How to play only selected podcast episodes?

[Question_Mark]

Plan

Free

Country

Canada

Device

Pixel 3a

Operating System

Android 11

My Question or Issue

I'm trying to figure out how to play podcast episodes I select in chronological order.  This seems like very basic podcast listening use case, but I haven't figured out a way to do this on Spotify.  With other apps, I'd go through the episode list, download the ones that interest me and they'd get played back, oldest to newest and then deleted afterwards.  I can't find any way to do this in Spotify.  Here's what I've tried.

1.  Downloading episodes I wish to listen to.  After an episode completes, Spotify will play the next episode from the full episode list of the podcast, not the one I've downloaded.  Ok, so maybe I need a play list.

2. I then added all episodes I downloaded to a playlist.  The oldest episode appears at the bottom of the playlist, so I hit play on it.  But once it finishes playing, it doesn't go to the next episode in my playlist.  Instead, it goes to the next episode from the full episode list of the podcast.

So does everyone who uses Spotify listen to EVERY episode of a podcast?  Does no one pick and choose episodes that sound interesting to them?  This is such a simple feature I'm sure there must be a way, but really can't find it.

I've also been unable to find where to auto delete a download after listening.  This is another core podcast app feature that I haven't been able to find, which means I have to go in and manually clean up my downloads after every episode finishes.

[Ver]

Hey @Question_Mark,

Thanks for posting here in the Community 🙂

You can download the episodes, click on Library and then on Podcasts. There you can click on Downloads in order to play the specific episodes.

If want to add the episodes to a playlist and play them in a specific order, you can sort them with these steps. 

Currently there is no option to auto delete a download. We always strive to improve our app and the experience with it and appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us.

You can also have a look in our Idea Exchange to see if someone else has already made a similar suggestion. If there isn't one, you can submit your idea with these steps. That way other users can also support it. Rest assured that the higher the number of votes an idea gets, the more likely it is for it to be implemented.   

Here you can find more information about how your Feedback reaches Spotify.

We'll be right here if you have any further questions.
 

[Question_Mark]

Thank you for the steps, but it seems those only apply to music.  There is no "three dot" menu in the top right corner in the podcast episode list or the podcast download list on Android.  Do these features not exist for podcasts?

[Alex]

Hi @Question_Mark,

Thanks for getting back to us.

You can sort your podcast episodes in a few different ways, you can even click on Sort> Downloaded and see all downloaded episodes, after that if you play the one on top they should all play in order automatically.

There should be a button which looks like this   next to every podcast episode when you open the page of the artist.

If you can't see that can you please take a screenshot and upload it with your next reply. This will help us see how things look on your end.

Cheers.

[Question_Mark]

I don't see any sort options anywhere.  Here is what I see in the Podcasts Episodes and Downloads, as well as what is shown when I press the 3 dot menu beside each episode.  I can only add 3 screenshots, so don't have both of the 3 dot menu screens.  But they both look the same.

[CarlosE]

Hey @Question_Mark,

Thanks for keeping in touch and for the screenshots.

You can head to the podcast profile and tap on the button Sort, which is below the podcast description and above the list of episodes. There, you can select Filter > Downloads, and Sort by > Date, so you'll only listen to the episodes you have downloaded in chronological order.

Give it a try and let us know how it goes.

[Question_Mark]

Ok, that does what I want to do while I'm on that screen.  How can I make this the "default" behaviour.  Examples:

• I open the app, press play on the bottom right of the screen to resume a podcast already being played.  Once it's complete I want it to continue based on the sorted list from the screen you mention.
• I'm in the car and Spotify plays via Android Auto, automatically resuming the last podcast I was listening too.  Once it's complete I want it to continue based on the sorted list from the screen you mention.

There seems to be many ways to have the same list of content (Episodes, Downloads and Show).  How do I make it always use the sorted list you showed me to pick the next podcast to play? 

Is there a way I could do this without pre-downloading what I want to listen too and then having to manually delete the show after?  I had hoped adding to the Episodes list would do this, but it doesn't.

[CarlosE]

Hey @Question_Mark,

Thanks for keeping in touch.

When you do it that way, it should continue to play in that order when you close the app and resume it afterwards, either directly on the app or through Android Auto.

Regarding the Podcasts section in Your Library, you'll find in the Episodes tab the individual episodes you've added (+), but not downloaded. The Downloads section is for the ones that you've actually downloaded (), and the Shows section is for the podcast profiles you've Followed. You can find more info in this article.

Since all the added episodes, disregarding of the podcast, are saved in Your Episodes playlist, it isn't possible to sort this playlist in the chronological order of each individual podcast, but rather than the date when you've added them (the same happens in your Downloads tab). A workaround for this would be adding the episodes in the correct order so when you're listening to them from Your Episodes playlist or Downloads tab they're played in the correct order, or going to the podcast profile and do the sorting mentioned in the previous post.

We hope you find this info useful. If you have any questions, we're just a post away.

Cheers!

[Question_Mark]

"When you do it that way, it should continue to play in that order when you close the app and resume it afterwards, either directly on the app or through Android Auto."

I can confirm this isn't the case.  If the app is closed and re-opened, it doesn't continue to play in that order.  It plays top to bottom from the episode list.

As for adding to the episode in the order I want them played... this isn't possible either for podcasts.  I could initially do this by adding existing podcasts by manually choose them in reverse chronological order.  So the oldest appears at the top and the newest at the beginning.  But as soon as a new episode comes out, if I add it it'll go to the top of my episode list instead of the bottom.  So now the next one to be played will be the newest episode instead of the next one I've chosen that I haven't heard.  Example:

The podcast has 10 episodes, I want to listen to 1, 3 and 7.  So first I add 7, then 3 then 1 so my episode list looks like:

1

3

7

I finished listening to episode 1 and now episode 11 comes out.  When I add 11 this happens to the episode list.

11

3

7

So now it has me listen to 11, before I've heard 3 or 7.  It doesn't make any sense to me why it orders this way and doesn't offer any way to adjust it.

100M was spent on Joe Rogan, but playback of episodes in the order they were aired is not possible.  😞 Spotify really needs to invest some of this money into their app and not just all on content.

[Novy]

Hi @Question_Mark, 

Thanks for getting back to us. 

We're sorry to hear this and we appreciate you taking the time to share your feedback with us. We'll make sure to pass it onto the right team, as we always strive to improve your experience.

As @Ver suggested, you can also take a look in our Idea Exchange to see if another user has made a similar suggestion or to submit your own. 

If anything else comes up, we're always a message away.
 

Cheers!

[Question_Mark · Accepted solution]

Thanks, I do appreciate the help.

I logged this as an idea here: [Android][Podcasts] Sort Options for Podcast Episode Playlists