There’s no disputing the fact that Apple Podcasts is a great app. Its wide library of podcasts available for an affordable price allows users to follow millions of the most successful and interesting podcasts in the world.
However, there is one problem that Apple Podcast app users have reported for a while, and it’s really detrimental to the overall listening experience provided by the app: Apple Podcasts doesn’t always remember where you leave off.
This means that when you pause a podcast or shut the app before you get to the end of an episode, the time at which you stopped often isn’t saved by the Apple Podcasts app.
Therefore, you have to go through the painstaking process of finding the exact place you left off yourself, which involves many frustrating minutes of sliding the scrubber bar up and down.
Related: How To Save A Podcast To An Apple Watch
With that being said, there’s a reason why this happens, and there are things you can do to stop it happening in the future. Read on to find out more.
Why Doesn’t Apple Podcasts Remember Where You Left Off?
The first question that probably comes to mind when Apple Podcasts fails to save the point where you paused a podcast episode is, ‘why is this happening?’
After some research, we’ve been able to pinpoint why this flaw in the app keeps coming up.
Basically, while Apple Podcast’s default setting should, in theory, be ‘remember playback position’, this setting can sometimes be turned off.
This can be done by accident (it’s easy to accidentally change settings when you’re holding your phone and not paying attention) but often, users report that this setting is turned off despite them being adamant that they didn’t change it either deliberately or by accident.
As of yet, we’re not entirely sure why Apple Podcasts would automatically turn off the ‘remember playback position’ setting since, again, it should be the default. However, the fact remains that it seems this does sometimes happen.
Another reason why Apple Podcasts might not be remembering the point where you left off is because the ‘start time’ setting has been changed.
The ‘start time’ settings on Apple Podcasts can be found in the same menu as ‘remember playback position’, and in most cases, this should be set to 0:00.
If the start time is set to anything else, the likelihood is that you have changed it accidentally since there’s no reason why it should change automatically.
If you’ve noticed that your podcasts always start playing at a different time than 0:00 and it’s not the point at which you left off, the ‘start time’ setting is probably responsible.
How To Get Apple Podcast To Remember Where You Paused
It’s more than likely that the issues you are experiencing with Apple Podcasts not remembering where you left off are either to do with the ‘remember playback position’ setting or the ‘start time’ setting.
Luckily, there are relatively quick and easy fixes to both of these issues, so you should be able to get your podcasts to pick back up where you left off soon.
Remember Playback Position
The first thing you’ll want to do is go into the settings for Apple Podcasts and look in the menu for ‘remember playback position’. There should be a toggle where you can set this to ‘yes’ or ‘no’.
If it’s currently set to ‘no’, this has either been caused by a glitch in the app (the default setting should be ‘yes’) or you might have toggled it off accidentally.
Either way, all you need to do is set the toggle back to ‘yes’ and you should find that your podcasts pick back up where you left off in the future.
This should be true even if you close the app and come back to it a while later.
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Start Time
If you check the ‘remember playback position’ toggle and it’s already set to ‘yes’, you can rule this out as the cause of the issue. Instead, while you’re already in the menu, look for the setting called ‘start time’.
Click on it and see whether it’s set to 0:00. If it’s not, and you’ve noticed that your podcasts always seem to start at the same random time, you have the source of the problem, and you can solve it simply by inputting 0:00.
Once you have done this, try opening new episodes and see if it still starts at the same time as before.
It should now open at 0:00, and if you have the ‘remember playback position’ setting turned to ‘yes’ then you should notice that your podcasts pick up where you left off moving forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Apple Keep Podcast History?
The last five podcast episodes you listened to should be saved by Apple Podcasts if you’re following an episodic show. If you’re following a serial show, all the episodes should be saved.
What Is Sync Podcasts On iPhone?
Syncing your podcasts on Apple means syncing the podcast app across your Apple devices so that they all pick up from the same place and save the same subscriptions and stations to your library.
We recommend syncing your podcasts if you use Apple Podcasts on multiple Apple devices.
What if Nothing Works to Make Apple Remember My Playback Position?
If you have tried all the fixes in this article and nothing has worked, your best option is to contact Apple’s customer support team to find a solution to the problem or Apple Podcasts not remembering your playback position.
Final Thoughts
Usually, Apple Podcasts won’t remember where you left off if ‘remember playback position’ is set to ‘no’ or if the start time is set to something other than ‘0:00’.
Go into the settings menu and check these settings, adjusting them if necessary. Once you have done this, check if it has worked by opening a podcast.
This should solve the problem, but if not, you should contact Apple’s customer support team for more answers and solutions.
