How to set up podcast syncing for iPhone

I don't think you are getting any replies for the same reason that I am not.

You will notice that I have voiced some of the same issues in my note titled

<< No Syncing Between iMac and iPhone >>

which was posted a bit later than your posting. I have lived with this sad state of affairs for a long time now. I don't think that there is an answer other than to hope that Apple comes out with a new functional Podcast app. The present one is hopeless and can't be fixed.

I don't know of any iOS podcast player that can use music from the built in app. Everything is all isolated by Apples iOS 'everything in it's own ghetto' policy.

A potentially terrible workaround would be to make your own podcast feed using the music you want to hear on the device. It could work if you setup your own web server & kept that off the internet (otherwise you would risk copyright infringement issues if it is public). I remember using this at one point…

https://github.com/nerab/dropcaster

It could work from a Mac to an iOS device via the local network

I suspect there are other python or similar scripts that can generate feed & server for you if you are so inclined.

I suspect it is far simpler to go the other way…

Take the Podcasts in iTunes, convert them to 'regular music files' (Get info, change the Options > Kind to 'Music'. Then you can sync that back to the music app on iOS & use regular playlists to combine them.

I know all this is a mess that requires work but I can't see any other way, sorry.

Tell the people who can fix it.

https://ssl.apple.com/feedback/

ttibsen, something occurred to me, RSSRadio has the option to import mp3 files…

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/rssradio-podcast-downloader-app/id386600664

You have to use iTunes's File sharing feature as described in the help document…

http://support.dorada.co.uk/customer/en/portal/articles/2314526-how-can-i-bulk-i mport-mp3-s-to-rssradio-

That will allow you to use your music files within podcast playlists. I realise it is not as simple as syncing from iTunes but it can allow you to add music to playlists. You will want to copy files to a folder called 'files_to_import' for importing because Apples file sharing feature is unable to let you add files to a folder in the app storage (hmm more crappy choices from Apple).

I have been using this app since I gave up on Apples Podcasts app. It's worth a look.

Ask in the app's help if you want to know if the music library could be integrated better - there is a setting but I don't understand what it does. The developer is helpful & responsive.

iTunes & iOS podcast syncing has been a mess for some time.

I found that giving up Apples Podcast player on iOS for a third party alternative was better - just tell the iOS app to download what you want to listen to & forget about syncing from iOS.

It would be great to have syncing back to iTunes as far as I can tell it started failing for me around iOS 9/ iTunes 12 & has just become unmanageable. If you have to constantly fix it why even bother using Apples iOS app? There are better podcast apps on iOS.

If you want to troubleshoot try changing all the settings for syncing 'playback info across devices' and 'podcast subscriptions & settings' in the iTunes Preferences. Also edit the podcast sync settings on iOS. I never found the magic combination to make those work as expected. I believe the situation is worse if you use manual syncing (as if iOS is an iPod).

It's actually unfortunate - I think I listen to fewer podcasts because of how poor syncing has become.

Oh - there's no way that I'm going to troubleshoot. I'm not all that technically inclined and in light of your past experience, what's the point anyway? Yes, I seem to have the same recall as you - everything was A-OK up to about 3 years ago with regards to syncing. Then it fell apart never to function properly again. It's just so baffling and frustrating why Apple with all the resources they have, fail to address this miserable app's shortcomings with all the OS's and upgrades of OS's over the years.

Is it possible to do the following in the podcast app that you use? Make up a playlist of podcasts in iTunes and then transfer that playlist to the podcast app? And maybe even sprinkle songs between the podcasts in the playlist?

How about a podcast app from a third party capable of syncing just podcasts in a playlist that was assembled in iTunes on the iMac. Can any of them do that? Thanks for the link to the complaint department at Apple. I will certainly use it although I am sure that they will have received hundreds of similar observations by now. Question is - why would they let the situation drag on instead of correcting it?

I don't think third parties can sync the relevant data from iTunes, not in any way that is automated or doesn't require a massive amount of work & kludges - e.g. exporting playlists via AppleScript then copying that to iOS via the app data panel iTunes. All of that would be manual - how often do podcasts update & how many times do you want to do something like that, manually?

iCloud syncing is a ghetto, apps can't sync to other apps, so there would be another contrivance to access & sync playlists to iTunes (which will probably break app store rules).

Syncing via iTunes is also diminishing as far as I can tell (Apple are pushing ICloud).

Why allow this? You don't have any choice! If you don't like it go and find a device that handles it better or build your own app to do it. It seems harsh but I don't think Android or Windows are able to sync with any desktop apps to this level of integration. Please let me know if I'm wrong on that, a better iTunes & a good device would be a reason to leave Apples frustrating ecosystem.

So I finally did the only thing I could and wrote the note below to the Complaints Department at Apple. Funny thing is and this illustrates how much importance they attach to hearing from their users, when they ask you which version of the Podcast app you are using, the highest version you can choose from the list that they offer is 2.2. Well, I have

2.5.2 so I can't even communicate to them my correct version! Shows you how much they care when they don't even have the Podcast version list up to date! That is so sad! I would have expected more from Apple with all their resources.

<< I should be able to make up a playlist of podcasts in iTunes on the iMac such that when I connect the iPhone to the iMac via USB cable, the playlist on the iPhone will contain all the podcasts that I put together in the playlist on the iMac. This never happens any longer. Say I have 10 podcasts in my playlist on the iMac. I never get the full 10 podcasts on the iPhone playlist. Sometimes, if I am lucky I will get as many as 7 - 8 but most of the time it is a much smaller subset of the original playlist. Can someone please put this on a to do list for the next iOS upgrade? This situation has been around for the past 3 years or so. Prior to that, syncing of podcasts worked perfectly. It's beyond me how Apple can let this situation persist. Please fix it! >>

Upgrade me