Podcast Sorting Bug (or feature?)

[tmurphy2792 27]

When using the podcast functionality, if you sort by release date it initially works fine before you've listened to any episodes, then as soon as you start any given episode, that episode gets thrown out of the sort order to become the newest by release date sort.

I've tested this in multiple clients (Windows app, Chrome, Android) and the behavior is consistent. It also does not appear to be limited to any 1 podcast, experiencing the same behavior with about 4 that I've tested so far. (I'll include a sample below nonetheless)

If I go to said podcast, sort by date ascending (oldest to newest) it will sort fine. Then if I start one of the older episodes (even just for a second or two) and leave and come back or otherwise refresh the sort, said episode will have moved all the way to the bottom as if it's the newest episode. Repeating the process results in the same resort, with the first one I played being the second "newest" (according to sort), and the second one now being the new "newest".

 

I'm not sure if this might be somewhat intentional, because it is kinda nice to have completed episodes sorted out of the way when you're trying to go through chronologically, but for that I can just filter to only unplayed. Or at least I feel it should have a setting for this behavior since it's counterintuitive when you think you're sorting by release date.

Sample podcast:
https://feeds.libsyn.com/65267/rss

[Luke 42079]

hi, does the release date change after playing?

[tmurphy2792 27]

17 minutes ago, Luke said:

hi, does the release date change after playing?

Checking the metadata from the edit metadata screen both before and after playing the release date does not change.

[Luke 42079]

OK something must change. Can you please show a specific example? Thanks.

[tmurphy2792 27]

1 hour ago, Luke said:

OK something must change. Can you please show a specific example? Thanks.

Doing a test sample, the only things that I see change are the following:

• On the media page before playing the runtime is some ridiculously long number of hours, after playing it reflects accurately the number of minutes
• In the metadata the year is not populated (even though the media page shows one) before playing, whereas after playing the year field gets populated in the metadata
• On the android app after playing a new section of "About" appears with Media Info and such

 

Also wanted to correct something I said in a previous post. The episodes that have been played will still sort themselves in the appropriate order, it's just that played vs not do not sort right with each other. So for example I played Episodes 5, 3, 2, and 7 in that order, and they're now floated to the newest episodes in my list, but in proper sequential order with each other, 2, 3, 5, and 7

 

First 4 screenshots are from Emby theater on windows before and after, last one is android emby app showing the new about.

[Luke 42079]

Prior to playing, what you see are the values from the podcast feed. After playing, they get updated with values that are embedded in the  media, so that’s why some of them change.

[Luke 42079]

The latest list is based purely on date added. Or doesn’t have any correlation with the title or episode number.

[tmurphy2792 27]

18 minutes ago, Luke said:

The latest list is based purely on date added. Or doesn’t have any correlation with the title or episode number.

I probably should have emphasized this stronger in my first post, but the date I'm sorting by is "Release Date". Which generally has a pretty strong correlation to Episode number, and in the context of the 4 episodes I mentioned testing has a 100% correlation, hence me pointing it out.

What you're saying only makes sense if the fields being sorted are not the ones I can see in the metadata screen, because neither the Release Date nor the Date Added are changing in the metadata screen from my testing. Nor would I expect the Release Date to change.

[Luke 42079]

OK which screenshot demonstrates the incorrect order? I still don’t quite understand what’s happening.

[tmurphy2792 27]

12 minutes ago, Luke said:

OK which screenshot demonstrates the incorrect order? I still don’t quite understand what’s happening.

Maybe I'm not doing justice describing it, so I'll try to put together a photo slideshow.

For these examples I'll have it set to sort by Release Date Ascending (oldest on top, newest on bottom), and for these examples we'll be focusing on episode 4 since it is one of the oldest episodes.

 

Photo 1: Top of list sorted by Release Date Ascending, before I have played episode 4. The trailer and episode 4 are currently at the top.

 

Photo 2: Top of list sorted by Release Date Ascending after I have played episode 4. Note episode 4 has disappeared.

 

Photo 3: Almost bottom of list where episode 4 is now seated in proper release date order with the other episodes I've listened to. Please note "Legends 38" at the top of this screenshot is truly one of the very newest episodes by release date. But because I haven't listened to it yet, the episodes that I have listened to end up sorted after it.

It's like we end up with two lists sorted by Release date. Unplayed, followed by played.

 

 

 

Hopefully this makes it a little clearer?

If not maybe I can record a video to showcase it sometime.

[tmurphy2792 27]

Hey @LukeI've recorded a video to make this easier to see. Hopefully this helps.

[tmurphy2792 27]

Hey @Lukedid the video help make it clear?

[Luke 42079]

On 10/20/2024 at 12:36 PM, tmurphy2792 said:

Hey @Lukedid the video help make it clear?

HI, yes I see the issue, thanks. We'll get this into a 4.8.x release.