Does No-One at Apple actually use Apple Podcasts?

I like listening to podcasts.

I listen to Podcasts using the Apple Podcasts app. On an iPhone and on a Mac.

But here’s the problem. Neither of these have a “Stop” (!!!!).

This means that when you pause playback on Mac on Podcast episode 24 and close the app.. And then proceed to play it to the end on the iPhone — when you re-open the Mac Podcasts app a week later?

Guess what’s queued. Yes, it destructively resets my play position to Episode 24 and to a specific time.

So there’s no way I can reliably sync these up between the devices. And that’s the whole point of the Apple ecosystem! It just works. It should just work.

I seriously wonder what is it with this Apple of 2024. Like what’s the deal here? If I could just press Stop on the Mac Podcasts app, then I would not be forcibly overwriting playpositions when reopening the Mac Podcasts app.

Not invented here.