Topic: DF Direct podcast on Apple Podcasts does not play when offline

Salutations foundry folk from the digital realm exclamation point

I am having an issue with the DF Direct podcast on the Apple Podcasts app on iOS since the Acast integration was added. Typically I listen to the podcast on my train commute, which has periodic loss of cell signal due to tunnels etc. Due to this, I usually download the podcast while online so it is available during my commute.

However, if I try to start playing the podcast when I am offline, I get an error saying that I need an internet connection. If I am playing the podcast and then I go offline, the podcast will stop playing at random intervals, which appears to be when the podcast is attempting to download an ad from Acast.

It does not matter if I download just the audio, or both the audio and video. This did not happen at all before the Acast integration. Also, I listen to other podcasts that integrate with Acast such as Hardware Unboxed and that plays fine (though it is audio only and appears to have the ads “baked in” to the podcast download).

I suppose I could try another podcast platform but I’d rather not since i have several others I listen to in the iOS app.

I do understand that this could be an Acast limitation, but as mentioned, other (audio only) podcasts that use Acast work fine when downloaded and played offline.

Could someone look into this please? Thanks!

Let me take this up with Acast! I suspect it's because we've moved to support Apple video podcasts.

Well, the answer was pretty quick and it is because we support the video format and they don't intend to fix it. This is a tricky one because we had so much demand to move to the video podcast format because of the amount of visual content in the show, so we can't really go back now.

We can only recommend using another system like Spotify unfortunately, really sorry about that. Alternatively, the DF Supporter Program has an ad-free private RSS feed and you'll get the show 1-2 days earlier.

Thanks so much for the help Rich! Rather unfortunate side-effect about the switch the video, but I do agree with your choice to add video to the podcast. I’ll find a way to work around it. 👍