Why is iTunes unsubscribing me from podcasts?!

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Level 1

19 points

Why is iTunes unsubscribing me from podcasts?!

I subscribe to several podcasts which are downloaded to my desktop pc, and I listen to them on my iPod. I update iTunes every week with played episodes, refresh the podcasts etc. However, recently, iTunes has been automatically unsubscribing me from podcasts for some reason, and has also deleted my Saved podcasts!

The Settings are as follows:

Limit episodes - off

Download episodes - on

Delete played episodes - on

iTunes used to work really well, but over the last couple of years, Apple have been continually messing about with it and most of the changes aren't beneficial to the end user. The whole point of podcasts is that the user listens to them whenever they want. End users may choose to keep historical podcasts for all sorts of reasons (when I want to keep them, I simply don't mark them as played, or move them to saved).

Can someone tell me what on earth is going on, and why I Apple have taken to unsubscribing users from podcasts as well as removing saved podcasts. This is complete madness!

60Gb iPod, Windows XP

Posted on Jun 5, 2015 3:10 AM

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Answer 1

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turingtest2

Level 10

272,737 points

Jun 5, 2015 8:03 AM in response to Lulu G

See Re: Why did iTunes 11.1 (126) delete all (SEVERAL HUNDRED) Podcasts?

tt2

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Answer 2

Lulu G Author

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19 points

Jun 5, 2015 9:02 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks, turingtest2. Useful background, but it seems the problems are many and varied, and Apple aren't resolving them. I am using 12.1.1.4 at the moment and a loathe to update to the latest version.

Has anyone found a good alternative to iTunes which will work with an iPod, Windows pc etc?

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Answer 3

turingtest2

Level 10

272,737 points

Jun 5, 2015 9:27 AM in response to Lulu G

You can try MediaMonkey but I still use iTunes. Whatever you do make sure you have a decent backup so that you can recover from any unwanted change.

tt2

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Answer 4

Lulu G Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 5, 2015 9:48 AM in response to turingtest2

Thanks for your suggestion of MediaMonkey. I'll take a look at it.

I do have a backup on an external drive, and I don't synch my iPod very often because of these problems even though it's a bit of a nuisance having old podcasts on it to trawl through.

Thankfully, most of the podcasts I subscribe to are still available online so I've just re-subscribed and downloaded them again. Problem is, the download brings back all of the played episodes as well so I have to mark them all as played. I've lost count of the number of times I've done this now though. It's really frustrating. I wish Apple would leave thing alone when they work well.

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Answer 5

the fiend

Level 7

22,500 points

Jun 5, 2015 12:49 PM in response to Lulu G

Where is "saved"? Is it a Playlist?

If you play a "saved" episode to its end, then it will be automatically marked as played (by iTunes) - and therefore it will be deleted.

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Answer 6

turingtest2

Level 10

272,737 points

Jun 5, 2015 1:23 PM in response to Lulu G

The fiend makes a good point, which I had missed. 😊

What I should have said originally is that the problem likely arises from the setting to Sync podcast subscriptions and settings which can be found under Edit > Preferences > Store. Settings that make sense on an iPhone to avoid swamping it with archived podcasts aren't necessarily the same as those you want in your main library, yet this option was enabled by default for all users when it was introduced, and in many cases the device settings overwrote those in the main library. If that option is enabled then untick it now, then review both the podcast defaults and the individual settings of each subscription to make sure they really are as you want them.

tt2

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Answer 7

Lulu G Author

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19 points

Jun 5, 2015 11:02 PM in response to the fiend

Until recently I had My Episodes / Feed / Saved on the right side of the screen. It now only shows My Episodes / Feed which is really strange because 'Feed' was showing a few weeks ago.

Even if I played an episode to the end and it was showing as played, it was never removed until I selected the podcast and chose 'Mark as played'. That may well have changed in recent weeks, but that's how my system used to work. I'll try leaving one or two played podcasts as is and see what happens.

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Answer 8

Lulu G Author

Level 1

19 points

Jun 5, 2015 11:10 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks, turingtest2. Having re-subscribed to all the podcasts yesterday, and downloaded them yet again, I've checked iTunes this morning and several podcasts are showing as 'Not Subscribed'. I went to the podcast websites, re-subscribed to each othem then went back to the podcasts in iTunes and selected 'Download all'. To all intents and purposes, nothing happened but I closed iTunes, opened it again and all the podcasts are available to me. This is so infuriating. When are Apple going to sort out this mess.

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Answer 9

Jun 15, 2015 11:53 PM in response to Lulu G

Lorraine, I am having exactly the same problem with itunes unsubscribing me from podcasts - sometimes from all, sometimes just from a few but it seems quite random and is very frustrating. I have taken Turing's suggestion regarding turning off the syncing of subscriptions in the preferences and not sure yet whether that works. Was wondering if you had found any other solutions? I have tried everything from reinstalling both itunes and the app on my ipod touch to going into each podcast setting individually on my ipod to make sure I am subscribed. The other problem is I keep ending up with duplicates of subscriptions or listings for programs, some with a couple of episodes in and no feed, or just a couple of saved episodes. It all seems totally random and i am never sure whether my syncing is working which is extremely frustrating when you are in a hurry and then find the podcast you thought you had is not on the device.

My default settings are as yours: Limit episodes off, Download on, Delete played episodes off.

Any other news on this problem is very welcome...Apple seem to have no idea how to fix this despite spending two hours with an expert on the phone yesterday and every update they issue makes both itunes and the app more complicated, more unpredictable and harder to use...

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Answer 10

turingtest2

Level 10

272,737 points

Jun 16, 2015 2:38 AM in response to kateblumts

In addition to the default settings I would also check the individual settings of each podcast subscription.

tt2

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Answer 11

Jun 16, 2015 6:33 PM in response to turingtest2

Thanks, but that seems to part of the problem. The app on my ipod keeps unsubscribing me from all my podcasts, seemingly when I sync. I can go in and individually resubscribe to all of them and then the next time I look I am not subscribed to any of them, even though I am subscribed to all of them on itunes on my Mac. Grrrr...no-one at Apple seems to be able to solve this problem.

cheers

kate

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Answer 12

turingtest2

Level 10

272,737 points

Jun 17, 2015 12:38 AM in response to kateblumts

On the device do you have Setting > Podcasts > Podcasts Settings > Sync Podcasts > Off and in iTunes Preferences > Store > Sync podcast subscriptions and settings > Off? That is the way I have it, and my device and iTunes are able to work independently with no unwanted changes to settings or deletion of content.

tt2

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Answer 13

Jun 17, 2015 1:45 AM in response to turingtest2

Pretty sure I have tried that but will try again to set those to off and resubscribe through the ipod. What I don't get is if you have those settings to sync and you are subscribed on itunes why on earth would it unsubscribe on the device? Surely setting it to sync is the way to duplicate all conditions on both?

Thanks anyway, for your ongoing help...

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Answer 14

Lulu G Author

Level 1

19 points

Jul 1, 2015 6:35 AM in response to kateblumts

Hi kateblumts, sorry I haven't replied to you sooner, I've been on holiday. Unfortunately, I'm still having the same problems with podcasts so can't add anything to the conversation. I tried turingtest2 solution but as I want my iPod to synch with iTunes it didn't resolve the problem. Have you got any further?

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Answer 15

Jul 1, 2015 3:42 PM in response to Lulu G

Hi Lorraine

Thanks for replying no worries. I have been trying everything to fix this but in the end I reinstalled itunes (uninstalling everything first, including all itunes libraries - I saved my music first by just copying the folder to my desktop). When you reinstall however all the settings come back for your podcasts even though those libraries are gone, which is annoying. It did seem to fix some of the syncing problems although things still stay in the cloud etc and my subscriptions kept turning off on my device.

What may have fixed it and I am not sure yet is the new updates out yesterday, for OSX and itunes. After installing them the subscription thing seems to have stopped happening and I don't have duplicates as yet. The issue on duplicates and subscriptions could have something to do with the fact that most of my podcasts are BBC and they are migrating their database or something; apparently Apple know this is a problem, the BBC site says.

If you want to uninstall and reinstall itunes this guide was helpful...http://www.tekrevue.com/tip/uninstall-itunes/

Try the updates though, good luck!

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