Dear Spotify, dear @ThePodfather and @Dessi,
Thanks for pinning the post and publishing the FAQ, but this still isn’t a solution.
I’ve gone through your FAQ, and while it tries to clarify things, I feel like it misses the mark, especially for long-time podcast listeners who relied heavily on the New Episodes feed.
The FAQ says this change was made "based on feedback", but I’m genuinely curious whose feedback led to this? Judging by this thread and others (now 21 pages (and more to come...) of consistent complaints), it's hard to believe this decision reflects the majority of podcast users. I’d love to see the data or reasoning behind this, because right now, it feels disconnected from the real user experience.
Technically, maybe the data isn't gone, but from a user’s perspective, the feature absolutely has been removed. You now have to go to Home > Podcasts > Following, where:
- It takes more steps than before (not to mention the loading time for each),
- The overview is cluttered and less functional,
- (and, if you're not familiar with all the crazy feed-features in Spotify, it mixes in Spotify-promoted shows and videos I’m not interested in).
What used to be one tap away is now hidden behind multiple layers and less focused. It's even harder if you follow a lot of shows, like I do (50+).
The old feed gave me a clean, chronological view of what's new.
Now I have to manually save episodes daily or risk missing them altogether. If I take a break or go on vacation, the “new” experience becomes chaotic.
The new design might look good on paper, but in practice, it slows everything down.
You say you're trying to improve discovery, but not at the cost of usability for people who already know what they want to listen to.
Suggestions are great, but they shouldn’t come at the expense of essential features.
While pinning this thread is appreciated, marking it as “a solution” doesn’t reflect the ongoing frustration.
A better approach might be to acknowledge this as active, unresolved feedback and consider rebuilding a better “New Episodes” experience based on real user behavior, not just internal assumptions.
The old New Episodes feed worked just fine. It could have been improved with options like per-show notifications (maybe it was the case, but I wasn’t aware of).
But sometimes, like a safety seatbelt in a car, simple design is good design. Changing it for the sake of change only hurts the experience.
I’m seriously considering switching to Apple Podcasts: they still offer a reliable new episode view.
Yes, migrating and marking episodes as already played will take time, but at least I’ll get back the clarity and control I used to have with Spotify.
Thanks for reading, I hope this gets escalated internally, and that real user feedback (like this thread) is taken seriously.
