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Apple Podcast incorrectly marks episodes as played

Something weird is happening with Apple Podcasts since the iOS 18 update. After I finish an episode, it automatically jumps to a different episode, puts it in play mode without actually starting it, and then marks it as played. This is super frustrating because I usually hide played episodes, and now it's hiding episodes I haven’t even listened to. Can someone at Apple please support me with this?

Posted on Oct 3, 2024 12:24 PM

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Posted on Oct 4, 2024 8:57 AM

Yes, so frustrating. Not fixed in 18.0.1. In 18, Apple Podcasts has several major bugs and it is sad the bugs made it to the final release. Apple Podcasts is marking episodes as played before being played, it drops random episodes from my queue into the player, marking it played, so it disappears from my queue causing me to miss episodes. It is continuously.playing episodes when that option is turned off.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 4, 2024 8:57 AM in response to sploegman

Yes, so frustrating. Not fixed in 18.0.1. In 18, Apple Podcasts has several major bugs and it is sad the bugs made it to the final release. Apple Podcasts is marking episodes as played before being played, it drops random episodes from my queue into the player, marking it played, so it disappears from my queue causing me to miss episodes. It is continuously.playing episodes when that option is turned off.

Oct 27, 2024 9:08 AM in response to sploegman

Not only is this broken on iOS but also MacOS. Both bugs are there. Bug 1) Shows will randomly be marked played that have never been played (I notice this on Bible in a Year and Catechism in a Year since I do that every day). Actually, MacOS seems significantly worse than iOS with doing this. 2) If you turn OFF continuous playback it will be ignored randomly and play another podcast. This one upsets me the most since I reply heavily on knowing what has been played or not. It seems to occur more often when you have app either minimized, lock screen on, or not in the for ground.

Oct 26, 2024 11:12 PM in response to sploegman

Here are some steps to help with the issue of episodes automatically marking as played in Apple Podcasts:


Disable Automatic Playback: Go to Settings > Podcasts and ensure that Continuous Playback is turned off. This can prevent the app from automatically queuing up another episode after you finish one.


Reset Episode Sync: Sometimes, a syncing issue can cause episodes to misbehave. Try going to Settings > [Your Apple ID] > iCloud, then toggle Podcasts syncing off and on again.


Clear Played History: In the Podcasts app, go to Library > Shows > Edit, then select Clear Played on any affected shows. This can help refresh the play status on episodes.


Reinstall the App: Delete and reinstalling the Podcasts app can resolve persistent bugs by resetting its settings and cache.


Report the Issue: If the problem persists, Apple support can review this. Visit feedback.apple.com to submit the bug, which can help their team provide a fix in future updates.


Apple Podcast incorrectly marks episodes as played

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