Podcasts Not Updating With New Episodes

Apple Discussions is a user-to-use your knowledge sharing forum and, as you can see, we are all sharing some of the pain with the Podcasts app upgrade. The best bet is for all to submit problems and suggestions to Apple at Apple Feedback, https://www.apple.com/feedback/apple-podcasts/

The iOS 14.5 & 14.6 Apple Podcasts app upgrades are still bug-ridden. I’m sorry podcast users have had to serve as guinea pigs for such a flawed versions, it doesn’t make sense to invest time trying to answer questions about such an unpredictable piece of software.

On the Apple Podcasts Server side new episodes for some Shows are listed three days after they are available on TuneIn, Stitcher, SoundCloud, etc.

On the Apple Podcasts app side:

• the app gets stuck in loading mode with some users when first opened,

• Episodes sometimes mark themselves as played after just a few seconds,

• some Shows do not list the most recent unplayed episodes even when the Show settings are chosen to do so.

• Station lists sometimes do not list unplayed episodes available in Show lists, even though the Station settings do not limit episodes,

• some episodes download once in Show lists, others simply do not, even the toggle for Automatic Downloads in Show settings is On,

• the app causes a heating problem and excessive battery draining, particularly when select other apps are open in the background or foreground,

• a change in key default settings in the iOS 14.5 Podcasts app upgrade caused numerous unwanted automatic downloads in Shows with tens or hundreds of episodes.

Hopefully, some heads have rolled for those responsible, clearer thinking people have replaced them and the bugs will be straightened out soon. Apple is an excellent company which has made this experience frustrate us more.

So I recently started having this issue and I was on 14.6. Searching around and I see many others had this too. I did the following yesterday and so far (it updated episode this morning like it was supposed to) it works! I like the podcasts app and don’t want to learn a new app. Here’s what I did:

1) unfollowed all my shows (it was not easy 😢)

2) deleted the app from my phone (not just remove into the background, but fully delete)

3) download the podcast app from the App Store

4) follow all the shows again (ironically all the shows I was missing were available)

im not sure if one or both of #1 or #2 was the fix, but that’s what I did and hopefully this solves it! I was able to view my downloaded episodes for today (that are uploaded daily or on specific days).

day of delete/reload: June 10, 2021 7:30am

day of post: June 11, 2021 8:44am

I had followed a “show” and eventually it stopped adding new episodes. What I did was unfollow the “show” and refreshed the app, then looked up the “show” and the new episodes were there. Hope this helps!

I was able to get new podcasts to appear by holding down my thumb on the podcast app and then clicking refresh for new podcasts.

insure you have Automatic Updates ON (see arrows in pic below) in the Show settings and the Podcasts app settings.

if those settings were alteady on, the problem was on the Apple Podcast Server side, which is something you can’t do anything about. Many of us noted that the Apple Podcast Server fill behind on updates when iOS 14.5 was released. It’s improving now.

Blah600003, this thread is addressing crossing issues. Just try creating a Station then assigning a couple Shows you Follow to it. It has solved the problems many have had. On the Library page tap Edit in the upper-right corner and choose New Station. Then make your choices in the Station Settings that if you wish.

Many Others are experiencing the ‘missing latest episode’ problem. However, it does not appear to be the Podcast app. If you check the Apple Podcast Server for a particular Show you’ll find the server doesn’t have the latest episodes yet, even though they do appear in other third-party podcast apps.

I imagine Apple is working arduously on this glitch. In the meantime do an iOS update to 14.6. It made some needed changes to the Podcast App coding.

I did something the other day that finally looks like it may have fixed this same issue I was having with Podcast app. (Shows showing up 2-3 days after being published, auto-marking new podcasts as played, etc)

In the Apple Podcast app settings (in iOS settings, not inside the Podcast app) scroll down to the very bottom and try selecting the ‘Reset Identifier’ option. Then restart the Podcast app.

After that I had a bunch of ‘missing’ podcasts suddenly appear as available.

I hope you've solved this problem by now, but I was having this issue for some of the podcasts I listen to on my Mac mini. I went to File and in the drop down clicked Refresh Feeds. Voila. The podcasts that weren't updating are now all set. You must do this for each podcast. Hope this helps.

The problem is evident, but I have yet to see any communication from Apple explaining why it’s Podcast Servers are not being updated in a timely manner. The image below shows Apples most recent episode (19 May) of The Price of Football show in the left frame and the Acast podcast server’s latest episode (23 May) in the right frame at https://play.acast.com/s/priceoffootball

I noticed four of the Sunday news programs have yet to be updated (it’s now 3:15am EDT Monday) with 23 May episodes, even though they appeared on Sunday around 1pm EDT in other third-party podcast applications.

I hope Apple fixes this problem soon. It’s a counterproductive way to win users.

In the Show window tap the three dots in the upper right corner and choose Show Settings.

In a Station window tap Edit in the upper right hand corner and shoes Station Settings.

Tayroy89, can you give me the name of one Show that is not revealing new episodes?

The pic below shows the Podcasts app settings at iPhone Settings>Podcasts (left frame), the Station settings (middle) and the Show settings (right). Disregard the options selected.

The settings changed extensively in the iOS 14.5 Podcasts app overhaul and, unfortunately, the default settings didn’t correlate well with past settings. However, once users review and reset the Podcast app setting, Station settings and Show settings, it appears to work well.

Nope, Davi. I’m just a user like you. I know you’re frustrated, but the app didn’t completely change. The update did change some settings. That, to me, was a mistake without giving us a warning. The iOS 14.5 Podcasts app upgrade also had a couple bugs, which they fixed now. Simultaneously, the Apple Podcast Server fell behind with new episode updates, which finally caught up this past week. Now my 109 Shows across seven Stations are updating automatically and deleting, once played, just as they should.

I wish In its opening Podcast guidance Apple would suggest people use Stations instead of the Downloaded, Latest Episodes and Listen Now lists. It would solve a lot of problems people have.

The Apple Podcast app is still bug-ridden. I’m sorry podcast users have had to serve as guinea pigs for such a flawed version of the Podcast app, it doesn’t make sense to invest time trying to answer questions about such an unpredictable piece of software.

On the Apple Podcast Server side new episodes for some Shows are listed three days after they are available on TuneIn, Stitcher, SoundCloud, etc.

On the Apple Podcast app side:

• Episodes sometimes mark themselves as played after just a few seconds,

• some Shows do not list the most recent unplayed episodes even when the Show settings are chosen to do so.

• Station lists sometimes do not list unplayed episodes available in Show lists, even though the Station settings do not limit episodes,

• some episodes download once in Show lists, others simply do not, even the toggle for Automatic Downloads in Show settings is On,

• the app causes a heating problem and excessive battery draining, particularly when select other apps are open in the background or foreground,

• a change in key default settings in the iOS 14.5 Podcast app upgrade caused numerous unwanted automatic downloads in Shows with tens or hundreds of episodes.

Hopefully, some heads have rolled for those responsible, clearer thinking people have replaced them and the bugs will be straightened out soon. Apple is an excellent company which has made this experience frustrate us more.

There’s an iOS update that helps a little; the podcasts come through but much delayed.

switched to Acast. Taking some getting used to but at least the pods are timely.