Apple Podcasts App, another question

[DaveWT]

It seems Apple's podcast app gives me the most trouble... I have been ignoring this issue until on a recent MacBreak Weekly podcast they went on about how well it handles podcasts on all your devices. Time to question that! On my Mac Mini (M2) I have this setting to sync across all my devices: (i.e. "Sync Library" is checked!)



On my iPhone 15 Pro I have this setting: (i.e. "Sync Library" is turned ON!)



Both devices are on the latest versions of their respective os. Both are set to the same iCloud account and sync mail, contacts etc. without issue.

So am I missing some secret additional setting that prevents these devices from syncing podcasts? When I listen to a podcast on my Mac, I have to remember (often days later) to go and delete that podcast off my iPhone. I thought that I should be able to start a podcast on my Mac, pause in the middle and then go off in my car and carry on listening to the rest of that podcast on my iPhone.

 

[chas_m]

I could be wrong, but I think the "sync" function only syncs the actual titles of the podcasts across devices, not start/stop points within the podcast.

There are settings in the Podcast app on each device that tell it whether to hold onto or delete podcasts after they have been listened to. That is definitely NOT part of the sync, so you'll need to "synchronise" those settings on each device yourself.

 

[DaveWT]

That is disappointing if having listened to a podcast on one device you then have to delete it from the other device(s). I have the settings for deleting after listening to an episode. If I can delete an item of mail on my Mac and it is then deleted from my iPhone, can't Apple figure out how to do that with podcasts too?

 

[chas_m]

Apple is in full control of its own email, but podcasts come mostly from others, so Apple went with "per device" controls for each podcast app, since they didn't want to eat up everyone's iCloud space storing podcasts.

 

[DaveWT]

OK, thanks, that would seem to make sense to me. But I still have an issue with this support document: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/podcasts/pod5c911347/mac which specifically includes "current play position". However when I go to the settings on each device the description of the switch you need to turn on does NOT include the words "current play position" so perhaps they gave up on that.

 

[chas_m]

OK, thanks, that would seem to make sense to me. But I still have an issue with this support document: https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/podcasts/pod5c911347/mac which specifically includes "current play position". However when I go to the settings on each device the description of the switch you need to turn on does NOT include the words "current play position" so perhaps they gave up on that.

Seems likely. I'll try and test it this weekend to confirm or deny.

 

[DaveWT]

I think I am getting closer to a solution. I noticed today while listening to a couple of podcasts on my Mac, when they finished and were removed they then also disappeared from my iPhone, but others didn't. That got me wondering if I "followed" those podcasts both on the Mac and also on my iPhone causing a duplication. So on my iPhone I "unfollowed" those particular podcasts and they still seem to be listed under "Shows" in the sidebar on my Mac. I can't quite remember how this could have happened but possibly before I set up the syncing between devices I might have "followed" those particular podcasts separately on each device. I will keep an eye on the behaviour going forward.