How to find saved podcast episodes

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Level 1

45 points

How to find saved podcast episodes

I decided to ask the community because I can't seem to find a way to do this.

In iTunes, you can mark episodes of a podcast as "saved" so that, even after you've listened to them, they stay around instead of being deleted.

What I want is a way to find those saved episodes without having to manually go to my podcast library and scroll, one by one, through all my subscribed podcasts, and look for saved episodes.

Is there some easy way of creating a smart playlist that includes only SAVED episodes? That's all I want. Something so stinking simple, and yet I cannot seem to find it on my own.

I have whatever the latest version of iTunes is and the latest OS X, if that matters.

MacBook Pro, macOS Sierra (10.12)

Posted on Oct 22, 2016 11:51 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TootieLW

Level 1

9 points

Nov 25, 2016 3:04 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Hi,

Any idea where to find saved podcast episodes on my iPhone? Thanks

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Answer 2

Oct 22, 2016 6:45 PM in response to Kaa

Actually, I've been confused by what "saved" means for podcast episodes. If you have your Podcasts library set NOT to automatically delete played episodes, how is any episode "not saved" (whether marked as Saved or not). Additionally, if you download the episode, its audio file is stored on your computer's drive, so it is "saved" (in your iTunes library) even if the podcast creator "pulls" that episode or it otherwise becomes unavailable (whether marked as Saved or not). Maybe you can help ME by explaining what it means (to you) for a podcast episode to be "saved." 🙂

If you redefine what you want to see (on the smart playlist) as podcast episodes you have downloaded to your Mac's local storage, you can do that...

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Answer 3

Kaa Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 22, 2016 8:19 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Interestingly enough "Location is on this computer" appears to mean absolutely nothing. It still shows episodes that have the cloud icon. To get JUST the ones I've downloaded, I have to also include "Location is not iCloud." Apple's interpretation of either "location" or "this computer" (or both) is not in sync with mine.

I've been using iTunes for podcasting since 2006, when I got my first iPod. Apple has redefined how they think we SHOULD be listening several times, but I'll tell you what I do and what a "saved" episode seems to mean to Apple.

I download everything to my laptop, because I don't like depending on the cloud, and the way the podcast app works isn't compatible with how I listen to podcasts (i.e., listening to all episodes in order, so if I subscribe to a new podcast and episodes go back two years, I download all 2 years and listen to them in order, using smart playlists).

So as far as I can TELL, a "saved" episode means that you have downloaded it, but even after you listen to it, and even IF you have "delete after listening" set for that or all podcasts, it never deletes that episode, and it will stay on your hard drive forever.

I have a few like that (such as an episode of The Roundtable Podcast that I was on). But the problem I'm trying to get around and what caused me to post this question is that, apparently, there is some way to set episodes to be saved without being aware you've done it, unintentionally. So I suddenly discovered a bunch of saved episodes. I was hoping there was a quick and dirty way to find them all and kill the ones I don't want to save without going through all the episodes of all the podcasts I subscribe to.

If I intentionally save one, I'll probably end up doing the "love" workaround that you suggest. That seems like it would work.

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Answer 4

Oct 22, 2016 6:10 PM in response to Kaa

I don't see a way to create a "rule" for the smart playlist based on whether a podcast episode is saved or not. You'll need to use another characteristic of the podcast episode to "mark" the episodes that you saved. For example, you can using the Rating field, and rate the podcast episodes you save as 5-star.

Then, create a smart playlist that looks like this

If you already use the Rating field for another purpose, you can use the Love field (with the heart symbol) instead. That smart playlist looks like this

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Answer 5

Oct 22, 2016 8:59 PM in response to Kaa

Your definition of "saved" makes sense, except (as at test) I Saved one that was in iCloud, and it was Saved without it being downloaded. So, I'm going with "saved" meaning an episode that is not automatically deleted after being played (if that setting is enabled) AND that is identified as a personally "liked" episode, because it appears on the Saved episode list for the podcast. The latter meaning is similar to marking an episode with a heart (using Love field).

That Saved episode list (for each podcast) may help with what you want. Show your Podcasts library using the "not classic"view (menu bar -> View -> View As -> List). Select a podcast (in the "middle" bar). To the right, its episodes are listed. At the top of list, click the "tab" for Saved. The Saved episodes for this podcast are listed. So, you can't create a smart playlist to show all Saved episodes (for all podcasts), but you can go through each podcast to see a Saved list (per podcast).

That would make it easier to find the saved ones that are unintentional, and "unsave" them. Select at same time, right-click selection, and Remove from Saved Episodes. And for using the Love field to create a smart playlist of all Saved episodes, to get that started, do a Select All on the Saved episode list for each podcast, right-click selection, and Love.

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