pursuant2019 wrote:
<...> But just in the last week it will play my downloaded podcasts one after another. <...> In the past it just played one and stopped. <...>
I searched for answers and found that having the shuttle on was the problem, I turned it off, the problem is still there.
The trick is to have shuffle turned on. It's possible that your search for answers revealed an answer by me on this topic from several years ago, but I can't find it at this time.
By default, Podcasts are set in iTunes to Skip when shuffling, so when using Shuffle on the iPod to play a Podcasts, once that episode finishes, there will be nothing else to play since all the other episodes in the list are set to Skip when shuffling.
The things to check and/or confirm therefore, are:
- are the episodes that you consider to be Podcasts actually Podcasts? (Content creators are quick to label anything and everything a "podcast", but that doesn't mean that it is.) To be a Podcast, it has to be downloaded into your iTunes Library "as a Podcast", by using iTunes' Podcast directory. That will cause the media (the episodes) to be added to the Podcasts section of your iTunes Library, and for iTunes to label the episodes with a media type of Podcasts as well as each episode being marked as Skip when shuffling.
- so if the "podcasts" appear in the Music section of your iTunes Library, they are not Podcasts
- if an episode is in the Podcasts section of your Library, is it set to Skip when shuffling? (see below for details to find this option)
You can confirm whether something is a Podcast by checking its details as follows:
- you should be in the Podcasts section of your iTunes Library
- select a episode and click the Edit option on the menu (on iTunes top bar). The option you're looking for on that menu is Podcast Info*
- after selecting Podcast Info, a panel opens up showing the Details tab for that chosen item. Choose the Options tab instead
- on the Options tab you will see the field (use the screenshot below as your guide):
- media kind and this should state Podcast
- playback > Skip when shuffling
* Note that when you select the Edit option for a song, which will be in the "Songs section" of your library, the option will state Song Info, not Podcast Info.
