This week, Apple unleashed iOS 9, the latest version of the operating system that runs all of the company’s iPhones, iPads and iPod Touches, onto the general public. After applying the latest iOS update and rebooting their devices, many users came to find that Podcasts, Apple’s proprietary podcast app for iOS, was no longer working.
A thread started by user jplang56 on the Apple Support Communities forum about this problem has racked up 58 replies so far. Most of the responses are from other iOS users expressing their own frustrations with the now-broken Podcasts app.
I’ve tried the app on my iPhone 6 Plus as well as my iPad Mini Retina and it worked fine for me on both devices. But I don’t use Podcasts as my main podcast consumption app, so I don’t have very large podcast libraries inside the Podcasts app. Being subscribed to a lot of different shows may be a factor in this issue, as many users are reporting that they’re receiving an “Updating Library” message just before the app shuts down.
No one from Apple has yet to chime in on this problem. If you’ve been affected, try some of the solutions users have posted in the support thread linked above. Presumably, Apple will address this issue with the next iOS update.
If you’re looking for an alternative to the Podcasts app, I highly recommend Downcast. I’ve used it for a couple years on iOS and my iMac and it’s been a good experience so far. Downcast has also survived the transition to iOS 9 with no known issues.