What you need to know
- Podcasts appear to be very broken in iOS 14.5.
- The recent update has thrown up dozens of bugs and users are not happy.
Apple's latest iOS 14 update, which brings with it a new Apple Podcasts Subscriptions service, appears to have broken the Apple Podcasts app in all kinds of different ways.
Noted by MacRumors, a slew of bugs and issues appear to have come to light following the update:
In spite of redesigning its Podcasts app with iOS 14.5, long-standing bugs within the app persist, and Apple has introduced a range of new crippling usability problems, according to hundreds of reports from users across Twitter and Reddit.
One notable issue that has not been fixed is syncing issues, with users reporting that previous problems with libraries not syncing, podcast settings not carrying over, and cross-device listening all still persist:
After the iOS 14.5 update, the Apple Podcasts app is now an active obstacle to listening to podcasts. 🤦♂️After the iOS 14.5 update, the Apple Podcasts app is now an active obstacle to listening to podcasts. 🤦♂️— Velma Dinkley 🇺🇦 (@marlapropism) April 28, 2021April 28, 2021
Some users reportedly noted that the new update has reset download preferences to download every episode of the app, from Reddit:
I updated to iOS 14.5 then took my dog for a walk and listened to a podcast. I've been doing this for 6 years (the walk and podcast part, not the update to iOS 14.5 part… that was a one time thing) so all my settings are pretty dialed-in. I noticed that my phone was getting really warm, then I got a text message from AT&T that I'd chewed through 75% of my data. Confused, I looked at the cellular data consumption stats and the Podcast app was over 8 GB for the current period. I quickly turned off cellular data and finished my walk. When I got home, I noticed that episodes from as far back as August of 2020 were in the Downloaded folder. That's when I checked the per episode setting and realized the settings for every show had been reset to default.
Users have also reported issues finding unplayed podcasts, hiding played episodes and more.
Have you updated to iOS 14.5? Let us know if you're experiencing issues with the Apple Podcasts app.
