Podcast app v. 2.0.1 update released today, but still not working

Question

Several months ago, I purchased two new iOS devices and have not been able to use Podcasts on either device. I spoke with a level 2 Apple tech support specialist over the course of several days trying to resolve the issues and he eventually concluded that the bugs were in the programming and said he would pass the information along to the engineers.
After many months of being unable to use Podcasts, I was excited to see a new update for the Podcast app.  Unfortunately, it appears the major issues plaguing the app have not been addressed.
Is anyone else able to get this app to work reliably?  I try copying/syncing podcasts, and you can watch them copy over and see them displayed in iTunes, but they do not display in the Podcast app on the device.
Can anyone else confirm this behavior? Is there any procedure that will get the app working correctly? I have tried removing all podcasts, as well as removing, redownloading, reinstalling the Podcast app, but so far no good. Is there a third party app that will allow me to play podcasts under iOS 7.0.4?

Answer 1

I have managed to get the Podcast app to work somewhat reliably as follows. Note I haven't tried 2.0.1 yet so I don't know if they broke it further (if that's even possible) -- or perhaps they will buck the current Apple trend and actually fix something.
1. Forget synching with iTunes -- it's completely broken. I subscribe to the podcasts on iTunes but don't download on iTunes. Subscribing on iTunes is useful because it doesn't seem to "lose" episodes the way the Podcast app does, so when the Podcast app loses episodes (discussed below) I can still see them on iTunes so I can retrieve them again.
2. I subscribe to all my podcasts in the Podcast app. I set them to download automatically and keep all unplayed. I leave the sort and play options at the default of Sort Newest On Top and Play Oldest First.
3. I don't use My Stations except for On-The-Go when I want to listen to episodes from different podcasts -- just add each episode to OTG in the order you want to listen to them.
4. If I have multiple episodes of a single podcast I want to listen to, I just open it in My Podcasts and start the oldest one playing and they will play in the proper order.
5. You can stream a podcast on iTunes -- that seems to work, and it may even remember the playback position. When I'm at home I Air Play to my Apple TV from my iPhone.
6. The Podcast app will sometimes discard unplayed downloaded podcasts. Resetting the iPhone usually triggers this but sometimes a simple power off+on will do it as well.  To get them back, you need to open each podcast in My Podcasts and tap the Add Old Episodes. Lo and behold there are the "disappeared" podcasts still marked as unplayed. Just add each one back and it download again.