Change play order of podcasts #668

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2026-04-24T23:33:33+02:00

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:33:33 +02:00

Originally created by @timosturm on GitHub (Aug 11, 2023).

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

As far as I can tell, there are two types of podcasts:

with independent episodes
with ordered episodes (e.g., https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/revolutions_podcast/)

The default (and as far as I can tell fixed) behavior of audiobookself (web + app) is to play podcasts based on the release date. For the first type this is no problem, but for the second type it does not make sense to begin with the last episode of a podcast. Rather I would like to start at the beginning. The problem here is, that even sorting the episodes by episode does not change what is played when I click "Play" in the web view and in the (android) app. This is also true for "Play next Episode".

Describe the solution you'd like

I would be happy if I could change the behavior to instead play by the order of episode.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Alternatively, I add my podcast as audiobooks instead. This will retain the episodic structure. Also this allows auto-play of the whole podcast instead of having to manually select each episode to play.

Originally created by @timosturm on GitHub (Aug 11, 2023). ### Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. As far as I can tell, there are two types of podcasts: 1. with independent episodes 2. with ordered episodes (e.g., https://thehistoryofrome.typepad.com/revolutions_podcast/) The default (and as far as I can tell fixed) behavior of audiobookself (web + app) is to play podcasts based on the release date. For the first type this is no problem, but for the second type it does not make sense to begin with the last episode of a podcast. Rather I would like to start at the beginning. The problem here is, that even sorting the episodes by episode does not change what is played when I click "Play" in the web view and in the (android) app. This is also true for "Play next Episode". ### Describe the solution you'd like I would be happy if I could change the behavior to instead play by the order of episode. ### Describe alternatives you've considered Alternatively, I add my podcast as audiobooks instead. This will retain the episodic structure. Also this allows auto-play of the whole podcast instead of having to manually select each episode to play.

adam added the enhancement label 2026-04-24 23:33:33 +02:00

adam closed this issue

2026-04-24 23:33:34 +02:00

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:33:34 +02:00

@advplyr commented on GitHub (Aug 11, 2023):

There are several requests open for this already #304 https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/issues/1321 https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/issues/980

We also discuss this every few months in discord and I've gone back and forth on the best way to handle this. If we allow for the sorting position to be saved we would have to store this on the server and keep it in sync. The way that apple does podcasts makes a lot of sense to me so I've been leaning in that direction.

Basically if your podcast is "episodic" then episodes are from newest-to-oldest. If your podcast is "serial" then episodes are oldest-to-newest optionally organized by seasons.

This is a good breakdown on apples podcast types https://help.simplecast.com/en/articles/2715214-the-difference-between-serial-and-episodic-podcasts

This does come with its own challenges though with UI/UX because if we still allow for sorting then this can add confusion.

Happy to discuss this more since I'm still not 100% but I want to close this out since there are several issues open already.

@advplyr commented on GitHub (Aug 11, 2023): There are several requests open for this already #304 https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/issues/1321 https://github.com/advplyr/audiobookshelf/issues/980 We also discuss this every few months in discord and I've gone back and forth on the best way to handle this. If we allow for the sorting position to be saved we would have to store this on the server and keep it in sync. The way that apple does podcasts makes a lot of sense to me so I've been leaning in that direction. Basically if your podcast is "episodic" then episodes are from newest-to-oldest. If your podcast is "serial" then episodes are oldest-to-newest optionally organized by seasons. This is a good breakdown on apples podcast types https://help.simplecast.com/en/articles/2715214-the-difference-between-serial-and-episodic-podcasts This does come with its own challenges though with UI/UX because if we still allow for sorting then this can add confusion. Happy to discuss this more since I'm still not 100% but I want to close this out since there are several issues open already.

adam commented

2026-04-24 23:33:35 +02:00

@jaknz commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2023):

I've just installed audiobookshelf today and I'm loving it! Except that most of the podcasts I follow are serial, and need to be played oldest first. I wanted to put my voice behind this feature request (rather than creating another issue!) as well. It does seem like the simplest option would be to display and play serial-tagged podcasts in oldest-first order, and episodic-tagged podcasts newest first. Podcasts already have this tag, so you wouldn't need to store anything extra in the DB — just change the app's behaviour based on the tag when it's displaying or queuing for playback.

@jaknz commented on GitHub (Aug 21, 2023): I've just installed audiobookshelf today and I'm loving it! Except that most of the podcasts I follow are serial, and need to be played oldest first. I wanted to put my voice behind this feature request (rather than creating another issue!) as well. It does seem like the simplest option would be to display and play serial-tagged podcasts in oldest-first order, and episodic-tagged podcasts newest first. Podcasts already have this tag, so you wouldn't need to store anything extra in the DB — just change the app's behaviour based on the tag when it's displaying or queuing for playback.

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Reference: starred/audiobookshelf-app#668