I listen to a lot of podcasts on my iPhone – when I’m doing housework, weeding, walking the dog. Something that has annoyed me is that when a podcast ends the next doesn’t automatically start playing in the same way that music tracks do. This is particularly irritating when listening to a series of short podcasts such as the Today programme on BBC Radio 4 where each item is only five to ten minutes long. Every ten minutes, gardening gloves off, iPhone out of pocket, choose next podcast, iPhone back in pocket, gloves back on.
To get around this I have been creating an On-The-Go playlist. Which is fine so long as you remember to do it. The number of times I’ve set off for a walk with the dog and realised I’ve forgotten to create a playlist of podcasts. Poor dog – he’s desperate for a pee and I’m fiddling with my iPhone!
However, no more. I noticed yesterday the podcasts were playing through continuously. I can only assume this was part of the 2.1 software update. Goodness knows why it wasn’t like this at the start but I’m very grateful it’s fixed now.
September 16, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Different Strokes…. I just noticed this yesterday on my drive to work and it’s the one feature I can’t stand. I drive for over 2 hours daily. With the continuous playback the next one in the list starts, marking it ‘not new’ immediately. This makes the numerous podcast I listen to more difficult to manage. I liked that it stopped after playing so I could choose the next thing to listen to based upon the amount of time I have left in the car.
September 16, 2008 at 1:43 pm
It would be handy if you could turn it on or off but I don’t see anything in the preferences in iTunes or the settings on the iPhone.
November 15, 2008 at 1:52 am
I completely agree with Jonathan. I upgraded to v2.1 recently and this is the worst new “feature” ever. Searching google madly for a solution but to no avail so far.
November 15, 2008 at 10:05 pm
I also find this to be an annoying new “feature”. It also screws up the “New” and “Not New” tags on the podcast if I get stuck listening to the first 10 seconds of a podcast I hadn’t intended to listen to. I hope this changes with the 2.2 firmware upgrade!!
February 12, 2009 at 8:32 pm
I find it really frustrating when they automatically start the next podcast when the pervious one has finished. I don’t usually want to listen to the next one in the list!