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Level 1

46 points

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

Best reply

cyberbiker

Level 3

736 points

Posted on Jun 6, 2021 1:40 PM

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 users experience difficulty deleting episodes from lists,

• 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.

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113 replies

Jul 23, 2021 3:03 PM in response to Randy Marcus

I think I’ll join you. Apple has a lot of relationship capital with me, but with this debacle they made a huge withdrawal. The problems are so obvious, you wonder if they did any testing at all before they released it—and since I have to assume they did test it, why in the world did they release it in this sorry state. I sure hope this doesn’t become a trend with them.

Jul 23, 2021 3:23 PM in response to williamfromlaguna

Been with Apple since the 3GS phone and had many devices along the way.

I decided after I deleted the podcast app I wouldn’t go back and nothing could persuade me to reinstall.

I still subscribe to Apple Music and if they every do an update like they did with the podcast app I won’t hesitate to switch to another app instantly.

My Apple loyalty is ever decreasing.

Avijja

Level 1

8 points

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.

Jul 25, 2021 11:25 PM in response to MirrorLake

Oh!! So happy that it’s not just me. I have been a podcast addict for last 10 yrs.

This is awful. I used to be a daily listener to quite a few and I have had to give them up. The weaning off is hard but not as bad as I expected.

Apple has given me my life back and saved me. I will get a different app but I am never going back to that podcast insanity.

Jul 27, 2021 1:12 PM in response to jasonspaceman

I read the thread, everyone complaining about apple podcast. I agree. But, i don't see any specific suggestions for the best alternatives.

why do you waste your time being snarky rather than helpful?

Jul 27, 2021 5:12 PM in response to jasonspaceman

As a few others have mentioned, I've seen a marked improvement since updating to 14.7. Still some problems getting a podcast to actually PLAY once loaded, but the delays on initial launch, refreshes of each screen, etc. are gone.

Jul 29, 2021 10:57 AM in response to MirrorLake

I lodged my complaint yesterday. So sick of this. I literally listen to podcasts all day. I listen in the morning, all day at work and then I listen to them again at night before I fall asleep. This has been going on for so long. I’m having major withdrawals here. What could it possibly be and is it really this hard to fix? Or does Apple just not care? I can’t even listen to podcasts to hear if others are having trouble. Are they still making podcasts?

cmon Apple….

Avijja

Level 1

8 points

Jul 31, 2021 7:21 PM in response to brhonda44

So I thought that the 14.7 iOS update fixed my problems with the podcast app. I used it for a few days. I play a lot of podcasts during the day. Things seemed ok, but then various podcast episodes would give no indication that they had finished downloading. Some of the episodes were only 10 minutes in length, so they should have downloaded almost instantly. After waiting for 5 minutes or so, I just assumed they must have downloaded. I don’t allow the podcast app to use cellular data, so the episodes have to be downloaded so I can listen to them away from home. When I would try to play the episodes when away from home, I would get a message telling me the episode could not be found.

I had no problem downloading and playing the same episodes on the google podcast app. This was the last straw. I deleted the Apple podcast app and am now using google podcast app. It’s really a shame, but oh well. I have not read anything where Apple has acknowledged a problem with the podcast app, and maybe it is an iOS issue more than a problem just with the app, who knows. But I am done.

Aug 1, 2021 10:41 AM in response to MirrorLake

Good to know I’m not the only one. I’ve had to swap over to Spotify and it really sucks bc I sub’d to over 100 podcasts on Apple. I really hope they fix this, but it doesn’t look like that’s gonna happen. It’s been a while now.

Jun 26, 2021 2:23 PM in response to Avijja

I have just reinstalled for you and it is now even worse. It took 3 minutes of loading screen possibly longer to load a podcast. I’m deleting it again now I’m done : ) Jason

Jun 13, 2021 10:06 PM in response to MirrorLake

Podcasts take forever to load. No other app is experiencing this. My internet speed is 600M. It happens in various locations miles apart

Subby37

Level 1

4 points

Jun 14, 2021 5:51 AM in response to MirrorLake

I found that too, I have really only used the apple podcast app until recently. I downloaded another one today and it loads faster offers speedy searches and is better in so many ways.

bmherold

Level 1

9 points

Jun 14, 2021 1:22 PM in response to macso

@masco Yeah, it's super busted at the moment. I hope there's an update soon.

Jun 14, 2021 2:22 PM in response to bmherold

This app is useless. I e already downloaded an alternative

Jun 14, 2021 11:46 PM in response to cyberbiker

Well said! Apple please fix this app!!!

Podcasts on iOS 14.6, serious loading issues