Failed to connect to podcast author’s server
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I’m having repeated download failures on multiple podcasts from multiple podcast providers (Sly News, Goalhanger, Exactly Right). The episodes start to download (very slowly) until somewhere between 5-99% downloaded they switched to queued, then fail, stating can’t connect to author’s server (or loop around a few times before failing)
I am on Android, the app is up to date, I have plenty of storage. The error occurs on wifi and mobile (even if I clear the error, switch the connection type and try again immediately). I do not use a vpn, nor an ad blocker. Some episodes will download (from the same podcasts that I can’t get other episodes to download). I’ve run the status checks in the help screen and they are all green ticks. I’ve cleared cache, cleared data, cleared download errors, tried downloading one at a time, no joy. I do not have any settings to restrict mobile data use. It’s like some episodes just will not download. I can listen to them streamed, but it takes a while for them to load and obviously, they don’t appear on my new episode playlist. I’m at a loss of what to try next, other than a different podcast player, but honestly, untill this issue started just a couple of months ago, this was the best player I’d used.
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Hi jedigoat123,
I can imagine how frustrating this must be, especially when you’ve already worked through so many of the usual fixes.
The pattern you’re describing, episodes starting slowly then stalling or failing mid-download across multiple providers, while streaming still works, is worth digging into with your app logs. Logs capture exactly what’s happening at the point of failure and will help us figure out whether this is something on our end or something specific to those episode files.
Could you send us your logs right after triggering one of the failing downloads? The steps to do that are in our guide here: https://support.pocketcasts.com/knowledge-base/collecting-app-logs/
When you send them, it also helps to include:
- The name of a specific episode that failed
- The approximate time you tried downloading it
That way we can zero in on the right part of the logs quickly.
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Thanks for your reply Mike. Typically, after pulling my hair out for weeks, I finally post for help, then partially fix it myself the next day! I won’t waste your time sending logs, as Im pretty sure the issue is at my end, but I will add an update on what I found in case it helps others.
The pocasts that wouldn’t download are The Rest is Politics, The Rest is Polotics US and The Rest is History (all Goalhanger); Trump 100 and Electoral Dysfunction (both Sky News), and This Podcast Will Kill You (Exactly Right).
The issue appeared intermittent, but frequent (and getting moreso). I’ve now worked out my wifi was having a hissy fit (probably about how many devices are connected), and so was failing to download (the podcasts I listed are also my most frequently listened to, so I noticed them missing from my new releases playlist). I was constantly switching between wifi and mobile data, to no effect.
I’ve had a stern word with my broadband router (reset it), and downloads are now occurring normally for the podcasts I listed. However, they will still not download over mobile data. I have a UK sim on the Three network, provided by ID mobile. I’ve since found out that ID mobile have an automatic 18+ filter set which may have been blocking those downloads. I’ve switched that off but it’s still not working. I’ll give it 48 hours and if it doesn’t work I’ll contact their customer services to find out if they have any other filters/blocks. If i find and answer, I’ll post it here in case it helps anyone else.
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Great troubleshooting, and thanks for sharing what you found so far, this is really helpful context for anyone else hitting the same pattern.
On the mobile data piece: carrier-level content filters are a known cause of exactly this kind of intermittent “can’t connect to author’s server” error, since they can silently block requests to specific podcast hosting domains even after the obvious 18+ filter is switched off. Some carriers keep separate filter tiers (e.g. general content filtering vs age verification), so it’s worth asking ID mobile specifically whether all content filters are disabled on your line, not just the age one.
A couple of other things worth trying while you wait on their support team:
- Test with mobile data only, no wifi calling or wifi-assist features active, in case your phone is quietly falling back to wifi mid-download.
- If a specific episode consistently fails, try refreshing that podcast in Pocket Casts first, occasionally an outdated cached episode link can cause similar symptoms alongside the network filtering.
If it turns out to still be a Pocket Casts-side issue once the carrier is ruled out, our Download & Playback Errors guide covers the common error causes and next steps. And if you do want us to dig into logs at any point, you can send them privately via Profile → Help & Feedback → Get in touch → Get Support in the app, that keeps any personal details out of the public thread.
Please do report back once you hear from ID mobile, really useful for others hitting this.
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