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Podcasts won't download MRH product support
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New member 3 posts Radiodial New member 3 posts
Radiodial

My iPhone 6S just updated its nasty self to iOS 9.2, and a completely different version of the Podcast App came with it. The MRH podcasts will now only play when connected to Wi-Fi or thorough Cellular data (ouch). If you select "download this episode", the little circle will fill up and then kick back an error "unable to download episode". A little cloud appears to left of the episodes,  which turns to a "!" when out of wi-fi range or you turn off cell data for podcasts.

I unsubscribed and then resubscribed. No help. All my other podcasts work fine, just the MRH is afflicted. Any ideas?

RJ Dial Pleasanton ,Ca
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Jonnymac New member 21 posts
Jonnymac

Download the episodes in

Download the episodes in iTunes then sync them to your phone.

  Jon

Jon
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Radiodial New member 3 posts
Radiodial

Catch 22

Nope, that didn't work. Clicking on Download from iTunes immediately flips you back (or Opens) the Podcast App and we are back at the original scenario; Episode does not actually download, but shows as a "Cloud".

Made sure the settings in MRH are exact duplicate of the podcasts that work.

For something that used to be so enjoyable, it is so sad to see it go bad. I think the conclusion that was reached in the NPR Codebreakers Podcast that software updates are "evil" is true.

Am I the only person that listened to MRH in the car? (Wi-Fi works fine).

RJ
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Jonnymac New member 21 posts
Jonnymac

iTunes on your computer.

iTunes on your computer. Sorry should have been more clear. 

Jon
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George Sinos gsinos Prolific poster 1,170 posts
George Sinos gsinos

Podcast Apps

You can make your podcast listening much easier and more reliable if you skip the Apple App and iTunes altogether.   The Apple podcast app was never particularly good and they don't devote much development time to making it better.  iTunes is a mess and gets worse with each iteration.

A dedicated podcast app will directly download new podcasts. You may have to pay a few dollars for some, but as they say, you get what you pay for.

I use Downcast, but there are several good apps. Pocketcast is mentioned very often.  There is a recent "top 10" on Tom's Hardware.

gs

 
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joef MRH Founder 17,525 posts
joef

We haven't changed a thing

We haven't changed a thing, so whatever Apple is doing that broke things is beyond us.

We did find this when Googling the issue ...

Quote:

For about the last week my podcast app on my iPhone 6+ has been preparing to download episodes but not downloading.

I have tried shutdown app, clear download, logging out of iTunes etc.

Any suggestions?

Answer 1:
Interesting... Only thing I can think of is firewall blocking?? Try checking that...

Answer 2:
I had the same problem. I restarted the phone, canceled the pending downloads and then started the downloads again and it seems to be working. Feel like I'm working with a Microsoft product

We also found a similar solution posted on a different site ...

Quote:

Try a force quitting the Podcast App, and/or a hard reset on the phone. Also, make sure you are connected to WiFi, or that you have cellular data enabled for podcasts. If that doesn't work, cancel the stuck download manually by swiping left from the "Downloads" screen then go to the feed of the podcast in question and hit the manual download icon for the stuck episode. Sometimes one or more of these things helps…

And finally, we found this workaround ...

Quote:

I have found a work-around for this problem.  I unsubscribe from the podcast that won't download....re-subscribe and then can download.  It's not a fix but it does work. This is definitely at the app level.

Joe Fugate​
Publisher, Model Railroad Hobbyist magazine

[siskiyouBtn]

Read my blog
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Radiodial New member 3 posts
Radiodial

Thanks Jon! Syncing worked

What did work for now is Jon's suggestion of plugging the iPhone into the computer and using iTunes on the computer to download all the episodes I needed, and then syncing the MRH podcast from iTunes to the iPhone and hit Apply. That then downloaded the episodes from the computer to the iPhone. Instant success, the little Cloud went away as whatever those things that were there in the Podcast app were overwritten, and the actual episode is now on the iPhone.
Now the question will be, when Paul gets around to cranking out another, will it download on its on, or will I have to plug back into the Big Mac?
Will also look at other Podcast Apps too if it doesn't.
I do think that upgrades have become more for keeping app developers employed and less for improving usability...
Thanks again,
RJ
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Jonnymac New member 21 posts
Jonnymac

Good deal.

Good deal. I sub to 10 different podcast and MRH was the only one that stopped working after the update. It's the only one using pdh files but I don't see why that would matter.

 Jon

 

Jon
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