Episode Filters

Pocket Casts features episode filters to help you organize podcast episodes.

Filters are currently only available on the Android and iOS mobile apps. They are not yet available on the web and desktop apps.

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

1. They are from podcasts that you are subscribed to, and
2. They are unarchived.

So, any episodes from podcasts you are not subscribed to, as well as any that have already been archived, will automatically be excluded from filters.

Creating a Filter

To create a filter, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Filters tab.
2. Open the “Create Filter” screen by doing one of the following:
   • On Android, tap the plus “+” icon on the upper-right corner of the Filters screen
   • On iOS, tap “+ New Filter” at the bottom of the Filters screen
3. On the “Create Filter” screen, choose your “Filter by” settings. Except for the “Starred” setting, every other “Filter by” setting has its own screen where you’ll need to click “Update Filter” to save your preferences. You can select any combination from the following filter criteria:
   • 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 filter; podcasts that are checked will be included in the filter, 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 filter
   • 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 “Longer than” and/or “Shorter than” durations
   • 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 – tapping “Starred” will include only Starred episodes in your filter
4. Once you have finished selecting your filtering options, tap Continue.
5. Add finishing touches to your filter by giving it a name and selecting a colour and icon you’d like to associate with it.
6. Tap Save Filter.

Editing a Filter

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

1. Tap the Filters tab.
2. Tap the filter you would like to edit to expand the filter’s details.
3. On the screen that shows the filter’s details, tap the “v” icon to the right of the filter heading:

4. You should now see the filter’s settings below the filter heading:

5. You can swipe left/right to view all the available filter settings.
6. Tap on the filter criteria you wish to modify and edit it according to your preferences.

Viewing a Filter

To view a filter, follow these steps:

1. Tap the Filters tab.
2. Find the filter you’d like to view and tap on it.
3. Any episodes that match the filter’s criteria will be listed.

Using a Filter

There a different ways you can make use of filters.

While viewing a specific filter, you can tap the three-dot menu on the upper-right corner of the screen to view different filter actions:

The different filter actions you can use are as follows:

• Sort By – sorting a filter by podcast name isn’t possible, but you can re-order the episodes in the filter according to the following:
  • Newest to oldest
  • Oldest to newest
  • Shortest to longest
  • Longest to shortest
• Play All – create a new Up Next list with the episodes in the selected filter. After selecting “Play All,” you will be shown a dialog warning you that performing the action will clear your existing Up Next queue. Tap the button on the dialog if you’re sure you wish to proceed, taking special note that changes to your Up Next queue cannot later be reversed. Tap outside of the dialog if you don’t wish your Up Next queue to be replaced.
• Download All – queue episodes in the filter for downloading; bulk downloads are limited to 100 episodes.
• Filter Settings (Android) or Filter Options (iOS) – view and modify the following filter settings:
  • Name
  • Color
  • Icon
  • Auto Download – this is off by default; if toggled on, you’ll have the option of automatically downloading the first 3 (Android only), 5, 10, 20, 40, or 100 episodes in the filter.
  • Siri Shortcuts (iOS only)

• Delete filter (Android only) – deletes a filter

Getting Started With Filters

By default, Pocket Casts displays the following episode filters:

• 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 filters 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 utilising the starred option. So if you have a selection of music episodes that are perfect for your nightly workout, your filter 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 on

Next time you’re ready to kick off your workout, your filter gives you quick access to all of your motivational episodes. Then you can play the whole filter (three dot menu > Play All), play individual episodes, or add episodes to your Up Next queue.

To change the selected filtering options of an existing filter, go into the filter then tap the filter’s name to bring up the options to change or choose from.

Multi-Select Option

You can use multi-select mode with filters. To learn more, please refer to this article: Using Multi-Select.

Deleting a Filter

Deleting a filter is a permanent and irreversible process.

Delete a Filter on the Android App

On the Android app, the steps to delete a filter are:

1. Tap the Filters tab to view a list of your filters.
2. Select the filter you wish to delete.
3. Tap the vertical ellipsis or three-dot icon on the upper-right corner of the screen.
4. Tap “Delete filter.”

Delete a Filter on the iOS App

On the iOS app, you can delete a filter with the following steps:

1. Tap the Filters tab to view a list of your filters.
2. Swipe from right to left on the filter you wish to remove.

Alternatively, you can also do the following:

1. Tap the Filters tab to view a list of your filters.
2. Tap “Edit” on the upper-right corner of the Filters screen.
3. Tap the delete icon to the left of the filter you wish to delete. The delete icon looks like a red circle with a horizontal white line in the center.
4. A red “Delete” button will slide out from the right.
5. Tap the red “Delete” button.

Rearranging Filters

Rearrange Filters on the Android App

On the Android app, you can reorder your filters with these steps:

1. Tap the Filters tab to view a list of your filters.
2. While long-pressing on a filter’s row, drag and drop the filter to your preferred location.

Rearrange Filters on the iOS App

On the iOS app, you can rearrange your filters according to these steps:

1. Tap the Filters tab to view a list of your filters.
2. Tap “Edit” on the upper-right corner of the Filters screen.
3. While long-pressing the three-linehandle on the rightmost portion of a filter’s row, drag and drop the filter to your preferred location.

FAQs

How can I make it so that episodes in the Up Next queue don’t show up in my New Releases filter?

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

Can I create a filter based on the folder a podcast is in?

Filtering by folders is currently not supported.