Podcast episodes showing as unplayed

[MihailY]

Hey, 

We're seeing reports that finished podcast episodes are showing as unplayed.

[Nate55]

Plan

Premium

Country

Device

(iPhone 12)

Operating System

(iOS 18.3)

My Question or Issue

Podcasts are no longer showing “finished” or progress bar although I’ve listened to most or all depending on the podcast. It’s showing as if all the episodes haven’t been listened to. I updated the app and deleted it to ensure it wasn’t a recently resolved bug but the issue continues. 

[Eni]

Hey there @Nate55, 

Thanks for getting in touch about this and welcome to the Community. 

Could you let us know if this is happening across devices or only on a specific one? We'd also like to know if this happens with all podcasts. If it occurs with only some specific podcasts, make sure to send us their URIs and we'll take a closer look. 

On another note, could you send us some screenshots of what you're seeing on your end? You can attach them to your next response by using the Insert image option in the post editor. Make sure not to send any private info.

We'll be waiting for your reply.

[KBen12]

Both my app and desktop website are no longer showing the finished podcasts I have listened to. I hope between 2 different podcasts for about 6 months at a time. It removed all my finished markings with Mile Higher Podcast and Lights Out Podcast. I noticed it this morning.

[Yordan]

Thanks for the reply, @Nate55.

Perhaps there was a temporary hiccup in the backend. It's worth logging out and signing back in twice in a row? This will trigger an internal refresh of the app which may help here.

Could you also confirm if marking episodes as finished works as intended now? Does the option persist after restarting the app/device?

Let us know how it goes 👍

[juswannalisten]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone 15 Pro

Operating System

iOS 18.3.1

My Question or Issue

I noticed about a week ago that a few of the podcasts I listen to, and had all episodes marked as finished, were suddenly unfinished. So now I am having to go back through and re-mark them as finished and it can be quite annoying because when I click on the show it takes me the the most recent unplayed episode which really is unplayed and I have to scroll back to the top to get to the new episode. Has anyone else had this issue?

[Pidge666]

Same here! Both Lights Out and Mile Higher, some have popped back but way less than should be. So frustrating 

[aecarron]

I can also confirm that my podcast episodes I already listened to are no longer marked as finished. I logged out and back in twice as suggested and both the app and webpage both don't show marked as finished on my previous episodes. I've been listening to a podcast since 2016 so this is pretty frustrating to not know where I left off. 

[lokilo]

Plan

Premium

Country

USA

Device

iPhone 16

Operating System

(iOS 18)

My Question or Issue

I am ready to tear my hair out. I commute and listen to podcasts all the time. I have not figured out (yet?) the secret sauce so that Spotify stops playing episodes I've already heard/marked as finished. 

For a while, I thought that searching "oldest/newest + unplayed" would do the trick. Nope. I think (?) the app would revert to "All Episodes" and it would thus replay episodes I'd heard. I would skip to the next one. When I would later go back to the app, those skipped (because played) episodes now counted as "unfinished"? I don't know. But while driving, it's a real pain to deal with this.

Next, I decided to manually mark each episode I'd listened as "Finished." Surely that must do the trick. Still nope. Again somehow (don't know how), I'm still hearing episodes I've listened to and marked as "Finished!" Is it because Spotify reverts to showing "oldest/newest"

What is the trick? Someone help me before I go bald...

[Durham_Cleere]

Same issue for me. I even manually mark the episode as finished and once I leave the podcast page and then go back to it, the finished checkmark is gone.

[_o0q07k2j-l1]

Same issue for me on a desktop device (work) and I've logged out and logged back in. No problem on Android app.