Smart Playlists (Formerly Filters)

Pocket Casts features Smart Playlists to help you organize podcast episodes.

You can play episodes from a Smart Playlist individually, add them to Up Next as you would episodes from any other list in the app, or replace your existing Up Next queue with the episodes from a Playlist using the Play All button.

Smart Playlists are only available on the Android and iOS mobile apps, not on the Web player or the desktop apps. They should not be confused with the “New Releases,” “In Progress,” and “Starred” screens or tabs on the Web player and desktop apps.

Episodes can only appear in Smart Playlists if they meet the following criteria:

1. Episodes are from podcasts that you are following (subscribed to)
2. Episodes are not archived

Any episodes from podcasts you are not following (subscribed to), as well as any that have already been archived, will automatically be excluded from Smart Playlists.

If you’re looking for a way to create Playlists, which you can manually add individual episodes to whether you follow the podcast or not, you can reference our documentation on Playlists.

To create a Smart Playlist, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Playlists tab.
2. Tap the plus icon in the upper-right.
3. Give your Smart Playlist a name.
4. Tap on Make into smart playlist.
5. You’ll see a list of criteria that you can use to create rules for your Smart Playlist. Tap on one of the options and adjust the settings to your liking. The following criteria can be used for your Smart Playlist:
   • Podcasts – the default is for “All Podcasts” to be enabled, but you can toggle that off and select just the podcasts you want to include in your Smart Playlist; podcasts that are checked will be included in the playlist, while those that are unchecked will be excluded.
   • Episode Status – the default has all “Unplayed,” “In Progress,” and “Played” statuses checked, but you can uncheck any episode status you don’t want to use.
   • Release Date – the default is “Anytime,” but you can switch it to the following time periods:
     • Last 24 hrs
     • Last 3 days
     • Last week
     • Last 2 weeks
     • Last month
   • Duration — “Filter by duration” is deactivated by default, but you can toggle it on and set the “Longer than” and “Shorter than” duration.
   • Download Status — the default is set to “All,” but you can change it to “Downloaded” or “Not Downloaded”.
   • Media Type — the default is “All,” but you can also choose just “Audio” or “Video”.
   • Starred — you can choose whether to include just starred episodes in your Smart Playlist.
6. Tap Save smart rule.
7. You’ll see a preview of your Smart Playlist.
8. You can tap on Other options to create additional rules for your Smart Playlist.
9. Once you have finished creating your rules, tap Create smart playlist to save it.

To view a Smart Playlist, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Playlists tab.
2. Find the Smart Playlist you’d like to view and tap on it.
3. Any episodes that match the Smart Playlist’s rules will be listed.

If you would like to make changes to an existing Smart Playlist’s settings, you can follow these steps:

1. Tap the Playlists tab.
2. Tap the Playlist you would like to edit.
3. Tap on the Smart rules button.
4. You’ll see a list of available criteria. You can tap on one and modify its associated settings.
5. After adjusting a rule’s settings, tap on Save smart rule.
6. Once you’ve adjusted the rules for your Smart Playlist, you can tap on the X in the upper-left to dismiss the view and return to your Smart Playlist.

You can access options for a Smart Playlist in the mobile app by tapping on the three dot menu ( or ) in the upper-right and tapping Playlist Options. From there you can access the following:

• Change the Playlist’s name.
• Enable Auto Download for the Smart Playlist.
• Delete the Playlist.
• On iOS you can add Siri Shortcuts for the Playlist — Play the top episode, Play all episodes, or Open Playlist.

You can automatically sort episodes in a Smart Playlist by tapping on the three dot menu ( or ) in the upper-right and tap on Sort By. You can then choose to sort using one of the following:

• Newest to oldest
• Oldest to newest
• Shortest to Longest
• Longest to Shortest

By default, Pocket Casts displays the following Smart Playlists:

• New Releases — All unplayed, and unfinished episodes, released in the last 2 weeks.
• In Progress — All unfinished episodes.
• Starred — only Starred episodes are included.

You can then get creative by adding your own Smart Playlists that group podcast episodes according to your weekly activities like driving, workouts (exercise), or nighttime listening.

You can have more granular control over each list by utilizing the starred option. So if you have a selection of music episodes that are perfect for your nightly workout, your Smart Playlist might use the following settings:

• Podcasts — 4 podcasts chosen
• Episodes — Played, In Progress (you’ve already listened to them or started listening to them to know they motivate you)
• Release date — Any Time
• Download status — Downloaded (you keep these episodes on your phone so you don’t need to worry about data costs or network reliability)
• Media type — All
• Starred — is enabled

Next time you’re ready to kick off your workout, your Smart Playlist gives you quick access to all of your motivational episodes. Then you can play the whole Smart Playlist by tapping Play All, play individual episodes, or add episodes to your Up Next queue.

You can use multi-select mode within a Smart Playlist. To learn more, please refer to Using Multi-Select.

On the mobile app, follow these steps to delete a Smart Playlist:

1. Navigate to the Playlists tab.
2. Select the Playlist you wish to delete.
3. Tap three dot menu ( or ) in the upper-right.
4. Tap Playlist Options.
5. Tap Delete Playlist.

You can also delete a Playlist from the Playlist tab by swiping on the Playlist you’d like to delete and tapping the Delete option that appears. You’ll be asked to confirm before the action is completed.

If you have multiple episodes in your Up Next queue and attempt to start playback of a Smart Playlist, you’ll be asked if you’d like to save your existing Up Next queue as a new Playlist or discard your existing queue and replace it with the episodes from the chosen Playlist.

If you choose to save the Up Next queue, it will be saved as a new Playlist with the title “Up Next” followed by the current date.

To reorder playlists in the mobile apps, long press a playlist, and drag it to a different position.

When viewing the list of Playlists on the web or desktop player, each playlist has a drag handle next to it, which can be used to drag and drop, adjusting the order to your liking.

On mobile, the number of episodes added to the Up Next queue is controlled by a setting in Profile > Settings > Auto add to Up Next > Auto Add Limit.

The Smart Playlists feature does not require a paid plan — it is available to all Pocket Casts users, including those with a free account.

Currently, it is not possible to exclude episodes in the Up Next queue from any Smart Playlist.

We do not currently offer a way to include or exclude episodes from a Smart Playlist based on the folder of the associated podcast.

Yes, you can choose what podcasts are included in the New Releases Smart Playlist by editing it.

Alternatively, you could create a new Smart Playlist that you can customize to include episodes based on your preferred criteria.

Smart Playlists for downloaded and starred episodes will only show episodes from podcasts that you are following.

However, you can navigate to Profile > Downloads to view a list of all episodes downloaded to your device or navigate to Profile > Starred to view all episodes that you’ve starred, regardless of whether you are following the associated podcast or not.

The artwork is generated using the top four unique podcasts in the Smart Playlist to create a collage. If there are no available or non-archived episodes, a placeholder image is shown and if the playlist contains fewer than four podcasts, it uses the top podcast instead.

No, it is not possible to add items stored in Files, such as audio and video files, to a Playlist.

Smart Playlists are not currently available in the web player or desktop app. Smart Playlists are only available on the Android and iOS mobile apps.

No, it is not possible to add episodes from shows you don’t follow to a Smart Playlist. Instead, you can create a Manual Playlist which can include a mix of both followed and not followed shows. Please see the guide about Playlists for more information.