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How do I stop Podcasts from auto-deleting when I haven't heard them yet?

My wife and I both subscribe to some of the same podcasts. There are several that she will listen to and they will end up auto-deleting from my podcast app. We have iTunes set to NOT sync podcasts - in fact there aren't any podcasts on iTunes. In the iPhone settings both my wife and I have the Sync Podcasts setting set to OFF. Unfortunately that doesn't seem to matter. Once she listens to a podcast it auto-deletes from my phone and vice-versa. The individual podcasts are set to download new episodes and delete played episodes. We both would like to auto-delete podcasts after we individually hear them, but neither of us want to lose them before we've heard them ourselves. Any ideas on how to unlink these accounts?

iPhone 5s, iOS 9.3.1

Posted on Apr 30, 2016 6:42 PM

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7 replies

Apr 30, 2016 7:00 PM in response to Landis

This is kind of a cop-out, but I'd recommend both of you setting up separate accounts with Overcast.


I've had lots of problems with iTunes and the Podcast app and auto-delete in the past, and the settings were buggy and ineffective at best. In iTunes, if I want to keep a podcast, I change the Media Kind to Audiobook, but that doesn't apply to your situation.

May 2, 2016 9:02 AM in response to Rysz

Thanks for the suggestions. I may eventually look in to Overcast or other alternatives, but I prefer to stick with the stock apps when possible before getting invested in 3rd party solutions that disappear after I come to rely on them.


As for the separate Apple IDs, I do suspect that this is the issue but we currently have separate Apple IDs. That wasn't always the case and we still have a couple things on the same ID (she uses my ID for our contacts) but I can't figure out where to break the link. Where does iOS have the Apple ID linked for the Podcasts app? Is it just generic to the "iTunes & App Stores" setting? It's not in the Podcast settings where, as I mentioned earlier, we both have Sync Podcasts set to OFF. I would think this should resolve my problem but it doesn't.

May 2, 2016 12:26 PM in response to Landis

. Where does iOS have the Apple ID linked for the Podcasts app? Is it just generic to the "iTunes & App Stores" setting? It's not in the Podcast settings where, as I mentioned earlier, we both have Sync Podcasts set to OFF.

To use seperate Apple IDs you would need to log in to iTunes using them, just as you suspected.


Podcast syncing seems to be a mess, that I'm also struggling with. There are three different places where syncing can be turned On and Off: on the device in Settings > Podcasts; on your computer in iTunes > Preferences > Store > Sync podcast subscriptions and settings; and on your computer in iTunes > select your device > select Podcasts > Sync Podcasts. Uncheck ing the second one solved the most issues for me.


Once you stop syncing between devices and iTunes, you can have different and seperate local subscriptions even when you're using the same Apple ID. It's the Syncing options that cause the confusion. For example I subscribe to different podcasts on iPad and iPhone, and only to some of each on my Mac.


Turn syncing off in iTunes preferences, then give it a try, although you might have to unsubscribe/delete the affected podcasts on your evinces for the changes to result in a clean start (try without doing this first).


Hope the above is helpful.

May 5, 2016 12:35 PM in response to Rysz

Sadly I just checked the settings on the iPhones, iTunes preferences, and the sync settings in iTunes and they are all set to OFF. We also both have separate Apple IDs - although she is using mine under Family Sharing so we can buy things once and still have them work on both iPhones.


I suppose this is another infernal bug in the Apple Podcasts app. Next step will be to delete the affected podcasts on both iPhones and resubscribe separately. Failing that it will be off to Overcast or another 3rd party service.

Jun 6, 2016 6:37 PM in response to Landis

So I've now deleted all the podcasts that we share and resubscribed to no avail. Once she listens to a podcast it either auto-deletes (if I haven't already stopped it from doing so on the settings of the individual podcast) or marks it played and removes the download leaving me wondering what the story was when I go to listen in Airplane Mode. I guess I'm SOL until Apple figures out yet another Podcast App bug. I'll go search down the way to report it and keep my fingers crossed that they decide to fix it before they give up on the app altogether. In the mean time I'll look in to Overcast an other options. Thanks for the help.

Jul 17, 2016 1:25 PM in response to Landis

I had similar problems and ended up settings up a separate Apple ID for each person. There are several places in iOS to replace the old Apple ID with the new one. In particular, make sure you change Settings -> iTunes & App Store. If you leave the old Apple ID in place, podcast position and played status will continue to sync between the phones.

How do I stop Podcasts from auto-deleting when I haven't heard them yet?

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