iOS 9 podcast app video in fullscreen

I also suffer from this bug (if it is in fact one). I am also upset about Apple's apparent indifference towards the problem. I think it wouldn't even need a new iOS update. Fixing and replacing the faulty Podcasts app would solve the problem.

That said, I am glad to have found a workaround, which I would like to share here. It's a bit awkward and it will not work for everyone, but at least it's free. Here it comes:

This description is for a Windows system. Mac users may have to adapt the steps.

You will need a metadata editor. I am using MP3tag for Windows.

1. Download the video podcasts to iTunes. My solution will not work when streaming video podcasts.

2. Locate the podcast files on your hard disk. On my system, they reside in subfolders of %USERPROFILE%\Music\iTunes\iTunes Music\Podcasts

3. Copy the files to a convenient location, e.g. %USERPROFILE%\Videos

4. Edit each copied file with MP3tag. Change the Genre tag from Podcast to <blank>. Go to the Extended Tags. Remove every tag whose name starts with PODCAST. Save your changes.

The above changes make iTunes think that the file is a regular video and not a podcast. Maybe a subset of the changes in point 4. will suffice, but I didn't want to experiment too long.

5. Connect your iPad to the computer.

6. In iTunes, open the Movies section of your iPad on the sidebar.

7. Drag and drop the edited podcast files from Windows Explorer to iTunes. iTunes will copy the files to the iPad as movies instead of podcasts.

You can now watch the podcasts in the Videos app, which, of course, supports full screen viewing.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,

Uli

Hi Daniel,

I wonder what percentage of users actually watches podcasts. I reckon not too many. Considering the many shortcomings of podcasts in iTunes and iOS, I have come to the conclusion that Apple must literally hate consumers of podcasts.

Why are watched podcasts not immediately deleted (or at least there is an option to do so) but only after 2 days, and keep cluttering up my devices?

Why does the Podcasts app show not only the synced podcasts but all subscribed channels, even audio podcasts which I never listen to on the iPad?

I have given up the hope that Apple also has a heart for minorities of users. I try to find a solution and stop complaining, which is useless anyway.

Take care,

Uli

Apple, what the **** you did???

I called Apple last week and the senior advisor I spoke to said that it was being "worked on". The advisor is supposed to call me back for an update on the Oct. 23. She did ask me to log my complaint online. I wasn't at my computer so she did the complaint for me. Hopefully enough people will log a complaint for this malfunction and it will be resolved quickly.

Unfortunately, as podcasts are a crucial element of my continuing education requirements for a certification, I could no longer wait for Apple to get around to fixing this. I finally broke down and purchased Downcast. I think I am officially finished with Apple's internal solution for Podcasts, I only wish I could delete the app off of my iPhone and iPad (appears to be a system app now, so I am unable to delete it).

Still not fixed in iOS 9.1. How truly frustrating. But hey we got 100+ new useless emojis, because that's way more important than fixing the **** Podcast app.

This getting ridiculous.

I cannot understand why Apple is not willing to fix this bug. Given that fullscreen works on the iPhone, it should be very easy to fix.

It seems the people who need unicorn and middle finger emojis are more important to Apple.

Apple has turned its' cool company culture into a sad corporate affair.

rather than update something as uncomplicated as making the viewing area AS good as it was in OS8 (bigger!), they churn out new products (poorly tested - apparently), you we can look fashinable, but using inferior Apple-produced app technology, such as the Podcast software.

what is more alarming, though, is that the engineers and programmers don't even address this? The OS9 beta is from June, I believe, we have had TWO updated since the final release, and STILL this Apple Podcast amateur team of quacks haven't even responded publicly to this issue.

Oh, Apple. You used to be so cool, and now you are just a factory.

Just to continue this lack of acceptance by Apple; It is not that Apple are unaware. Leo Laporte mentioned the issue on iOS Today I think last week and I am sure I also heard Rene Ritchie of iMore discuss it on MacBreak Weekly. These are two guys who are well known and respected Apple journalists.

I just do not get it when even after mentions from the likes of these you still hear or find nothing, repeat nothing coming back from Apple.

I am rapidly losing my faith with Apple.

But we got new emoji!!! I don't understand why it's so hard to fix this issue when it was working before.

I feel the need to rise to some defense here.

With the Podcasts app being part of iOS now instead of its own app, it can't be updated without updating the entire iOS. Also, iOS is big and when you're Apple, you don't want what seems to be a simple fix in one area to destabilize something else. Any fix will have to go through testing and quality assurance to make certain it doesn't break something else. Code reviews are difficult for a good reason of assuring quality code.

(Consider some of the other bugs also needing fixing, like the return of doubled keystrokes on bluetooth keyboards paired with iPad v3 that was once quashed but which, when it remanifested in iOS9, also fixed text highlighting on web forms using said keyboards which was broken in iOS8... most of the time. Those two bugs may well be flipsides of the same bugfix. The highlighting bug bothered me greatly, so I'm enduring the double-stroke bug and trying to be more observant about typos.)

The Podcasts app (module?) has changed enough that porting forward old, removed code likely would be a worse situation for other reasons. One would hope it is just a platform test that was done wrong, but it very well be that the iPad needs a more specific fix than what the iPhone does. It does have a different screen aspect and you wouldn't want it to only zoom-to-fill when you prefer to zoom-to-fit. Or it could be behind a gesture not triggerable on current iPad models like the deep-touch. (Has anyone outside Apple tested it with the newest iPads?)

Lastly, it's very clear that Apple has a strict internal policy not to publically comment about bugs. It makes sense in that a little knowledge without the wisdom behind it can be detrimental. For a publically traded company like Apple, it could affect stock price. Of what information we do have, it was probably in strict confidence and done at a personal risk of unemployment, and if so it would be someone we wouldn't want to lose on the inside that felt so much for our concerns that he'd speak.

The loss of a feature slipped through testing implementing a new interface. You wouldn't want a half-assed fix breaking something else to slip through as well because Apple was too quick in pushing it out without proper testing. Be assured the programmers Apple hires are under great pressure to produce excellence at all times. Try not to rake them over the coals so much. This has likely been assigned to someone to fix, but also not be their only assigned task. It's not uncommon for a programmer to have dozens of bugs assigned to fix of varying priorities and having to juggle them all. I know I've been in that situation and worse.

Good arguments, G. James.

Many of us here are peers, so, we too understand what it is to work,under pressure. That is a poor excuse for any lack of performance.

Let us cut this discussion short by simply asking the following question:

Who was the genius that green-lighted the new, inferior interface? Because, you know, the had a meeting about it!