New Episodes feed has been removed from My Library

[EvieAnderson]

When I opened the spotify app this morning to download any new episodes from my favourite podcasts in My Library, I found a note where my New Episodes feed would be to say this was now not part of My Library and that I needed to go to Home to find new episodes. So now I have to scroll endlessly through my home page to find the banner new episodes of podcasts, and then I have to open each episode individually to then click again to get to download them. Then when I go back to the homepage it takes me back to the top again and I have to scroll down the page AGAIN to find new episodes and go through the process each time. It was a stupid change and I don't understand why you would make it so much harder for users than previously. How is this beneficial? 

Plan

Premium

Country

UK

Device

Samsung Galaxy 

Operating System

Android 

[Nelly14]

We already know that - the "solution" you suggest is not a solution. 

Episodes which are already finished are shown in the feed you suggest as a "solution".

This is either a joke, or Spotify are gaslighting us all.

To others - I have been using Antenna Pod, it just works and sends new items to your inbox as they are published.

It DOESNT show finished episodes in the same feed because.............that would be stupid.

For goodness sake, there must be someone on Spotify Staff who can see this as the nonsense it is !!!!

[Bradj3]

It’s not a solution. It’s such a pain to go and find a podcast I didn’t have time to finish. There needs to be a feature (like it was PREVIOUSLY) where your unfinished podcasts show up instead of scrolling endlessly to find them or forgetting about them altogether. Likewise, there needs to be a function to filter out finished podcasts. The voices on this thread make it clear that 1) an issue exists 2) a real solution does not exist. Step up Spotify, admit there’s a problem, and serve your customers.

[Chenpai001]

How do you access the new Following section when using Android Auto?  I use New Episodes exclusively when driving for safety and convenience.

[Tsarfin]

This is such a BS.
First, did you try using this option in Android Auto, while driving your car? No? Ohhh, maybe it's because there is no such option.
Every time I want to listen to a new episode I have to reach to my phone while driving...
Second, why the "new" New Episodes include episodes that I've already listened to. They are not so new...
Please stop giving us those BS responds, we are paying customers!

[henrynelsonks]

NOT a solution. It's a partial workaround. I'd have to go digging around the dozens of pods I follow and then wade through HUNDREDS of episodes I've already listened to.

[Walksauce5119]

That’s not a solution. I think it’s clear reading the replies what the solution is. I’ve been with Spotify on a premium membership since 2013. This coupled with AI songs throughout my discovery weekly and release radar is driving me out of the app. If the wishes of the community are ignored I will be taking by business elsewhere, happily.

[henrynelsonks]

I'm now using Podcast Addict. It lets me marked played episodes, mark favorites, set up ques and more. Bit of a steep learning curve. I'm migrating my dozens of pods one at a time.

[SebAtSpot]

Now using AntennaPod. Open source en very configurable. Even better than Spotify and better privacy.

[kgknox27]

Yo my guy stop playing dumb and acting like what you are saying is a solution. New episodes wasn’t “removed” the features users enjoyed about new episodes was removed. 

With the old new episodes feed UNPLAYED episodes from podcasts you were following stayed in the feed until they were marked as played. New episodes entered the feed as they were released. 

The old feed was a single place to quickly see all of the new episodes as well as slightly older episodes that you hadn’t played yet. I follow 10 or so podcasts each that release 1 - 3 episodes a week. I pick which ones to listen to based on priority and how I feel. Some podcast episodes that are not topical I let sit in that queue for a week or more while more topical episodes I play relatively immediately so that they don’t get stale. The old new episodes queue was where I kept all of the slightly older episodes that I wanted to listen to but had prioritized less while I listened to other things. 

THIS is the behavior that we lost. Along with the ability to remove episodes that we HAD PLAYED from that queue. 

The home —> podcasts -> following queue does none of this. 

Now don’t let me catch you in here posting another smart aleck response in here like you don’t understand the issue. Go to your potato brained Swedish bosses and get an answer on whether or not this will be fixed so that we all can know if it’s time to unsubscribe from Spotify or not. 

[exit143]

This is not a solution. Whoever approved this change should be fired. Legitimately. 

[Paying_Customer]

Okay, but what about all the features that came with the new episodes playlist? Listened episodes still appear at the top of feed and we cannot see episodes in progress. Can Spotify provide any meaningful explanation of how this improves the (paying) user experience? Usage tests? Even just a post explaining the logic of removing features? Anything that is corporate blah?

[Cynthiajones34]

Plan

Premium

Country

Device

Samsung Galaxy 22 Ultra

Operating System

Android

My Question or Issue

After the new update to the new episodes podcast feed is no longer accessible on android auto. I can access from my phone but I can't use it will driving. 

[luckyhamilton]

This does not solve anything. How can I simply see only the episodes I want to listen to? I can

1. tap my profile icon

2 go to what's new

3. podcasts & Shows

4. Unplayed

Yet if I do that and mark an episode I don't want to listen to as finished it stays in the list, I need to repeat the steps above to refresh the feed, is that right? You've made what was quite an intuitive, simple process, much more complicated and annoying. It is TERRIBLE design.

[1217655237]

NOPE! a moderator posted this same info as a "solution" 9 days ago. it's still not a solution for all the reasons people are explaining here. and by the way the top of Home shows me only my most recently listened to podcast, whereas the New Episodes page showed the 3 most recent. much better since i'll sometimes switch between shows before finishing one. why won't Spotify just listen to the overwhelming user sentiment? Probably because you're constantly trying to remove user control of discovery and engagement in order to force feed us your proprietary or sponsored content...but still I'm so frustrated you won't just fix it. 

[1210586402]

Can you confirm that there is no way to remove episodes from podcasts I follow that I don't want to listen to??  (This appears to be the same for the "What's New" feed as well).  This seems to be a consistent concern of people posting here..

[EvieAnderson]

@ThePodfather

It feels like you are actively trolling us now. All we want to know is, are you going to change it back or stick with it. It is very simple. I would write a separate post asking this question but...wait...I already did and it got kettled into my original post. Stop being dicks to your customers and give us an answer. 

[Wyvern75]

9 days... and 2 no-solutions showing that they don't read us at all : 

- no way to filter unplayed episodes

- no "new way" at all for android auto and carplay, forcing us to more manipulations while driving...

Nice functionnal regression.

And now, that's too late for me : moved to Podcast Addict; way better for podcasts listeners.

[-rh79qhr_jmqc]

I figure this is the same idea as retail stores use when designing product placement. They rarely place the most consumed products (milk/bread /etc) right up front where you can walk in, grab it and go, but instead they're placed so we have to walk down aisles of other products to get them, and odds are something we weren't thinking about will catch some of our eyes on the way, and some of those folks are gonna grab/buy some sorta something they never intended to buy when they walked in...and never woulda thought of buying if they coulda walked in grabbed their milk/etc from right up front and left... not everyone will buy something else, but some/a few will, and a years worth of "fews" will make a PILE of money... mo sales = mo $$$'s.

With that idea in mind, when we can pull up Spotify and head right to a list of the latest episodes of the podcasts we follow, we don't see as many new/undiscovered podcasts so we aren't tempted to check them out and possibly become a new follower. New followers increase a podcasts total audience, leading to mo advertising dolla's for the podcast... and naturally, Spotify likes making podcasts happy, and how better to make that happen than to help increase potential listeners/revenue streams. 

So, how to create more opportunities? Inconvenience the consumers (we the listeners) so we can't go straight to what we want to listen to, but instead make us take a more cluttered path filled with undiscovered podcasts we normally wouldn't see, increasing the chances that some of us are gonna catch a glimpse of something new we never thought of checking out when we logged on... and mo glimpses create mo better odds that some of us will click something new, and some of those will end up following some of those new somethings they'd never even considered listening to.

Smart marketing from a business POV, but in the humble opinion of this consumer, the new inconvenience sucks large hairy donkey ballz... and the canned corporate/political-ish answer that's been offered as the "solution", while saying much total syllable-wise, really doesn't say much that sounds remotely promising for reverting back to what we liked, so... anybody found a new media provider we can start giving our hard-earned to every month instead of Spotify?

[dze27]

Weird how your "solution" has zero likes and all the comments explaining how it's not a solution have plenty of likes. Hint - it's not a solution. Removing listened-to or skipped episodes is mandatory feature for podcast subscriptions.

Also, please acknowledge and address the CarPlay problem, which is completely broken with this change. There isn't even a lame, nerfed "Following feed" there. YOU BROKE "NEW EPISODES" IN EVERYBODY'S CAR!!! There is no list of new episodes for subscribed podcasts now.

[adamdorsey85]

But this is a terrible move. You could have both! Why get rid of something that so many users enjoyed and used. You are losing engagement and customers and I will be one of them. Once I have subscribed to all my podcasts on pocket casts app, I am not coming back for podcasts on Spotify.