This support article covers download and playback errors for the iOS app. We also have separate articles for the Android app and the web and desktop apps.
Episodes can fail to download or play for a variety of reasons, the majority of which can be fixed by contacting the podcast author.
If an episode fails, tap the Retry icon to view more information about the cause of the error and retry download or playback.
- Episode not available due to an error in the podcast feed. Contact the podcast author.
- Unable to download from the podcast author. Reason: Forbidden. Contact the podcast author.
- Episode not found, the file may have been moved or deleted. Contact the podcast author.
- Download failed, error code [***]. Contact the podcast author.
- Episode not found, the file may have been moved or deleted. Contact the podcast author.
- Your device may not have enough storage to save the episode file. Try clearing out some unused apps or played episodes.
This section covers frequently asked questions about download and playback errors.
Sometimes you might still see episodes that a podcast creator has deleted. This is because Pocket Casts temporarily keeps cached episodes on your device.
- Episodes you haven’t played will stay visible for about 2 weeks after removal.
- Episodes you’ve played or downloaded are kept indefinitely so you can re‑listen later.
If you see duplicates or get errors when playing removed episodes, mark them as played and archive them. Then, avoid interacting with those episodes again. They’ll automatically disappear after a couple of weeks once they’re no longer starred, downloaded, or included in your Up Next queue.
