11, 2020 10:14 PM in response to jfyuga

I found one work around for this. I bought an iPod Touch Gen 5 (and had the battery replaced). It is capped out at iOS 9.3.5, which solves the problem. (It also lets you continue to sync podcast playlists from iTunes.)

RIP 'it just works'

jfyuga Author

Level 1

31 points

Apr 15, 2020 8:00 PM in response to Deadmeme

They ran diagnostics on my phone. That was early February. Still waiting.

They also know about this thread.

But the more people report this to Apple, definitely better.

I have actually noticed this has gotten worse again on 13.4.1. While it still happened on 13.4, it was less frequent

smamm

Level 1

23 points

May 22, 2020 9:16 AM in response to jfyuga

iOS 13.5 does not fix this problem. Since installing, it actually seems worse because my podcasts now disappear at a greater frequency. I definitely wouldn't trust this product on a holiday weekend road trip.

I never expected anyone at Apple would give a **** about this, since they don't make money on the content. And here we are.

They provide poor support for their products, which is unfortunate considering the increasing number of bugs and defects present in all of them.

Jun 1, 2020 7:56 AM in response to Izzy223cafe

I upgraded to 13.5 on Sunday, and synced my podcasts at the same time. They’ve just disappeared. Not fixed :-( It seems to me that it is only podcasts not currently available in the feed which disappear.

Jun 15, 2020 8:34 AM in response to BethyBlue

I tried removing and re-adding the Podcasts app. It made no difference.

I tried wiping the device and restoring factory settings. It made no difference.

I have more than 50% space free. It made no difference.

I even upgraded to a new device. It made no difference.

I appreciate their suggestions but this is a bug in iOS. I guess we just need to keep trying to get their attention.

Deadmeme

Level 1

8 points

Jun 15, 2020 9:43 AM in response to antimattr

Everyone please don’t give up. Keep telling apple about this issue. It’s not difficult to chat with them via text. Download the Apple support app and let them know. The more people that tell them the more chances of it getting resolved and fixed so again, PLEASE DONT GIVE UP

Deadmeme

Level 1

8 points

Aug 13, 2020 6:00 PM in response to jfyuga

Just wanted to let you know you can upgrade your Mac if you want. The windows version of iTunes works flawlessly. so if you have a windows laptop or computer laying round you could use it to convert podcast to audiobooks ,

There are a lot of options on windows to change the meta-data. But I just can’t find the one that allows you to sequence it so that it’s in the right order on your iPhone. But I have found with coincidence that all the episodes seem to automatically be listed in the correct order. Just in case they are not, I don’t know a way to change the meta-data to sequenced them in the right order. So keep that in mind.

Also the whole thing is fixed on iOS 14 apparently. According to a user on this thread.

They still delete on iOS 14 but they come back after you close the app and get back into it.

Sep 17, 2020 12:20 PM in response to jfyuga

Upgraded to iOS 14 yesterday, synced podcasts two hours ago. They’ve already disappeared from iPhone X. I’m not converting them all to books, I just have various different playlists across 3 devices and there’s always something I can listen to. Will report to Apple next week when I can summon up the energy.

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ios 13.2 deleting podcasts randomly