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Keep Podcasts on Mac, not on iPhone

I like to keep a lot of podcasts backed up on my Mac, not on my iPhone. I used to just subscribe on the Mac, then sync through iTunes.


Now, it seems that the podcasts I want on the Mac get subscribed to on my iPhone and I don't have room for them. So when I turn off the subscription on the iPhone, it gets turned off on my Mac.


I have lost the ability to listen to several of the podcasts that are available for two weeks only, because this downloading has stopped on my Mac.


How do I download Podcasts to the Mac only, and not download them to the iPhone?

iMac, macOS Sierra (10.12.6), iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2017)

Posted on Apr 30, 2018 2:59 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 30, 2018 3:25 PM

User uploaded fileI quote:


On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

By default, shows sync across any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if you're signed in to all of the devices with the same Apple ID. You can turn this setting off if you don’t want to sync shows to a particular device.


Go to Settings > Podcasts.

Turn off Sync Podcasts.

4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 30, 2018 3:25 PM in response to Lawrence Hammer

User uploaded fileI quote:


On your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

By default, shows sync across any iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch if you're signed in to all of the devices with the same Apple ID. You can turn this setting off if you don’t want to sync shows to a particular device.


Go to Settings > Podcasts.

Turn off Sync Podcasts.

May 6, 2018 1:43 PM in response to Roger Wilmut1

That helped quite a bit. But now I am still having issues. My Podcasts App is clogged with shows to be downloaded that I do not want. Worse, if while driving, I happen to click on one, it demands to download it. I have iPod data turned off, so my phone becomes unhappy requiring me to answer 'cancel' many times until it returns control to me.


I tried deleting the Podcast on my phone, turning off the phone, then re-sycing with iTunes to restore the Podcasts. My hope was that I would get ONLY the 10 downloaded from iTunes. But noooooo, I get the umpteen podcasts to be downloaded again, a legacy from when they were subscribed on my phone.


How can I get my phone to get rid of those podcasts to be downloaded, that were put there when I was subscribed? I am no longer subscribed on the phone, only on my iMac via iTunes.

Keep Podcasts on Mac, not on iPhone

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