Apple Investigating 'Problem' With Podcasts App That Began April 29 [Now Resolved]

whsbuss said:
Actually after using the updated podcast app, it’s not that bad. Many try to compare it to Overcast which is a high standard to meet. Although Overcast has some drawbacks as well, like not being able to mark an episode as played and not being synced with other Apple devices.

So far the outage has caused huge delays in episodes being delivered and in some cases not at all.
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I've been missing episodes randomly here and there. Did not realize it was an issue on Apple's end.
 
I need some guidance. I used to be able to take an mp3 and change it from music to podcast all in my iTunes. I can’t do that now with the separate podcast app on my MacBook.
I like the skip fwd/back 30 sec, 15 sec, 10 sec etc on Podcast.
Is there an iPhone app where I can take any sound file like mp3 and transfer it to my phone that has the skip fwd/back feature I just mentioned? I also like to be able to play the file offline.
This is a simple thing and Apple had to mess up a basic app to where it’s almost unusable.
Any help would be appreciated.
 
I have some podcasts that haven't updated since Thursday.
They are still not updated as of 6.45 PM ET.
 
I like the new app actually. I tried to use overcast in the past and found the old apple podcast app to be more usable, though with some issues.

The new app fixes my primary issue. In the previous app the podcast would start playing automatically when you clicked on it from the podcast list. Now it takes you to the detail page and doesn’t auto play.

I haven’t started with a new podcast that has a deep archive yet.
 
trifid said:
Music app on macOS is a disaster in UX as well. Whoever is overseeing that entire division of Music/Podcasts is screwing up horribly.
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It isn’t just that - whom ever is in charge of the iTunes Break Up Apps needs to have their brain cells examined. Every App that was designed to replace iTunes IMO is a **** show for usability.
At least with 14.5 the music app doesn’t have that stupid small + to add songs to my library and download, which I could never seem to hit with my large sausage fingers, but instead it would go “oh, okay play that song again from the start!!!!”
… (so much more)
 
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This update was the final straw for me. I hung on through so many versions of the podcasts app. Hoping Apple would see the light and make the app intuitive to use like it was years ago. Also it never worked right syncing with my Apple Watch: Episodes would not upload. Episodes I was not done listening to would be removed from the watch. Old episodes I marked as played multiple times from 2020 would keep uploading back onto the watch. Etc. it was so maddening.

i use almost All of apples stock apps so me saying ”no more” is a big deal for me. i just downloaded Pocket Casts and have spent the last few days setting it up and playing with the various options and controls. Everyone, let me tell you it’s like a breath of fresh air to use compared to what Apple has done. it all just makes so much more sense to navigate around. Just give it a try for a few days.

i have not yet tried the apple watch integration but it uploaded everything I wanted to much faster and more reliably than the apple app. If it keeps the episodes on my watch until I am actually done with the episode then I will consider the 9.99 upgrade fee I sent the developer well spent.
 
The_Gream said:
It isn’t just that - whom ever is in charge of the iTunes Break Up Apps needs to have their brain cells examined. Every App that was designed to replace iTunes IMO is a s*** show for usability.
At least with 14.5 the music app doesn’t have that stupid small + to add songs to my library and download, which I could never seem to hit with my large sausage fingers, but instead it would go “oh, okay play that song again from the start!!!!”
… (so much more)
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There’s so many odd design choices now across the board. The one that gets me are the sleep up alarms on the watch and iPhone.

The phone has thin blue or red text, on a medium grey background. I can’t personally think of a worse font/color choice to present to someone as they are waking up in the morning when their eyes aren’t adjusted yet.

The watch has two onscreen buttons. And while the snooze is the dominant button, it is very easy to accidentally turn the alarm off by tapping the button visible underneath it. You would think there would be something easy a person could hit to snooze, like maybe the physical side buttons? No, those too turn the alarm off. 🤦‍♂️

Apple use to dog food their products. No way they still do. There is no way anyone at Apple uses the sleep alarms on the phone and watch.
 
Again, I seem to be the in the minority here because I think Apple’s app works very well and I haven’t had many issues with it. In my view, I don’t find it hard to navigate at all. Prefer it over Overcast which I used for many years until switching to Apple’s app last year. Only feature I miss from Overcast is the Smart Speed setting. Other than that, Apple’s feels superior to me.
 
lah said:
Again, I seem to be the in the minority here because I think Apple’s app works very well and I haven’t had many issues with it. In my view, I don’t find it hard to navigate at all. Prefer it over Overcast which I used for many years until switching to Apple’s app last year. Only feature I miss from Overcast is the Smart Speed setting. Other than that, Apple’s feels superior to me.
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i Haven’t tried overcast. That was next on my list if pocket cast didn’t work out. Luckily it’s great. if you like what apple is doing to podcasts then by all means. But if you are curious to all, give pocket cast a try. I think it is much better than apple podcasts, at least until they totally rethink the app.
 
MSLawn!23 said:
I need some guidance. I used to be able to take an mp3 and change it from music to podcast all in my iTunes. I can’t do that now with the separate podcast app on my MacBook.
I like the skip fwd/back 30 sec, 15 sec, 10 sec etc on Podcast.
Is there an iPhone app where I can take any sound file like mp3 and transfer it to my phone that has the skip fwd/back feature I just mentioned? I also like to be able to play the file offline.
This is a simple thing and Apple had to mess up a basic app to where it’s almost unusable.
Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
RSS Radio will let you import files from iCloud and play as a podcast….Great app that even has an EQ. My Windows 7 version of iTunes lets me change MP3 to Podcast and sync to iPhone no problem…. But I have noticed since 14.5, to access the file on the Apple podcasts app I have to go and search for it on my phone as where as before it was just show up there like any other podcast.
 
Well now that Apple reports the podcast outage restored its back to normal.... episodes still take hours or more to show up and/or download. What differentiates Apple from say Overcast for episodes discovery?
 
My podcast needs aren't extensive, maybe 10 total podcasts that I subscribe to.

Apple podcast app always fit my needs, wasnt perfect but it was good enough and it worked.

This latest "update" with push to subscriptions and the reworked horrible user interface pushed me over the edge. Not to mention it automatically downloaded 15GB worth of podcasts that were previously listened and deleted, as the old app was configured to only keep 3 episodes.

I switched to Pocket Casts, which for basic free functionality doesn't even have ads. I would have paid for the full app to support them, but it's a monthly or yearly subscription. Nope that's not happening. Overcast is the same.
 
fcapriles said:
I have some podcasts that haven't updated since Thursday.
They are still not updated as of 6.45 PM ET.
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Same. I keep getting the constant loop message of an ‘error’. I always defend Apple for the most part, but whoever is in charge of the podcast app, really should be terminated or demoted at the very least.
 
NorCalZman said:
i have not yet tried the apple watch integration but it uploaded everything I wanted to much faster and more reliably than the apple app. If it keeps the episodes on my watch until I am actually done with the episode then I will consider the 9.99 upgrade fee I sent the developer well spent.
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While I only stream with the Watch app, so can’t speak about downloads, I’ve found it overall to be very good. It cleanly separates the “remote control your phone” vs “stream on the watch” very nicely, and your playlists and Up Next sync.

The main issue I’ve had is if you immediately try to pause on one device and resume on another, occasionally the sync gets confused. There’s a refresh button you can use, but it’s a little clunky. I’ve mostly solved this by not trying to immediately switch back and forth.

It’s definitely a lot better than the Watch Podcasts app, which is barebones and prone to weird played status sync quirks.
 
I just don’t get why episodes don’t update in a timely fashion on Apple. Had one update at 11:50 on Overcast and still nothing almost 8 hours later on Apple podcast app. That’s my only real gripe.
 
Been a long time user of the Apple Podcasts app (have dabbled with Overcast, Castro, & Pocketcasts) for awhile now but this latest update has made it unusable as a podcast platform.
I honestly don’t mind the UI - but there are episodes I listened to hours ago on Overcast that still haven’t shown up in Apple Podcasts.
 
BMcCoy said:
For a company that was long known for its intuitive UI, I still find it bizarre that the Podcasts app is so bad. It always has been. It’s been tinkered with a lot, but it’s never ever been a good interface. And it’s just podcasts, for goodness sake… it should be bread n butter stuff for Apple’s iOS app team.
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RIP Jobs...and we do miss Scott Forstall
 
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