cannot delete podcasts

Another thing I noticed, when I press the refresh button there is quite a delay and if I go to quit iTunes it looks like it then wants to start a refresh which freezes iTunes. Very odd.

My solution to the problem is to go back to a previous version until they release a fix. Here is how I did it:

• Remove that bag of rubbish they call iTunes 11.1 (via Windows control panel if on Windows)
• Install iTunes 11.05 from http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1615 - though I checked my Downloads folder and found a whole bunch of previous installer versions (including 11.05)
• Restore your iTunes library file from backup - I use Carbonite so it was a matter of right click restore previous version - you'll need to use a version of the library file that matches the iTunes version you are installing
• Run iTunes and your back to where you started

This might not work for everyone, and I haven't fully tested to see if everything is working, but initial thoughts are that normal Podcast service has been resumed.

So just found out that you can't sync iOS 7 devices unless you have iTunes 11.1. 😝 So you are stuck with 11.1 if you want to use iOS 7 at the moment.

I am SOOOO glad a discussion on this topic has opened and that it's not just me. I have noticed the same thing.

As others have reported, this is definitely something that needs to be resolved ASAP as those of us who subscribe to multiple podcasts are unable to manage all of these superfluous entries.

The good news is I have found a workaround. The bad news is that this workaround will really only be convenient for people who don't subscribe to very many podcasts.

Here's what you can do. (And kevin10451 take note as it will allow you to accomplish what you're already doing without having to actually listen to all your old podcasts! 😉 )

Assuming you have few podcasts and/or few episodes and/or the time and the disk space to do so, you can do the following. If you subscribe to multiple podcasts I would recommend completing all of these steps for one podcast at a time before moving on to the next.

1) Download all episodes of the podcast by selecting the first download down arrow on the podcast title line. Allow all episodes to download.

2) Create a regular (not smart) playlist, and give it a name (I suggest, and will use in this example, "Deleter.")

3) When all episodes have finished downloading, highlight/select all of the downloaded episodes (do not select the title line for the podcast subscription). Click and drag these selected episodes to copy them into the "Deleter" playlist which you created in step 2 above. This will create copies, and the podcasts will still be listed in the podcast section.

3a) NOTE FOR STEP 3: If there are episodes which you have not yet heard and would like to keep to listen to, do not select those episodes in this step. Select and copy ONLY those episodes which you have already heard and/or otherwise have no interest in keeping or listening to.

4) From within the Deleter playlist, select/highlight ALL of the items within the deleter playlist. Right-click (or command-click) this selection.

5) A menu box will appear. Click on "Get Info." Another menu box will appear.

6) Click on the "Options" tab. Click on the drop-down menu next to "media kind" and change the media kind from "podcast" to "music." Click "OK" to make the change and then the menu box will go away.

7) Hold down the Option key on your keyboard while right-clicking your selection again. (You should still have all items in the Deleter playlist selected - but if they aren't, re-select them before doing this). Then select "Delete" from the menu that appears. In the dialog quesiton boxes that appear, select the options that you really want to delete the songs, and select the choice to remove them from your iTunes library and into the trash.

8) You will find that this removes the podcast episodes from your Deleter playlist as well as your Podcast list (actually they no longer appear in the pocast list the moment you change the media type from podcast to music, but don't just do that from within the podcast list because if you do the episodes will remain in your itunes library taking up space but you just will no longer be able to easily tell that they're there or find them).

While this does work, as I stated before, I would only recommend this for users with a small number of episodes/podcasts to delete. If you have gargantuan numbers of subscriptions or episodes, this will not be convenient and I would recommend waiting until a fix is made to iTunes. Personally I did it for a few podcasts but grew tired of the process and am waiting for a fix myself.

BONUS: For those who didn't grow tired of my lengthy post and are still reading, in case you aren't aware of it, there are some other things you may not know you can do. I actually REGULARLY put all of my podcast episodes into a music playlist as described above, even when I'm going to listen to them and not delete them. And once I put them in this playlist, I change the media type to music as described above. While I'm in that options box, I also do a few other things as well. I can set the equalizer and volume settings to my personal taste. Also - if I select the episodes on a one-by-one basis (the following option isn't available if you select more than one episodes at a time) there is a "start time" box which I can adjust. By default they start at 00:00:00 and end at whatever the length of the podcast is. But certain podcasts which notoriously start with a minute - or two - or three - of commercial - well you can fix that right now. All you have to do is change the start time to start at the one or two or one and a half or whatever minute mark the commercials are usually over by. You have SOOO much more control over podcasts if and when you change them to "music." 🙂

I removed the rubbish called iTunes 11 from my new MacBook and put 10.7 back on, because 11 is wretched regardless of the version.

Having the same issue, PLUS I can't get my iPod Touch to sync w/the 11.1. I get stuck in spinning beach ball ****.

I listen to TONS of podcasts, & this has been a complete nightmare. FIX IT, APPLE.

OK, now I am FURIOUS. We need a WORKING new version of iTunes, and we need it IMMEDIATELY.

After completing the above steps and successfully (or so I thought) ridding myself of the unwanted old podcast episodes, I did a "refresh" hoping to get my new episodes that came out today.....and what did I get??? ALL SEVERAL THOUSAND OLD EPISODES OF ALL MY PODCASTS ALL OVER AGAIN.

Apple must have hired an ex-Microsoft programmer and put him in charge of this version of iTunes. That is the only possible explanation. Whoever he is, it is time to fire the bum and get an experienced Apple person on the project and get podcasts working in iTunes properly again.

The only way to fix iTunes would be to get 10.7 back. And maybe fix the album shuffle so it actually shuffles whole albums properly, not a few songs on an album, but I'm just daydreaming that that feature will ever work properly again. At this point anything that's not iTunes 11 would be welcome.

On deleting podcasts: as best I can tell, DO NOT delete podcasts from within iTunes anymore. Well, you can, but they'll come back: any podcast episode that you've deleted will download once again. Instead, mark them as played, and resync - that seems to make them disappear (I haven't dug into the hard drive to confirm this, but at least they's no longer a file that iTunes sees).

Again, to get rid of podcast episodes that are on your computer: mark them as played and resync. Don't delete.

(Note that you can still delete on the iOS Podcasts app. Nice and consistent, that!)

You're right that they're still in List view, but unfortunately List view has become an unmanageable nightmare, and that's not going to be solved until there's an update (if even then: I have a horrible suspicion Apple's decided this is a feature and not a bug). What I'm talking about is getting the podcast episode off your computer itself, whether in the "My Podcasts" tab or in any "Unplayed Podcasts" playlists you've got set up.

Example: I download lots of podcasts every day, many of them news and current affairs. Some of them I don't want to listen to because I'm kind of bored of congressional deadlock, so I routinely erase maybe 1/3 of them before even listening. As of 11.1, deleting doesn't work, because they'll download again, on my system at least. What does work for me: mark the ones I don't want as played. Then they'll disappear. (Well, they're still in List View, but so is most of the known universe.)

I guess we've got two different issues: one is deleting podcast files off your computer/iTunes library; the other is removing podcast episodes from the List View. The latter is now impossible. The former is more difficult than it used to be, but still possible.

How did you revert to 10.7? What files from the iTunes folder did you have to restore from a backup?

Lost in Asia - I also arrived at the same conclusion you did (upon further experimentation after my latest prior post in this thread). That is now what I am going to plan to do until this bug is fixed - keep all the old stuff in the list marked as "unplayed" and then just watch for new things. I'll continue to use my tactic of copying the new episodes that I want to listen to to a separate playlist where I can add, delete and keep them organized to my liking.

For those who haven't yet found it, there is a much longer thread about this issue here:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5318293?start=105&tstart=0

Unfortunately no solution yet - just a lot more ranting - but if misery loves company this will be a thread you'll all love.....at least we are not alone....