Podcast Not Marked as Played

I'm having this problem as well. I listen to a podcast on iTunes, stop playing it half way, transfer it to my iPod or iPhone and it will play from the beginning. This wasn't the case before, as I used to listen to podcasts this way all the time. The same thing happens if I start listening on my iPod or iPhone, stop listening to it sometime before it's done and then transfer it to iTunes. iTunes recognizes that the podcast has been played (but not finished) because the little half-filled circle will show up next to the podcast name, but when I begin playing it will start the podcast over from the beginning. Is there a bug? Is there a new setting that needs to be toggled? I couldn't find anything...

I am having the same problem on some podcasts--with others, they fail to auto-delete. I am also having syncing issues--sometimes my phone syncs, sometimes not. This all started when I downloaded iTunes 10. Never had a problem before.

I don't listen on the computer, only on my iPhone. This is really a pain, as I listen to many podcasts.

Add me to the, "Me, too," group here. I get this problem - it's pretty annoying as well when I start listening on my iPhone, sync it to iTunes (which remembers where it's played), but then resets the last played location to the beginning again on the phone.

I thought it was an iPhone "special feature" as I got iTunes 10 and the iPhone about the same time, and didn't recall getting the problem with my previous nano under iTunes 9. Not sure where the problem lies, but it's giving me a level of rage - it's illegal to operate a phone in the car here, so I wire the phone into an Alpine head unit which was atrocious controls for forwarding through giant 2.5 hour long "songs."

Be nice if we saw a return to the previous behaviour, where syncs worked fine 🙂

I'm having the same problem. I use an old iPod with video, an iPhone 3GS and an iPad 3G and before upgrading to iTunes 10, podcasts synched across all three and iTunes. So, I could start listening on my iPod, and after syncing to iTunes, continue where I left off on my iPhone the next day.

Since the upgrade, I have had podcasts fail to delete once played, and others play from the beginning once opened, even though they have been saved at some point in the program.

Its a pain, trying to remember where I left off one podcast, or whether I listened to any of it at all.

Please Apple, fix this problem!

I'm also having a similar issue; I will complete a podcast on my iPod, then sync with iTunes.

iTunes will still display the completed podcast as only half-complete and will not remove it from my iPod.

(running 10.0.0.68 on iTunes on Windows 7 x 64bit).

I have my nanos and touch sync similar content but use the nano primarily for audio content. I found if I sync my 4G or 6G nano all the playcounts for podcasts transfer to iTunes. If I then sync the 1G touch some, not all, played podcasts get set to partially played. If I sync the touch first then the playcounts are synced properly by the nano for auto-delete to work.

I think this bug is also resetting my bookmarks in my audiobooks. Trying to find your place in a 2 hour podcast is one thing, but an 8 hour book is even more frustrating.

having the same problem here as well.

I am having the same problem. I've got iPhone 3GS, iPad Wifi and iTunes on a Macbook Pro (all with the newest SW versions). The remember playback position feature seems to be totally messed up by syncing devices with iTunes. Even if I watched a podcast episode completely on my ipad or iphone it happens that after syncing with itunes the same episode is marked unwatched. That's really frustrating as it takes now much longer to watch all the podcast that I am used to watch. Apple pls. fix this!

Is there any update on this issue? I've had a similar issue, in that podcasts I listen to on my iPhone are still listed as unplayed in my iTunes. And because my sync settings are "all unplayed podcasts" I usually end up with about 600 podcasts on my phone, 589 of which I've already listened to. Am i expecting too much of iTunes for it to recognize podcasts I play on my iPhone as played on my iMac?

**disclaimer: quantities are approximate**

Same issue here. I download podcasts via iTunes 10 and sync with my iPhone 4. I find that my iPhone bookmarks my place in the podcast correctly. When syncing back with my iMac, the podcast is still bookmarked in the same place and will play correctly in iTunes. However, if I sync back to the iPhone, the podcast has been reset to the beginning.

Very aggravating, as I listen to podcasts daily.

Exact same issue here.

Best suggestion - please send a comment to Apple!!! Use the "Submit Feedback" link in iTunes or http://www.apple.com/feedback/itunesapp.html

The only way this issue will get addressed is if Apple gets enough user feedback indicating that this is an issue. (Apple is known to be very responsive to customer issues - but it's on us to let them know this is a problem.)

thanks!
Mark

Actually, this problem is not just limited to podcasts; also extends to TV shows synced between the iPhone and Mac: if I watch a TV show partially on my computer, and have been syncing that show onto my iPhone, the (unplayed) iPhone episode will overwrite my Mac version at the next sync, marking as unplayed the episode on my Mac.

Add me to the list. I have a 1st gen iPod Touch which I use to listen to all my podcasts and the iPhone 4 as a back up since the Touch's battery life is waning. If I sync my iPod and then my iPhone, recently played podcasts get reset to as if they've never been played.

I've had it with the juggling, so I just wiped podcasts from the iPhone.

Don't want to jinx it, but the problem seems to be gone, absent an iTunes or iPhone firmware update.

Strange...