Once you’re done with episode housekeeping, it’s recommended that you look at both the overall automatic download settings of the Podcasts app as well as the automatic download preferences that may be set per show you follow. That way, you won’t have to deal with unwarranted podcast file occupancy on your iPhone in the future. Follow these steps first:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Scroll down and select Podcasts.
- Under the Automatic Downloads section, tap Automatically Download.
- Select your preferred setting.
If you normally listen to podcasts while connected to Wi-Fi, there’s really no need to download and keep podcast files, so you can select “Off.” Otherwise, pick an option that gives you enough downloaded content to keep listening to episodes while you’re out in public, where internet connectivity might be unreliable or streaming over mobile data might be expensive.
Once you’ve selected your desired download setting, go back to the Podcasts main settings page and ensure that Allow Over Cellular is switched off. In addition, you can enable the eliminate Played Downloads toggle so that storage space that a finished episode previously occupied is automatically liberated once you’re done listening to the track. If you foresee wanting to download an episode using mobile data, tap Cellular Downloads and select Ask if Over 200 MB or Always Ask.
Now that you’ve properly rigged Apple Podcasts’ general settings, it’s time to check out preferences for each podcast show that you follow.
