Podcasts on iOS 14.6, serious loading issues

I've waited 24 hours to lodge a complaint, just in case the performance issues cleared up after the first day.


Many parts of the Podcasts app are loading very, very slowly. I have been testing the app in the same room as my router, so I am fairly certain that the bad performance is definitely the fault of the app itself and not a poor internet connection. I have force closed all other apps except Podcasts, and I've power cycled the phone.


When navigating to Library, I've found myself counting just to get a rough estimate of the load times. Just now after power cycling my phone, it took at least 12-13 seconds to display the Podcast Library page. This is not the only slow load time, either. Sometimes, I'll tap a downloaded episode that I had previously paused, and it can take somewhere between 15-30 seconds just to begin playing. The app provides no indication that audio is loading. Even when it plays, sometimes the UI doesn't update so I can't see how far into the podcast I am. After playing begins, sometimes it is unresponsive to other presses so I've also gotten stuck listening to the wrong podcast while waiting for the 'pause' to take effect, which again can take somewhere in the 10-30 second range. Even the page that loads the individual episodes for a particular podcast also has some significant load time in the vicinity of 5-10 seconds, which seems strange because I would assume a lot of these lists should be cached by now.

iPhone 8

Posted on Jun 6, 2021 9:40 AM

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Posted on Jul 21, 2021 3:56 PM

iOS 14.7 has solved all my issues with the functionality of the podcast app. All works as I expect it to.

I have only used to so far 2 times. Once for about 5 minutes. The 2nd time for about 30 minutes. The first time after 5 minutes the back of my iPhone 8 Plus was hot. Battery usage was listed at 30 something percent. After several hours I used the podcast app again for about 30 minutes. Flawless performance. The back of my iPhone 8 Plus DID NOT get hot this time. Battery usage still shows 30 something percent. From the time I started using the podcast app until now, my charge percent went from 91 to 75. Not unusual for regular use of this phone over this time period. I’m hopeful this 14.7 update has corrected the problem with the podcast app. So far so good!

113 replies

Jul 14, 2021 8:00 PM in response to MirrorLake

The Apple podcast app is horrendous after the update. I have found that to listen to a podcast I have to subscribe, download it and then save it. It seems that there is less delay with saved episodes. I also need to get out of every other app to get it to work. So I’ve pared my library way back and I plan to subscribe to these podcasts using another app.


Question for the community: What alternative app do you recommend?

Jul 17, 2021 3:52 PM in response to rrogers512

I’ve had the same experience. If you google “ios14.6 podcast problems,” it’s not really addressed in any direct way. Lots of battery issues, and the solution is to delete the podcast app!


I have moved on- I now use the google podcast app. It has all the features I’m used to, although the interface is not as polished as the Apple podcast app. I really liked the changes Apple made to the podcast app, but it is completely unusable!

Jul 23, 2021 8:56 PM in response to jasonspaceman

This is day 2 since installing ios14.7 on my iPhone 8 Plus. So far the Apple podcast app is working flawlessly. The Apple podcast app is using more battery than the google podcast app that I started using when the Apple podcast app was “broken.” 24% vs 15%. I can probably live with that. As much as I would like to permanently dump the Apple podcast app, I just can’t find anything that I truly like better. Keeping my fingers crossed that Apple stays on the ball.

Jun 14, 2021 6:19 AM in response to MirrorLake

Same. It's almost unusable now. Refreshing stations takes ages where it used to be nigh-instantaneous before the latest update. Even just hitting play on any podcast ... the UI doesn't change at all to register that you've clicked the button ... so you sit there just ... waiting. It will even display the last played show's title and art well after a completely different podcast has finally started. I've never needed to use another app, but it might be time. Frustrating.

Jun 23, 2021 4:32 PM in response to MirrorLake

This afternoon I decided to update the software on my iPhone to 14.6 and I can not believe the Podcast app which I have used daily for over 10 years has been destroyed in one fell swoop.

I was that much into the Apple Podcast app that when Joe Rogan and Last Pod on the left moved to Spotify I never bothered to listen to them again as I don’t like Spotify as a platform. After seeing the Podcast update today I thought it’s time to move on and I downloaded a few from the App Store. Best of the Bunch by a mile is Pocket Cast,similar layout to Apple but much more customisable and a pleasant interface. The Apple podcast has now been deleted from my iPhone and iPad and I’m happy to pay a small subscription to support Pocket Cast as they have a super product.

Goodbye Apple 🍏

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Podcasts on iOS 14.6, serious loading issues

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