Podcasts are a nightmare (multiple issues).

[lionmaki]

Plan

Free

Country

USA

Device

PC, browser / desktop

My Question or Issue

I'm having many, many problems with podcasts right now. Are there any settings I'm missing that can make the experience less of a nightmare? The problems are as follows:
1. I cannot turn off queue (positive I did at some point or used to be able to). Queue also does not play the next episode of the podcast I'm listening to, but something random instead. I'm also completely unable to listen to episodes in order using autoplay without listening to someone's playlist instead.
2. Queue usually just plays other podcasts I listen to, but one (Hot Mess with Alix Earle) that I don't listen to and has no relevance to my interests keeps appearing. I do not follow this podcast, but it now appears in my Your Shows and New Episodes sections. I have not found a way to get rid of it, and it's very annoying (for further context, I mostly listen to podcasts like Behind the Bastards - lot of history and film content). Hot Mess is the only show to appear in Your Shows / New Episodes that I am not actually subscribed to.
3. Spotify frequently just doesn't actually play the episode I selected ("Spotify can't play this right now"), and instead plays a completely random episode of another podcast. I want to listen to the episode I clicked on, or if that doesn't work, another episode of the same show.

[Maria]

Hey there @lionmaki,

Thanks for posting your questions on the Community!

It's possible that podcasts appear in the play queue or on your Home feed once they've been started. However, you can mark those episodes as played. This should remove them from the queue while you're listening to other podcasts, meaning that the episode will no longer play after another one ends. Just head over to Your library > Podcasts & Shows > New episodes > Click on the checkmark on the right side.

If you want to play only a specific episode, you can open it from the list of all episodes and then hit Play - the app will not queue the rest, just make sure that the Autoplay feature is disabled.

Also, are you receiving that error message with a specific podcast or episode? Does the same thing happen if you try clearing saved cache?

Let us know how you get on!

[lionmaki]

Unfortunately, a lot of this isn't really what I'm talking about.

I want to play all of the episodes of a series, on autoplay, in order. Queue plays random ones from other shows I watch, which I don't want.  Many of the shows I watch are multi-part series and I have to manually search for the next episode, rather than just having autoplay play it (something it used to do). In short: I want autoplay, but I want autoplay to play things in order, rather than forcing the queue on me. I do not want to queue the episodes in order - I just want to listen to the list of episodes that is on any series' given page.

The error message happens seemingly at random, with no specific podcast or episode (though happens very often with episodes of Behind the Bastards in particular). I'll try clearing the cache.

I still cannot get rid of the podcast I don't listen to - queue keeps adding episodes, making it seem like I'm interested. I do not follow this podcast, yet it keeps appearing on my New Episodes and Episodes for You page. I'm unable to unfollow it due to not following it to start with. I do not have the option to mark it as played at all, and also want it removed from my history altogether because I am not interested in it or things like it.

Thank you!

[Maria]

Thanks for the reply @lionmaki!

It should be possible to play the episodes in order, when you start the playback from the shows page. If you start from a playlist or from New Episodes, you might experience what you're describing and this is expected on our free service. 

In regards of the podcast you don't want to listen to, could you check if you're able to Mark all episodes as played? You should be able to do this on the phone app by opening the podcast in question > press the cogwheel on top of the page > Manage > Mark as played > select Mark all as played > press on Done. This should remove episodes from this specific podcast.

If you're having any issues with this, could you send us a screenshot or video showing how things look from your end while following these steps?

Cheers!

[lionmaki]

I did try that, but the podcast is still showing up in my New Episodes and Your Shows pages on desktop. It doesn't seem to be there on mobile, but I mainly use desktop.

[Ivelina]

Thanks for the cooperation, @lionmaki.

If this did the trick on mobile, could you log out > log back in twice in a row on your desktop? It sounds a bit weird, but it's a step that often helps resync your Spotify account and the device you're using. 

Keep us posted!

[tokyohomo]

Yeah it’s still happening for me. It’ll end the podcast episode and then go to whatever the latest episode of another podcast I’ve listened to (not even always what I’m subscribed to) instead of the next episode of the podcast I’m listening to. 

[Savanbgh]

Started playing a podcast episode for kids called “Geos godnathistorier for børn”. When playing an episode it adds adult podcasts with themes about violence, sextoys and all kinds of other stuff to the queue. How do I force it to continue to play the episodes of that podcast?