At http://www.apple.com/itunes/podcasts/fanfaq.html , Apple says that you can put podcasts in a smart playlist. True enough, if I stick to iTunes on my computer. But I see no way to actually play the playlist on my iPhone. Is that correct?
iPhone 4S, iOS 5.1
You can sync the podcasts to your phone. With your phone connected to the computer, go in iTunes and tell it to sync your playlist to the phone.
Thanks. I can get the playlist onto the phone, but I can't play it as a playlist. In the Music app the playlist is visible but appears blank, and in the Podcasts app there's no way to select a playlist. (Also, there's no way to play podcasts in shuffle mode, which is what I'd really like to do.)
There is some sort of software switch in iOS 6. If the podcasts app is installed on the phone, then the default behavior of the Music app changes, and it will no longer display podcasts that are on the phone. You can undo this behavior by deleting the podcasts app, and then restarting your phone once or twice. After that, you should be able to see and play podcasts from within the Music app again (like you could in iOS 5).
Aftter doing this, the music app will also let you create on-the-fly playlists to which you can add podcasts. I do this to queue up multiple podcasts for long commutes, so I don't have to fiddle with the phone while driving.
Thanks very much. That solves most of the problem. (The main thing lost is the wireless podcast downloading that could be done through the podcast app.) But I'm much happer now.
Great tip - worked for me by just taking the Podcast app off of my 4GS - no re-boots required. Thanks!
Can you use a smart playlist to play podcasts on the iPhone?
