Reasons the Apple Podcasts App Won’t Play
When a podcast in the Apple Podcasts app won’t play you’ll find it’s often caused by a problem downloading the podcast or syncing with other devices. The Podcasts app should download and sync podcasts automatically, but this can be interrupted or unavailable for a variety of reasons. These include a spotty Internet connection or a problem with the servers hosting the podcast. The podcast might also fail to play because of a software bug or configuration issue in the Podcasts app. This is less common and can be difficult to troubleshoot, as the Apple Podcasts app doesn’t offer many error messages. Fortunately, the methods for resolving this problem are similar no matter the cause.
How to Fix the Apple Podcasts App
The Apple Podcasts app is available for the iPhone, iPad, and the Mac. The following steps are applicable to all, though the specifics of each fix might vary between them. This obvious solution is always worth checking, as it will fix the issue in a moment. On an iPhone or iPad, the audio output can be selected by tapping the Apple AirPlay icon while a podcast is playing. This will show available audio sources with a checkbox next to the one currently in use. On Mac, the audio output is changed by selecting the speaker icon in the upper right-hand corner of the macOS menu bar. Mac users can delete podcasts in the Downloaded section of the Podcast app. Hover the cursor over a show’s icon to reveal the … menu. Select it and then tap Remove Downloads. A bad Internet connection will make it difficult to play any podcast not already downloaded to the Apple Podcast library. Move to a location with a better connection if possible. Unfollow deletes a podcast from your library entirely, including all episodes. This resets all active downloads for that podcast. The Apple Podcasts app will attempt to download new podcasts to your device, which may fail if there’s not enough storage space available. This can resolve any persistent sync issues causing an error in the app. The app can be reinstalled from the App Store.
