Download Management and Auto Storage Handling
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Hi everyone,
I’m trying to better understand how download management works in the app, especially around automatically managing storage.
Right now, I have my settings configured to download the latest two episodes of my podcasts, and I have a few questions:
- When a new episode is downloaded, should the app automatically delete the oldest one to keep only the latest two? Or is that something that doesn’t happen today?
- If I stop following or unselect a podcast for new episodes, should previously downloaded episodes be removed automatically? I’m not seeing that behavior.
- What exactly does the “on follow” setting do in terms of downloads and storage?
More broadly, is there a way to fully automate storage management? Ideally, it would be great if the app could:
- Keep only the latest X episodes
- Remove older ones automatically
- Clean up downloads when a podcast is no longer followed
Not sure if this already exists and I’m missing something, or if this could be a feature to consider.
Thanks!
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Great questions – happy to clarify how each of these settings actually works.
1. Does the app auto-delete older episodes when a new one is downloaded?
Not automatically. The “latest X episodes” limit controls how many recent episodes get downloaded when new ones are released – it doesn’t remove older downloads to stay within that count. Older files stick around until you remove them.
2. Does unselecting a podcast remove its existing downloads?
No – removing a podcast from auto-download only stops future episodes from downloading. Episodes already on your device stay put. You can clean these up manually, or use the Clean Up tool in your Downloads screen to remove episodes in bulk by status (played, not played, etc.).
3. What does “On Follow” do?
“On Follow” is a one-time trigger: when you follow a new podcast, the app immediately downloads the latest X episodes from that show. It doesn’t affect ongoing download behavior after that initial follow.
For more automated storage management:
The closest thing to a hands-off setup right now is combining Auto Archive with your download limit. Auto Archive can automatically archive episodes after you’ve played them (or after a set period of inactivity), and archived episodes have their downloaded files removed. You can configure this per-podcast or globally. Details here: How To Automatically Archive Episodes
Hope that helps!
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