Having issues with Apple Podcasts? Are episodes not showing up? You're not the only one. Apple just released a major update to Podcasts Connect, as a part of their Spring 2021 announcement, and it has major bugs.
We've reported all these bugs to Apple. Initially, their response was:
Thank you for reporting this issue. Engineering has been made aware, and we are working diligently to resolve this.
Recently, it appears their engineering team has made progress, and some of the issues below have. been fixed.
Updated on May 19th, 2021
Bugs in the new Apple Podcasts app:
MacRumors is reporting that there are major bugs in the new Apple Podcasts listening app:
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Alex Ingram: "Podcasts has messed up my played history when it rebuilt the library after updated to iOS 14.5."
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Kath: "How do you delete played podcasts on ios 14.5 plz help. I’m going crazy."
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When you try to log in, Apple will say: "We're setting up your account. This could take a few hours."
Bugs in the new Podcasts Connect:
Can't log in to Apple Podcasts Connect; redirect loop
The old login redirect bug is back, as described by this user on Reddit:
I'm trying to submit a podcast for Apple to approve, and I can't get into Podcasts Connect. When I try to log in with my Apple ID, I get a blank page with only a 'spinner' after logging in.
Follow these steps to fix the login loop bug:
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Open Apple Music on your Mac. Go to Accounts and click "Sign out."
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In Apple Music, sign back in with your Apple ID and fill out any details it asks you for.
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Re-open Podcasts Connect and log in.
If you're a PC/Windows user (or use Android or iPhone) follow these instructions.
Can't manage or add shows in Apple Podcasts Connect
On May 19, 2021, Marco Arment noticed that his podcast had disappeared from Apple Podcasts. When he tried to log in on Podcasts Connect he got this screen:
We're setting up your account. This could take up to a day, so check back later. When we're finished, you can start adding shows.
Submitting a new RSS feed produces a number of (false) warnings:
Submitting an RSS feed to Podcasts Connect results in various incorrect warnings (they'll say your artwork is missing, your website is missing, language is missing, even when they are present in the feed)
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"Art – this field is required:" This warning will show, even when podcast cover art is correctly linked in the RSS feed in the
<itunes:image>tag. -
"Language – this field is required. Enter it in your RSS." This warning will display, even when language is correctly entered in the RSS feed.
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"Category not selected:" this warning will go away if you manually select a category for your podcast.
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Submitting a new podcast currently requires a phone number for some reason.
Fixed: people were locked out of their accounts after 8+ days.
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Evo Terra: "Day 7 of @ApplePodcasts' silent treatment of podcasters and others attempting to do the most basic of management of their shows." Update: after 8 days, Evo got access.
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Jason Lange: "Apple is still setting up my 'accounts' I already had 3+ days later."
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Harry Morton: "This is getting tricky. Apple Podcasts: can we at least have an ETA please?"
Fixed: many podcasts were missing episodes:
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Jack Rhysider: "You can add my show (Darknet Diaries) to the list of ones all screwed up in Apple Podcasts. There are several episodes of my podcast that suddenly are missing. Eps 90, 88, 83, 71, 62, and 52. I registered for the new site but made no changes to anything. My feed is fine. I've received no email from you as to why these are gone."
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Benjamin Mayo: latest episodes aren't showing up in Apple Podcasts (for iOS 14.5 and later)
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Quentin Guéroult: "My podcast, Bagnolards, disappeared from Apple Podcasts, then came back on it, but with some episodes missing. They told me their engineers were working on it on Friday and they are still missing today."
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Anonymous DM: "This apple podcast connect issue is totally fucking me and nobody at Apple has responded to anything! so crazy! published my new episode 4 days ago and still nothing. now only half of my first season is showing to non-subscribers. so frustrating!"
Other problems with Podcasts Connect:
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Some podcasts have disappeared from Apple Podcasts
- Update: as of May 19, 2021, this is still occurring.
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There doesn't appear to be a way to refresh your feed in Podcasts Connect.
- Update: Apple has told me that "refresh your feed" will no longer be available.
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When people update their show art, it's not updating in Apple Podcasts.
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Some folks can not submit a new podcast feed through Podcast Connect
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Many podcasts are not showing up in search.
- Update: Appears to be fixed now?
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Some people's Apple show URLs aren't working
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RSS feed URLs have been removed from Apple's public podcast API
Apple's response
Apple's official podcaster support channel replied to me on April 29:
Our engineers are aware of the issues, and are actively working to resolve them as quickly as possible. Many users may have already noticed some of these issues have been resolved on their end. Please feel free to refer any users experiencing issues to our Contact Us page.
I received a DM from an Apple Engineer on April 22 stating:
The Apple Podcasts Connect feed issues you've noticed are all bugs. There was no intention to remove feed URLs en masse. Cover art hasn't been appearing because we've been having issues with the crawler (I hope they'll be resolved today).
Originally, Apple's support channels told us:
Regarding the overall submission errors that they’re experiencing, our engineers are aware of the issue and are currently working to have it resolved as soon as possible.
Update: I've been informed by Apple support that "refresh feed" will no longer be available in the new Podcasts Connect. (Reference)
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