stop spotify playing podcasts

[AnnaB58]

Plan

not sure - paying for extra content

Country

Italy

Device

Samsung Galaxy S20 plus

Operating System

Android 13

My Question or Issue

I'm subscribed to 1 payment podcast which delivers a new episode every day at 5pm. After listening to the new episode, spotify app goes on playing randomly an old episode of the same podcast. This is very annoying, I'd like it to STOP as soon as the episode finishes; it's annoying especially when I'm driving (old car, no android auto) as I don't want to handle my mobile to stop it.
I've already checked all spotify settings but they are ALL set to OFF in the "playback" section. How can I stop this? The only solution I've found up to now is to disinstall the app....but it seems to me a little too much!
Thanks - Anna

[Eni]

Hey there @AnnaB58, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this here in the Community. 

If you want to listen to just one single episode and it’s not the last one of the episodes' list, you can add it to the play queue instead of playing it directly from the show. This will prevent next episodes from playing after the one you're currently listening to.

If that doesn't make the trick, could you let us know if this happens only with that particular podcast or with all of them? It would be helpful if you could check. 
 

Keep us posted on how it goes.

[AnnaB58]

Hi Eni and thanks for your help.

I'm listening every day to the last episode which is published at 5pm, it's a daily press review. I usually download the episode and listen to it the following day. The fact is that it chooses which episode run next in an absolutely random mode; today it run the September 29th 2024 episode...don't ask me why! I try to clear cache and close the app but no way to succeed.
It also happens with 2 further free podcasts I follow on spotify, so it seems to be a generalized behaviour.

Anna

[AlejaR]

Hey there @AnnaB58,

Thanks for your reply and for the info shared.

We'd like to add some insights. The Autoplay experience for podcast shows will play episodes from other similar shows. In that sense, when you disable the Autoplay in the settings, the app will stop suggesting and playing similar content. 

On another note, it's important to clarify that when you listen to a podcast show, the next episode that will be played automatically is the next one in chronological order. This is expected to happen even if you disable the Autoplay feature. So, if you start playing the newest episode from the show page, the playback will stop right after.
 

Now, if the episodes are played from Your Library or Your Episodes folder, the playback is going to follow your list of saved episodes. In other words, it's expected to continue listening to the next episode saved in Your Episodes folder once you finish listening to the last one you saved. The order in which episodes play from there depends on the sorting option that was set there previously.

That being explained, since you mentioned you download your episodes to listen to them later, just to confirm, are you starting the playback from Your Episodes folder? If yes, keep in mind that:

• It's expected the list continues playing after you finish listening to an episode, even with Autoplay disabled.
• The next episode to play will be the next on the list and that means it could be something from September 2024 you've saved or downloaded right after the one you finish listening.

So! We understand where you're coming from, and to avoid this behavior while you're driving your car, we suggest you set a sleep timer within the app, so the playback stops when the episode ends. We'd also recommend managing Your Episodes folder, by perhaps removing episodes you don't want to revisit. You can also choose to use the Remove played episodes, so most listen to episodes get removed after some time.

Hope this clears things up. If you have any questions or need anything else, the Community is here for you.

[AnnaB58]

Hi Alejar, i tried to check all you suggested me. I discovered the episode folders (i didn't know it existed!) and it actually contains some old episodes BUT they are not the ones involved in the play.
Every afternoon i download the last episode after the author releases it, then i listen to it in the evening or the following morning; i start it NOT from the episode folder but from the original one.
When it ends, it chooses an old episode and goes on from that. It's not one saved in the episode folder.

That is:
- i download and listen to the last episode released
- episode folder does not contain any of this podcast
- after finishing, it starts randomly an old one which is not present in my local folder

That's it😢

Anna

[Vasil]

Hey @AnnaB58,

Thanks for letting us know! Just to confirm, did you manage to check the 'Autoplay' setting @AlejaR has mentioned? It's also a good idea to check your downloaded episodes and remove any older ones in case you won't be needing them in the future.

Once this is done, make sure to set your app to 'Offline mode' after your most current episode is downloaded (Home-> Tap on profile picture-> Settings-> Data saving & offline). When it's set to offline, your downloaded episodes should appear in the 'Your Episodes' folder and under the podcast name as well. To see all these, just head to the 'Your Library' tab.

When all of this is complete, try playing your episode from the podcast page and, in case the issue re-appears, send us a screenshot of the episode you've been playing and the one that has started after. Many thanks!

[AnnaB58]

Hi Vasil, I tried to crevices the options you both suggested but i can't find them. These are the screen shots of both options and all options are set to OFF.

Anna

[OscarDC]

Hey @AnnaB58,

Thank you for keeping in contact.

Unfortunately, it seems that the pictures were not attached to the previous response. However, taking into account the info you've included, it's possible that this behavior could be expected. Everytime you download an episode, it's automatically saved in the Your Episodes list. 

If you're offline and you play the saved episode from the day before, it will be played from the content you've already downloaded on Your Episodes list. Taking this into account, it's expected that as soon as the episode ends, the app will start playing another episode of that list as it will do with a common playlist.

If you want to listen to just one episode, we'd recommend following the suggestion mentioned by @Eni and add the episode to the play queue, or use the sleep timer as @AlejaR previously mentioned.

Hope this clarifies things a bit. If you've any additional questions, don't hesitate to ask.

[AnnaB58]

I'm sorry for the missing attachments, i see them in the sent mail. Anyway i don't find the offline option; it's noi present in that option screen

Anna

[Vasil]

Hey again @AnnaB58!

Offline mode should be accessible under Home-> Tap on profile picture-> Settings-> Data saving & offline but you not being able to locate it there makes me think you might be using a free Spotify account. This would explain both the missing settings and the randomization of the episodes that play after the one you're currently on.

You can verify if this is the case by going to Home-> Tap on profile picture-> Settings-> Account. Under 'Your plan' it should either say free or Premium. You can find the differences between the free & subscription tiers by visiting this page.

If your account says free but you're also convinced you're paying for Premium, it's a good idea to go through your email inboxes and look for a receipt from Spotify. This will help you out with identifying your Premium account. 

Tip: This FAQ article could be of use as well 🙂

Hope this helps! We're here for you in case any further questions arise 🙌🏼

[AnnaB58]

Maybe i didn't explain it clearly: my spotify account is free and i only pay for one specific podcast (daily five).

So now i understand it better... thanks
🤪 Anna