Problem deleting/removing partially downloaded podcasts from iPhone

Question

Problem deleting/removing partially downloaded podcasts from iPhone

I have an infuriating problem where podcasts that fail to download properly still show up in my podcast library and refuse to be deleted by any method (can't swipe to delete) but which also cannot be 're-downloaded' from iTunes because iTunes thinks I already have them! The 'broken' podcasts have that new grey 'download in progress' symbol/icon next to them in the library, but are 'stuck' in this state.

How this happens, as far as I can tell, is that when I am downloading podcasts directly to my iphone over wifi, quite frequently of late there is a problem with the download - like it 'hangs', or I get the "unable to download at this time" error message, or it's just taking too long to download despite no problems with my broadband speed - so what I normally do in that situation is just 'swipe to delete' from the download queue in iTunes (on my phone). But now, when I go to the library section of my iphone - there the podcast is, but in an 'interrupted' state (with the 'downloading' grey icon next to it) - and I cannot delete or remove it. Or re-download it via iTunes. Maddening!

I've looked for people experiencing similar problems and there seem to be a few - but because of how complicated it is to explain I'm not 100% sure if we're talking about the same thing! Seems like syncing to your computer makes no difference either as basically neither the iphone or the computer can "see" the partially downloaded file - they are not admitting that it is there, only iTunes seems to think it is still there so refuses to let you have another go at downloading it.

Ugh. Can anyone help or shed light?? :-(

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.0.1

Posted on Feb 20, 2012 4:46 AM

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Answer 1

Feb 20, 2012 5:16 AM in response to Al_ofthe_North

To summarise a bit more clearly, this is a case of interrupted/cancelled iTunes downloads leaving orphaned, incomplete and unremovable files in the iphone's library.

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Answer 2

Feb 28, 2012 1:26 AM in response to Al_ofthe_North

How do I delete the top one? Its stuck, I've tried everything short of a restore (which is a ludacris suggestion from Apple Care)

Figure it out and you earn a beer on me!

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Answer 3

Feb 29, 2012 4:05 AM in response to JuergenWest

I have this problem, too. See also this thread (with no solution so far): https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3697887?start=0&tstart=0

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Answer 4

Mar 3, 2012 12:52 PM in response to Al_ofthe_North

I have the exact same problem, tried everything except restore to factory settings which would remove it and everything else

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Answer 5

Mar 3, 2012 4:17 PM in response to Al_ofthe_North

Finally sorted it by:

Went to Itunes on the PC, clicked on my docked Ipod, turned off Cloud backup (I do not want to lose non Itunes songs/books etc)

Turned on Backup to Computer in Itunes on PC

Updated Itunes to latest version

Backed up Ipod

Restored Ipod to Factory settings (restoring Ipod data in the process)

Everything appears to have restored OK bar one corrupt app!

No part downloaded Podcasts anymore!

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Answer 6

Mar 3, 2012 4:18 PM in response to Al_ofthe_North

Oh then turned iCould backup back on

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Answer 7

Mar 4, 2012 1:17 AM in response to fandoozle

Yup, seems like a full wipe and restore from backup is currently the only solution. Hope this gets addressed in future iOS updates!

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Answer 8

Mar 4, 2012 5:32 PM in response to fandoozle

While I agree a full restore will clear it, this is excessively unnessary for what should be a quick little fix. I am not going to accept that the only way to clear a stuck download is to do a full restore and back which on my phone will take several hours. I imagine it's just one little file that needs to be deleted. Isn't there a direct file path to delete only the guilty podcast in question?

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Answer 9

Mar 5, 2012 5:43 AM in response to JuergenWest

Unfortunately iOS is a so-called "closed operating system" which purposefully does not allow that kind of control (but is arguably a more user friendly experience for the casual user as a result). I am not knowledgable about it but it's possible you can get greater control/access by jailbreaking the phone -but then you'd lose your access to podcasts from iTunes so that would kind of defeat the purpose. I agree it's a bad situation when a restore can take such a long time -but it looks like the kind of bug that is fixed via a software update from Apple. The next release is coming up soon I believe so fingers crossed. Otherwise we just need to make more complaints to get it pushed up their list of priorities...

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Answer 10

Mar 9, 2012 8:10 PM in response to JuergenWest

After trying practically everything, I pressed the square "stop" button beside the podcast, and I removed the entry. So, press the square "stop" button and see what happens. You may have to hold it down for a second or two.

My display looked like JuergenWest's screen shot above, and even included duplicate entries where one copy was streamed and the other was downloaded (via iTunes on my computer).

I'm not sure if it was because I first removed the podcasts from the iPhone 4 sync in iTunes, or if this method would work without unsynced podcasts. I'm having trouble recreating the conditions getting the extra podcast entries on my iPhone.

I'm adding this response to: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3697887 as well.

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Answer 11

BigFus

Level 1

5 points

Mar 10, 2012 4:19 PM in response to Al_ofthe_North

FINALLY figured it out without having to do a complete wipe and reload of your entire iphone/ipod. Hope I can explain this sequence correctly.

Settings > General > Usage > Music

Click the blue Edit button in the top right corner.

The little red circles with white bars in them appear, click the one next to the podcasts you want to delete (that have the partial downloads), hit delete and it will delete all of the content for that podcast. Then just redownload.

Magical.

Enjoy.

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Answer 12

Mar 11, 2012 1:12 AM in response to BigFus

BigFus you are a legend that works! The only small drawback is if you have a lot of unlistened to podcasts under each title -as you have to redownload all of them -but it is MUCH better than a full restore. Thank you.

To be more specific to help others I would add 'storage' to your path: General>Usage>Storage> Music> 'Podcasts'

To Sonic Theme above, I couldn't get your tip to work for me, but I hadn't done the sync. Sounds similar to BigFus in that the answer is to get rid of all properly downloaded podcasts under a particular 'title' (perhaps by sync as well) -with your method then the incomplete ones go away when u next try to interact with them.

Good work everyone! :-)

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Answer 13

Mar 11, 2012 1:30 AM in response to Al_ofthe_North

Also, to add to my last post, if you have already deleted all of the individual 'okay' episodes of a particular podcast (that is, the ones that downloaded properly without a problem), then you'll need to download at least one new episode before that podcast title will show up in the list under usage>storage>music -where you can then delete them all, including the incomplete ones. Thanks again to BigFus for this solution.

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Answer 14

mricect

Level 1

4 points

Mar 21, 2012 1:55 PM in response to BigFus

had this issue...just googled, found this thread and your solution. Many thanks!

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Answer 15

Mar 27, 2012 5:28 AM in response to Al_ofthe_North

Superb! This is what I have been waiting for. Many many thanks to BigFus on this. Will be posting this to https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3751891?answerId=17968611022#17968611022 now...

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