Ios 16.4 removes podcasts

It appears to only happen to podcasts synced from a computer to your phone. Mine was fine for a bit after I resynced everything, then I went to the downloaded section and saw them all disappearing one by one. The only thing that remained was one podcast I downloaded through the app.

The exact same thing happened to me, yesterday, on my 14 Pro Max when I tried syncing old episodes of a non-existent podcast from my Windows PC. To my phone. Every time I restarted the app, all of the synced files in the downloaded folder would disappear. I deleted the Podcast app several times when trying to troubleshoot but, after 6 hours, I gave up as nothing worked. This is very depressing as I want to retire my 8 Plus but have to keep it around because it is running iOS15 where this problem does not happen. Any solutions would be greatly appreciated.

Okay, after spending far too much time on this I decided to use the Downcast app to play non-feed related audio content that work well as podcasts. I have owned Downcast for years but have not used it for quite some time.

Now remember that I like the Apple Podcast app for staying up-to-date with current podcasts. It is simple, easy to use and kind of fun.

However, I have hundreds of old radio dramas that are MP3 files that, I have tagged as podcast type in my iTunes Library on my PC. Until recently, I had no problem syncing them with the Podcast app.

Not until today did I learn that one can sideload media files to Downcast using the File Sharing feature in iTunes for Windows.

So, I:

1.

Disabled all of the download features in Downcast because I am only going to use it for my personally curated audio files that I have already tagged as podcasts.

2.

Connected my 14 Pro Max to my PC and in the device window, selected File Sharing.

3.

Then, I clicked on the Downcast app, listed in the window.

4.

I clicked on Add Files. (Each of my podcasts are already organized into separate folders. So I selected all of the files in an appropriate folder and click the Open button. The files are copied to my iPhone, in short order.

5.

Now in the Downcast app on iPhone, I select the More tab, located at the bottom of the display.

6.

Select Tools.

7.

Select Import Media. In the resulting dialog box, on the phone, you see all of the files you just copied from iTunes. I selected all of the files and then chose to create a new Podcast name. I named the new Podcast for the radio drama that applies to the files. For example, Beyond Midnight.

8.

Now, simply select the Import button and you’re all done.

Because my audio files were already properly named, tagged, and organized, on my PC, the entire process took less than 5 minutes to complete.

So, for the time being, I will use the Apple Podcast app for, well, actual podcasts (smile) and I will use Downcast for audio files that work well, when organized as podcasts, but are not actual live feeds.

Mark

Could you skip a step or two here and have Downcast import the files from a cloud server / file store (like Google Drive or OneDrive)? Someone mentioned in another thread that if you get to the files with a URL somewhere, that Downcast could use those files directly. (I obviously haven't tried this yet.)

Yes, you can definitely import the files from either a media source such as iCloud drive or OneDrive. You can also import the files from a URL. Both options can be found in the Tools/Import area of Downcast.

Mark

5/8/23 and podcasts are disappearing without even powering down my iPad.

When is this getting fixed? I would like it fixed by the time I leave on a trip where I use the podcasts daily.

Could use a workaround if someone knows one.

BB

Mark,

I purchased the Downcast app and have tried plenty of ways to download from my saved podcasts. Never got it done!

May I ask what the "file sharing" is? I have file sharing marked for my iPad but no go.

Thanks

Sue

Hello Sue,

Please see the steps I listed, above. It is important that you connect your iPad to your computer, in the scenario I described, above. The audio files, in question, must be stored on your computer. Remember, we’re not talking about files that are available in a podcast feed but, rather, audio files that you want to treat like a podcast show.

Please search the web for how to share files from your computer to your Apple device and you will find plenty of articles and videos that will explain the basic concept.

Good luck,

Mark

Exact same issue on the IPhone 12 (mini).

Hmm - this time all Podcasts disappeared (about 24H after I had updated things) - without switching off the phone, or connecting it with my computer. Odd. Not Liking IOS16.4 for this reason.

John

I liked Mark asnwer to the problem. I would like to know for sure that it works as I would like to make sure before I buy the app.

All I can say is that it is definitely working for me, and for a few friends, who have decided to use the same app for the same purpose.