Q: Ipod Touch 4th gen 6.1.3 can't download podcasts.  Can't download podcasts app.

When I tried to download, I did not get an error message.  Instead, the app began the download by showing a bar in the icon for the program, but the bar would not completely fill-in.  I subsequently tried your advice, and it worked fine.  Thanks for the help!

Beautiful. Thanks, I don't know why these apps aren't scaled to work on all versions of IOS. It happened in the past when I upgraded an App and it no longer worked on my iPod. I was perfectly happy wth the old version.

I use my iPod touch as a computer. It has been able to do just about everything that I need it to, until now, when I can no longer download podcasts to it directly, like I used to. I have only connected it to a computer very few times; Using my family computer that I no longer have access to. It's a shame that a perfectly good device can no longer do the one thing for me that it was meant to do in the first place. Shame on you, apple. I feel like I'm being forced to buy a "newer" iPod.

Is there no way to get this to work on an Iphone 4 running iOS 6? Is there absolutely no way to get podcasts from Itunes (which are not available anywhere else) on to my Iphone unless I update to iOS 7?

I have the same problem w/ it trying to install and then just stops.  I have tried deleting  on my pc and then redownloading, but never get this cloud thing on my Ipod to install as you say.  The app jus sits there on my screen not totally installed and I cannot remove it from my Ipod. It does not show on the usage tab in the settings as being an app on the ipod.

Slight clarification for Dustin's MUCH APPRECIATED fix:  before you attempt it, make sure that you've deleted it from your ipod - otherwise, you might, as I did, get into a looping series of unsuccessful 'updates'.

I am not sure how to delete it from the IPOD as I said above it does not show on the APs usage screen as being on there, nor can I stop the unsucessful install loop it is in.

Not sure what you meant by 'does not show on the APs usage screen', but:

(1) I meant the 'delete apps from Ipod, Iphone, etc.' mode: press and hold icon til it starts to shake and a little 'x'appears in corner - pressing x will delete it.

(2) if this doesn't work, you'll probably need to either:

(a) restore from previous backup

or, more likely,

(b) do a complete restore (the restore button you can press when docked to ITunes).

Hope this helps.

In the Settings/Usage area there is a listing of Apps on the Ipod and I have deleted Apps from there in the past.  I will try your suggestion later when I get home.

Thanks

Excellent.  Deleting the shaky icon did the trick and I was able to download the past version from the cloud.  I gather that I cannot update the APP since we are using and older version, but so be it.  The syncing w/ I tunes is still balky, but I can live w/ that.  Thanks for the tip

This is the final straw.  I will NEVER again purchase an apple product.  It's one stupidity after another.  I'm done.  Seriously.  My Zune handles PODcasts better than my iPOD!

I just tried this because I had to restore my old iPhone 3GS (I'm still using it as an iPod). It offered me the last compatible version, and successfully downloaded and installed it.

This is a frustrating issue.  I have an iPod Touch 4th generation that a bought about 1 month after it was launched in 2010.  I still intend to replace it with an iPod Touch generation 6 if it ever arrives.  But I'm not impressed with the imposed obsolescence lately.  Apple is supposed to be easy to ueth . 

Here is how I got the podcast app back on my iPod 4th generation, after much trial and error...

1.  In the latest version of iTunes (12.0.1.26) on my Windows 7 laptop I went to the iTunes store and downloaded the Podcasts app.

2.  I shut down iTunes on my laptop.

3. On my iPod Touch I went to the App Store App, and downloaded the Podcasts App.

4.  I moved the Podcasts app to the "navigation bar" at the bottom. 

     - Press on the Podcasts icon until it wiggles

     - Drag it down to the bottom until it "sticks"

     - click the "Home" button to turn off the wiggling

5.  I then synched my iPod to my laptop.  When I plug in my iPod to the laptop. iTunes starts and does a synchronization.  This time the Podcasts app stayed put!  Every other method I tried, it would be deleted.  Very frustrating! 

Good luck!  I hope this helps! 

Your advice was great … allowed me to try another way to download the Podcast App on an otherwise would-be useless device !

Each time I tried to download the Podcast App, I was given the message that the Podcast App requires iOS 7.

After reading your post, I signed on to the iPod Touch (4th Gen) with the same Apple ID as my iPhone, went to the App Store to download the Podcast App. Although the tag read "FREE" instead of the iCloud logo, i clicked on the "FREE" tag to download, and the pop up message let me choose to download an older version of the Podcast App. So it worked and I can now download podcasts on my iPod Touch 4th Gen.

I was not able to transfer the Podcast App to the iPod via iTunes on my MacBook Air. I kept getting the message that i need iOS7. My iTunes is v. 12.0.1.26

Thank you !

There is an app called Podbay that works on ipod touch 4 with 6 IOS. You have to download the lastest itunes version first. I'm going to check out Google for alternatives to itunes. Who can spend another $200 for another ipod? Might as well have a smart phone.