Keeping up with podcasts can be hard.
There are so many options out there, and each one offers different episodes to listen to.
If you want to save some storage space on your phone or tablet, though, you can group your podcasts into “playlists” that let you listen at your own pace without having to delete individual episodes.
This way, when you’re finished listening to one episode in a playlist, it won’t take up any more space on your device than it needs to.
So if you have multiple podcasts downloaded and want to listen to only certain ones at a time—or if you just want a break from listening altogether—this is how:
Step 1: Open the Podcasts app.
To begin listening to a downloaded podcast playlist, you’ll need to open up your Podcasts app.
To do so, tap the Home button on your phone and then tap on the icon for “Podcasts.”
You can also use voice commands by saying something like “OK Google, open Podcasts” or “Hey Siri, open Podcasts” if you have an iPhone or an iPad with Siri enabled.
Step 2: Tap Storage Optimized Playlists and Download Episodes.
Tap the podcast you want to listen to and download, then tap the episode you want to play. (You can also tap the “Play All” button at the bottom of this screen.)
Once you’ve selected an episode, it’ll start playing right away!
Step 3: Tap the podcast you want to listen to and download.
Next, you’ll download the podcast episode you want to listen to.
Tap the name of a podcast episode in your Downloads list and then tap Download again.
The podcast will begin downloading and saving on your device (be sure to have enough space for it!).
When it’s done downloading, tap the green circle next to the episode name in your Downloads list in order to start playing it—or tap Play All Episodes at once if you’d like to listen from beginning to end without having any downtime between episodes.
Step 4: Tap the episode you want to play.
When you’re ready to listen, tap the podcast’s name in your library.
If you have multiple episodes available, tap the one that has a green dot next to it. (You can also view all episodes for the podcast by tapping More Episodes.)
If you tap an episode but don’t see its artwork appear onscreen, swipe up from your device’s bottom edge (the place where your thumb naturally rests) and then press Back — just like with any other app — or check out our troubleshooting guide for help getting back into a podcast’s interface as quickly as possible!
Step 5: Tap Play to start playing the episode.
Tap the play icon to start playing the episode.
If you’re listening to a podcast series, tap Play All Episodes at the bottom of your screen to begin playing them in order.
Step 6: To listen to an episode offline, tap Download Episode before downloading it.
Once you’ve downloaded an episode, you can listen to it offline.
To download an episode:
- Tap the download icon at the top of your podcast screen (or tap the Cloud icon if you want to download a playlist).
- Tap Download Episode before downloading it.
Step 7: To change how much storage your downloaded episodes occupy on your device, tap Settings, then tap Storage Optimized Playlists and Download Episodes.
- To change how much storage your downloaded episodes occupy on your device, tap Settings, then tap Storage Optimized Playlists and Download Episodes.
- To add more episodes to the playlist, tap Add Playlist at the top of the screen and select an episode you want to add by tapping it.
Step 8: Set a limit for each playlist and episode storage size. Your device will delete episodes as needed if you reach your storage limit.
In the Settings menu, you can set a storage limit for each playlist and episode.
If you reach this limit, episodes will be deleted as needed to keep your system within the limit.
You can also manually delete episodes by long-pressing on an episode in the Now Playing screen or tapping on “Tap for more options” when viewing a list of downloaded shows.
Step 9: Select Automatically Delete Played Episodes to automatically delete episodes once you complete playing them.
If you want to save storage on your device, select the option to delete played episodes automatically.
This feature is only available on some devices.
Step 10: Select Automatically Delete Played Episodes to automatically delete episodes once you complete playing them.
You can also set the app to automatically delete played episodes after a certain amount of time or when your device memory is running low.
If you choose to have the app automatically delete played episodes, make sure to go through your list of downloaded podcasts and remove any that are no longer relevant.
This will prevent unwarranted podcast downloads from taking up space on your device.
Conclusion
We hope you find this tutorial helpful.
If so, please share it with others and leave a comment below.
