There has been a persistent bug in the Apple Podcasts app for months that makes the Downloads tab unreliable and cluttered.
When I download an episode, listen to it, and then delete the download, the show’s artwork often remains visible in the Downloads tab, with a label saying an episode is downloaded. But when I tap on it, there is nothing there. No episode, no file. Just a ghost entry that cannot be removed.
This happens with at least half of the shows I listen to. There is no way to get rid of these phantom entries. They just stay there, making the Downloads tab messy and misleading.
For users who actively manage their downloads and like to keep things tidy, this is genuinely frustrating. The Downloads tab should reflect reality: what is actually on my device, nothing more.
Please fix this. It has been broken for far too long.