iOS 7 Music app no longer able to play podcasts when Podcasts app is not installed.

I was a fan of staying with the Music app because it would autostart when my phone synced with my truck's radio and start a podcast where I left it. The poscast app wouldn't do that. I hope this is just a temp error as I see that "lyrics and podcast info" is still a selection in the setting for the music app.

I hope they give this back, or give us some way to control the autoplay feature better.

I'm dissapointed on the fact that Podcasts are no longer supported by iOS7's music app.

I used it on a daily basis and its hard for me to believe that Apple purposely made this change. I hope this is just an error which can be acceptable and hopefully fixed soon.

Apple..... I hope you're listening...

I don't see what Apple has against us listening to podcasts in the music app; it made perfect sense there, worked perfectly and looked good. Now we have to use this horrible Podcast app where yuou can't even arrange the podcasts properly (seriously, I just want to see the podcasts that only have unplayed episodes, Apple) and it's pulling up episodes I listened to months ago. Ridiculous.

This is beyond disappointment, this is a huge, huge mistake. Apple's Podcast app is absolutely horrible for playing podcasts compared to the Music app, and count me as one that hopes Apple restores the ability of Music to play podcasts. Deleting the Podcast app was one of the first things I did after upgrading to iOS 6, and I refuse to go back to it. I'm eager to look at third-party apps like Downcast now. Anyone have any other suggestions?

I have to agree with above posters. I like to listen to various podcasts intermixed with music while on the road, so I create a playlist specifically for that purpose. When I get in my car the playlist starts playing, no fiddling required. I am very disappointed at this move. It means that either I won't be able to listen to podcasts or I wont be able to listen to music or I am required to operate my iPhone while driving.

the awesome podcast interface in IOS was the ONE reason I went back to ios from android. I guess there is nothing keeping me here now.

So podcasts are built into iTunes on the mac... they are audio files... they can contain music... but they can't show up in itunes on my mobile device? ***. AND... we have to use a crappy app now to get what we had before?

iOS6 was working great for podcasters. why did you break it apple? Look at the reviews for the podcast app on the iTunes store and get a clue.

The heading of this thread leads one to believe that the Music app will play podcasts if the podcast app is installed. Is this the case?

I have a gps app and it won't pause the podcast for voice directions when played out of the podcast app. It will pause music however, which is why I want to listen to my podcasts through the music app.

Why did Apple make this terrible user-unfriendly move?

elliotfromcroton on hudson wrote:

The heading of this thread leads one to believe that the Music app will play podcasts if the podcast app is installed. Is this the case?

No. The iTunes error-message (when you try to sync podcasts with the Podcast app not installed) says the same. It, indeed, suggests that if you install the Podcast app all will be fine and dandy. But it isn't.

I have the Podcast app installed and the Music app still won't show any podcasts in my playlist. The Podcast app shows the same playlist but now with all the music missing. !#$$@!±

Any suggestions if there's an app for that are welcome.

I filed a bugreport on bugreporter.apple.com

I posted a separate message on this topic and agree with all posters. This makes no sense. I listen to a great deal of podcasts and do so while driving. I have a 2011 Honda Accord with the Nav package that includes a USB connection for my iPhone or iPod. It works beautifully with the Music app. I can see and select everything in the library from my in-dash display. In previous iterations of the iOS, simply deleting the Podcast app would restore podcasts as a line in the Music app. Now, iTunes warns me that I will not be able to listen to podcasts without the Podcast app installed. This is not a bug. Mr. Ives and his team are apparently pushing the Podcast app down our collective throats. The Podcast app is unspported by my two-year-old auto. In order to listen to podcasts stored on my phone, I must resort to late-90s tech and connect a cable to an AUX jack from the phones' headphones jack and look away from the road to the phone screen to choose a 'cast. Very innovative. Interesting, my 7-year-old iPod Classic works fine with the USB port and in-dash display and, overnight, has become my mobile device of choice while driving my car. Never need to look below the dashborad. My iPhone is locked in my briefcase.

Let's get the freedom to choose back in iOS 7.0.1, please.

Apple,

Echoing what everyone has said above. This is very frustrating. Please allow podcasts to be played from the Music App. I can't play podcasts in my car now (at least not without picking up my phone, unlocking it with a password, finding the app and podcast, etc. all while speeding down the road).

Please fix this.

Thanks.

I suspect this is a deliberate "feature". I always mix music and podcasts on long car trips - it is very frustrating that I can't download podcasts like I used to with the iTunes app over 3G - if the podcast app is installed I cant do mixed playlists on IOS6. The functionality has gone backwards.

I waited 6 months for Google to release their own Google Maps app before upgrading to IOS6. I will not upgrade to IOS7 if this is not fixed. I had intended to purchase a new iPhone 5S to replace my 2 year old 4S, but will not if this is not fixed.

Unfortunately the alternative music players don't have the useability or bluetooth compatability that the Music.app has so no joy there.

If they take too long the Samsung S4 looks pretty nice, and it is cheaper than an iPhone. I will not be dictated to on how I am going to use my phone.

WORKAROUND: In iTunes, select the podcast files and hit CMD-I (show info). Set the genre to something other than "Podcast", and in the Options tab, set the Media Type to Music. You can do this to the files that are on your iPhone. If you do this to the files on your computer, they will no longer show up as Podcasts - they'll be mixed in with music files in your library. You can then put these podcasts into playlists on the iPhone, and they'll show up on the phone once it's disconnected. You might need to fool around with this a bit - try it more than once, etc. - I had some podcasts not show up on the iPhone until after a SECOND connect-and-disconnect operation with the computer. Others here might do some experimenting and figure out a smoother set of instructions that will always work - but this is a starting point.

Note that I ALWAYS "manage music and video files manually" - I NEVER "sync" music and video. Your mileage may vary.

Apple - please listen: The handling of podcasts in iOS 7 is not a feature, it's a bug. As you can tell from the comments here, MANY people need to manage podcasts as if they were music files (and sometimes, THEY ARE!!!!). The arbitrary decision to treat podcasts differently is WRONG - an audio file is an audio file. I don't need to buy one TV to watch sports and one TV to watch news - because video is video. Get it? If you want to provide a Podcasts app, that's fine, and anyone who wants to use it can do so. But don't RUIN the previous, excellent functionality that we had before, when it's completely unnecessary and a colossal pain (not to mention insult) to your customers. And in some cases, it's a serious driving safety issue.

I'll be watching this space to see if others can refine the basic workaround that I've found.

UPDATE: It appears that changing the genre is unnecessary, only the "Media Type". It's probably best to do this only to the copies on the iPhone, so the files in your computer's library are not altered.

Add me to the list of people who are hugely disappointed with the way podcasts are managed in iOS 7. The Podcast app is absolutely horrible. It doesn't do anything right.

I like to arrange playlists on my Mac in iTunes with podcasts and music selections and play them both in the car and while wearing headphones. It used to be easy to do because the Music app would automatically keep track of the location so I could go from listening on my daily comute using Bluetooth in the car, to listening while perparing dinner with headphones. It didn't miss a beat.

Arranging things was easy with smart playlists. I usually play podcasts in the order of release date. There are a few podcasts that I like to push to the beginning of the list so it was easy to drag it into a regular playlist and then drag all of the others, in release date order into the same playlist. If I wanted to mix in some music I just draged the sorted smart list entries to a regular playlist and then added the music I wanted. Simple.

Please restore the old handling of podcasts to Music.

Oh, I just noticed that Audiobooks appear in playlists in Music. What's up with that? Why are they different from Podcasts?

This also makes it unpleasant to listen to podcasts while using navigation software. The Navigon software offers an audio book mode, where it will pause playback whenever Navigon is giving voice driving instructions. Of course, this one works if the audio source is iTunes. Same thing with the audio navigation tools in the Navigon software. It won't contorl the Podcasts app.