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May 1, 2024:
April 26, 2024:
    Is RSS good for the environment? Apple Podcasts and Amazon Music are, according to Earth Notes, particularly bad at polling podcast RSS feeds very often, just in case someone’s published a new episode. (Our own RSS stats also show the size of the problem).
April 19, 2024:
April 16, 2024:
April 11, 2024:
April 8, 2024:
    Apple Podcasts has added transcripts to its macOS app. Transcripts look like this: to get to them, hit the “...” menu button next to any episode, or the player, and choose “View Transcript”. Unlike the iOS app they don’t display in real time and nor can you use them to navigate the show; but they are searchable. Here’s how they work.
April 4, 2024:
    An email you’ve probably already seen: “On April 13, starting at 6:00 am PDT, Apple Podcasts Connect will be unavailable for up to two hours.” (That link will convert the time to where you are.)
April 2, 2024:
April 1, 2024:
March 29, 2024:
March 28, 2024:
March 27, 2024:
March 26, 2024:
    Apple Podcasts has updated its Content Guidelines. The main changes are that the company now requires use of AI to be prominently disclosed in both the audio and the metadata; and AI cannot be used to mislead. (¶1.11 and 1.12) Apple also requires creator-provided transcripts to accurately reflect and correspond to the content (¶5.1).
March 20, 2024:
March 19, 2024:
March 15, 2024:
March 6, 2024:
    iOS 17.4 launches today, and with it, support for podcast transcripts in Apple Podcasts. Apple Podcasts will make its own transcripts for new episodes; or, you can supply your own. It marks the first time that almost every podcast is fully accessible.
March 4, 2024:
March 1, 2024:
February 29, 2024:
February 27, 2024:
    In the Courts #1: There’s been (some) action in the National Association of the Deaf vs SiriusXM two year-old legal case, where SiriusXM has been taken to court for not producing transcripts. The lawyers for the NAD furiously say that SiriusXM didn’t give them any information about its new app (“sandbagging!” “incredibly vague!” “effort to sabotage!”) and asking for a further delay. SiriusXM’s lawyers furiously say that SiriusXM had a new app on Dec 12 which they told the other side about within two months and it does (some) transcripts now, and they allege bad faith on behalf of the NAD’s lawyers (“feigned surprise!” “acting improperly!” “tenuous assertions!”), but also are asking for a further delay. Anyone would think lawyers are paid by the hour. Meanwhile, Apple Podcasts will roll out transcripts for almost 100% of shows within the next few months.
February 21, 2024:
    In France, a charity event called Podcasthon is planned for next month. The idea is to make a special version of your show that highlights a cause or charity; and to co-ordinate its release at the end of March. Last year, 300 podcasts took part; this year, it has the support of Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Spotify. 400 shows have already registered for this year - et vous? (Next year’s Podcasthon will be in English and other languages, too).
February 19, 2024:
February 16, 2024:
February 14, 2024:
    How do you make good podcast artwork? We’ve collated some of the best advice from our newsletters. Notably, Apple Podcasts no longer requires podcast thumbnails to be less than 500Kb.
February 13, 2024:
    Total listens went down by 12% after Apple Podcasts changes in iOS 17. Those changes cost Acast US $7.2mn in a one-off contract revaluation.
February 12, 2024:
    Last month, the company reported that total global downloads for the top 20 publishers were down 19% month-on-month and 24% year-on-year: attributed to the changes in iOS 17 for Apple Podcasts.
February 9, 2024:
    Apple Podcasts is now correctly ingesting supplied WebVTT transcript files from compatible podcast:transcript RSS feeds. The transcripts appear in Apple Podcasts Connect - here’s ours vs theirs. Selecting our transcripts to be used in Apple Podcasts Connect gives an attribution in the Apple Podcasts app (which will publicly launch in a few months). We’ve updated our FAQ.
February 8, 2024:

Transcripts On Apple Podcasts

February 7, 2024:
February 6, 2024:

Transcripts On Apple Podcasts

February 2, 2024:
January 31, 2024:
    Triton Digital has released its US Podcast Report 2023. The free 32 page report says there has been a 12% growth of monthly podcast users in the last two years, and that 55% of podcasts get fewer than 10,000 US downloads per month. Apple Podcasts gets 45% of all episode downloads; Spotify just 15%.
January 30, 2024:
January 29, 2024:
January 26, 2024:
January 24, 2024:
January 23, 2024:
January 22, 2024:
    The Jordan Harbinger Show has four analytics redirects: but how many redirects is too many? John Spurlock has worked up a test feed to see. Apple Podcasts (directly, within the app) doesn’t like 20 or more redirects; Pocket Casts on Android doesn’t like 21 or more - try it in your app and let him know.
January 15, 2024:
    London-based podcast publisher Audioboom has just posted a trading update for Q4/23. Q4’s revenue, at $19mn, was up 37% quarter-on-quarter, and up 5% year-on-year. Downloads for the quarter were only down 0.75% year-on-year, in spite of the auto-download changes in Apple Podcasts.
January 12, 2024:
    Zach Kahn, until recently the PR person for Apple Podcasts but tweeting personally, shares his 2024 Podcasting Wishlist. “Make shorter shows”, he suggests, “trust your gut”, and “let the past die”.
January 10, 2024:
January 8, 2024:
January 2, 2024:
December 22, 2023:
December 21, 2023:
    The effect of iOS 17’s changes in Apple Podcasts could be 30% fewer downloads for your show, according to Libsyn’s Rob Walch, speaking in The Feed. “If shows have over 300 episodes, they could and should expect to see their weekly downloads at the end of November be greater than a 25% drop below where their weekly numbers were in early September.” He adds: “Your audience size did not change. Those numbers? That was extra downloads (from) your back catalog (that) weren't being listened to. It's just right sizing your monthly and weekly downloads to what's more realistic and what's really happening.”
December 13, 2023:
December 12, 2023:
    For consuming podcasts, YouTube has more than twice the users of Apple Podcasts, and almost twice that of Spotify, according to a study of YouTube’s growth as a “power podcast player”, highlighted in a new study from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights.
December 11, 2023:
    Substack now has a video episodes feature. They’ve not called it a video podcasts feature, because the video doesn’t make it to the RSS feed, thus you’ll not be able to watch it in Pocket Casts or Apple Podcasts; and you can only watch in the iOS Substack app.
December 8, 2023:
December 6, 2023:
December 5, 2023:
    Apple Podcasts will announce the 2023 Show of the Year at 8am Eastern today.
December 4, 2023:
November 29, 2023:
November 24, 2023:
    Another Podnews reader, based in the Netherlands and working for one of the largest distributors of podcasts in the country, reports that, comparing August to October, Apple Podcasts downloads are up 4%.
November 22, 2023:
November 14, 2023:
November 8, 2023:
    Total listens dipped in the quarter (Jul/Aug/Sep) by 2.9%. Acast CEO Ross Adams blamed a decrease in listens on changes in download behaviour by Apple Podcasts in iOS 17. But, iOS 17 was only released on Sep 18, and only 16.7% of iPhones had installed it by the end of September, an adoption rate that Cult of Mac calls "a trickle". Too early to blame Cupertino?
November 6, 2023:
November 2, 2023:
    The biggest independent podcast host Buzzsprout released its network stats for October. Year-on-year, Apple Podcasts has increased download share by 3.5%; Spotify by 3.6%; and Google Podcasts increased its share by 0.3%. Total downloads were up 12.6% on the year, though dropped slightly month-on-month.
November 1, 2023:
October 26, 2023:
October 25, 2023:
    We hear that Spotify is testing public comments for podcasts. For select shows, all listener responses from the proprietary Q&A feature will be made available on the show’s episode page on Spotify, as long as they meet Spotify’s content guidelines. Spotify tells Podnews that "Participating creators will continue to have full control over questions and responses — they can publish or unpublish any response, or edit or remove Q&A prompts, through the interact tab of the Spotify for Podcasters dashboard." (By way of comparison, reviews left on Apple Podcasts are not editable by creators.)
October 24, 2023:
October 20, 2023:
October 16, 2023:
    Exclusive: Ausha is launching a Podcast Search Optimisation tool today. The tool monitors and optimises show appearance in podcast app search results, suggests keywords to rank for, and monitors Apple Podcasts and Spotify to measure the effect of any change. It's available in beta for selected customers today, before a full launch later in the year.
October 13, 2023:
October 12, 2023:
October 10, 2023:
October 6, 2023:
    Kagi, a paid-for, ad-free search engine, has a permanent Podcasts tab, we notice. It looks like this; links are to the Apple Podcasts listing for the podcast, not direct to the episode, disappointingly.
October 3, 2023:
    The regulation says it applies to all streaming services that operate in Canada, not those physically based there. We're asking the CRTC what an "online streaming service" is (Apple Podcasts? or Wondery?); and what "operating in" means (employees in Canada? or content available there?). We're also asking what sanctions are liable should a company not register by Nov 28. The CRTC has not responded to a request made over 24 hours ago.
September 27, 2023:
September 22, 2023:
September 19, 2023:
September 7, 2023:
    "Podcasts don't need ads", said Luminary in a criticised, and since-deleted, tweet when it launched. Today, Luminary has partnered with Acast to make six of its exclusive shows available wherever you get your podcasts - monetised by ads. The company will also use Acast+ Access to give access to its paid subscription content in any app: the company also uses Apple Podcasts's paid subscriptions.
September 4, 2023:
August 24, 2023:
August 22, 2023:
    Apple launched enhanced analytics for paid subscriptions; until now, creators had to download spreadsheet data directly. Apple Podcasts also announced more Delegated Delivery partners to allow you to upload premium content directly to Apple Podcasts: Podbean is the first of those to go live today.
August 21, 2023:
    Expect announcements later today from Apple Podcasts about new tools and services for creators.
August 18, 2023:
August 17, 2023:
August 14, 2023:
    Podshape has used artificial intelligence to help recreate social media posts in their latest podcast Out Of The Ordinary. The show is launched today in Apple Podcasts subscriptions, and looks at the story of Brandon Truaxe, a Canadian skincare entrepreneur who suddenly began to start posting some very odd social media messages.
August 10, 2023:
August 7, 2023:
    Two shows were reportedly removed from Apple Podcasts after Russian authorities requested their removal. Что случилось ("What Happened") is published by Медуза, which is an officially banned media organisation in Russia; the podcast was removed for two days by Apple Podcasts for "an issue". Meanwhile, Холод was also removed according to the publishers Holod Media, after a complaint by Russian authorities that it discredited the Russian army. Both shows currently appear to be available in Europe on Apple Podcasts. Podnews is not available in Russia.
July 25, 2023:
    Pocket Casts is adding star ratings to its popular podcast app. The ratings come from a variety of sources including rival app Apple Podcasts, and are treated with a proprietary algorithm: but you won't, yet, be able to add your own rating in the app.
July 18, 2023:
    Data: Podcast durations in France aren't changing, says new data shared by Acast (en Français). The data also shows that, for Acast France, Apple Podcasts has most downloads (38.9%), and drives the most amount of downloads per listener.
July 12, 2023:
July 6, 2023:
July 4, 2023:
June 30, 2023:
    The data also highlights the advantage Spotify gains from having an Android app, with a 42% share of all downloads on Android: 2.5x the market share it gets on Apple. The Apple Podcasts app is not (yet?) available on Android.
June 29, 2023:
June 28, 2023:
    If you can, consider using dynamic audio insertion to tell listeners who use Stitcher to find something else. All Stitcher podcast apps include Stitcher in the user-agent field. Use your power to promote podcast apps wisely - while Apple Podcasts might be the obvious choice for iOS, you might consider recommending AntennaPod, perhaps, for Android; or look at some newer podcast apps you'd really recommend.
June 27, 2023:
    When asked which platform listeners use most often for podcasts, Spotify is #1 with 34%; YouTube #2 with 24% and Apple Podcasts #3 with 11%. (Apple Podcasts isn't on Android; Kantar says Android has a 51.6% share in Australia).
June 22, 2023:
June 21, 2023:
June 19, 2023:
June 7, 2023:
    N'Jeri Eaton has been hired by Wondery as head of co-productions for limited series. She had worked at Apple Podcasts and most recently was Head of Podcasts at Netflix.
June 6, 2023:
June 5, 2023:
May 24, 2023:
May 22, 2023:
    Writing a clever bit of redirection magic for your new RSS podcast feed? Apple Podcasts requires a valid file extension in the enclosure URL for your show to be correctly ingested, even if the enclosure URL is actually a redirect. (Ask us how we know!) The Livewire Podcast Validator has been updated.
May 17, 2023:
    A new podcast search experience in Google is being rolled out in the US. Users on mobile who search for generic terms like "kids podcasts" or "news podcasts" now get individual podcast cards, which, when clicked on, include links to players: Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts. The podcast pages also contain recent episode titles (and display on tablets as well as phones). Links to Apple Podcasts appear on Android, too (taking you to the web experience); the new search experience does not contain any podcast links to YouTube.
May 16, 2023:
    The Made by Google podcast returned yesterday (switching hosts from Podigee to Acast). The announcement tells us to "subscribe on Google Podcasts (of course), Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts". The newest podcast platform made by Google is, of course, YouTube, but this podcast from Google hasn't been uploaded there.
May 9, 2023:
    Podcast Bestie, the Podcast this time around features Lauren Passell - talking to host Courtney Kocak about finding podcast friends to collaborate with, and how to land a coveted Apple Podcasts feature.
May 8, 2023:
May 4, 2023:
    Apple Podcasts has removed episode numbers from the title of many shows. While they used to show on iOS 16.3, iOS 16.4 no longer shows episode numbers for any show marked as "episodic" (the default). You can still see episode numbers when clicking through from the episode list; here's more information on serial vs episodic.
May 2, 2023:
April 26, 2023:
    The data says that Apple Podcasts is the #1 app, with Spotify in second place and Deezer at #3.
April 25, 2023:
    JAR Audio shares how to measure the ROI of a branded podcast. Highlighting the benefit of time spent listening, the company says "audiences have spent hundreds of hours with Staffbase via the podcast on Apple Podcasts alone".
April 24, 2023:
    Spotify is the most popular platform in the country (by reach), with BBC Sounds, YouTube, and then Apple Podcasts also in the top platforms.
April 17, 2023:
April 14, 2023:
April 12, 2023:
    Baby Shark do do de doo de doo… Baby Shark do do de doo de doo… Baby Shark do do de doo de doo… Baby Shark has launched exclusive shows on Apple Podcasts. Owners Pinkfong have launched a set of shows in English and Korean; it's the latest in exclusive premium content on Apple's platform, de doo de doo.
April 5, 2023:
April 4, 2023:
    Buzzsprout's statistics for March show a drop in downloads from Apple Podcasts and a growth in listens via Spotify, which had its best figures since Dec 2021. We should see a significant increase in Apple's figures for April, as the new version of iOS rolls out.
March 31, 2023:
    Libsyn has mailed its hosting customers announcing Apple Podcasts subscriptions, YouTube stats and an episode tracking tool, as well as stats exports.
March 30, 2023:
March 29, 2023:
March 23, 2023:
March 20, 2023:
March 17, 2023:

Private Eye promotes its Page 94 podcast in a not-so-subtle way on the magazine's subscriber packaging - notably, using the Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Google Podcasts icons.

March 13, 2023:
    Data: Exclusive: Who's biggest? Spotify is biggest for total listeners to podcasts, but Apple is biggest for downloads, according to new US data from Podtrac. The company also reveals that Spotify has the lowest number of episode requests per listener, at just three: Apple Podcasts users download more than nine times as many.
March 7, 2023:
    Following the release of its first original podcast, UNBOXED, Evangeline Robinson joins Listen as the company's Marketing Manager. She spent the last year at Novel and was at Apple Podcasts before that.
February 23, 2023:
    Serial appears to have new artwork, and is now a podcast archive of shows from Serial Productions. Serial itself is no longer available on Apple Podcasts except within this 68-episode feed, which also contains a number of other shows. Serial still has its own RSS feed (with its logo) if you know where to look; but that's not listed in podcast apps any more. Curious!
February 22, 2023:
February 21, 2023:
February 20, 2023:
February 17, 2023:
    The next version of iOS and macOS will include a few changes to Apple Podcasts. A list of channels will appear within your library; there are improvements with the Up Next queue; and CarPlay improvements.
February 6, 2023:
February 3, 2023:
    Data: How many podcasts have trailers in their feeds? Podnews looked at 362,324 podcasts feeds in our sample over the last three months: just 50,096 of them (14%) have a trailer marked in their feed. Trailers are given special promotion within many podcast apps, and can be an ideal way to help potential listeners understand what your show is about. Here's some advice from Apple Podcasts and from Pacific Content: your podcast host has a special setting for one.
January 31, 2023:
    How do you get featured on Apple Podcasts? Isabeth, who works on Apple Podcasts as an Editor, shows us how to do it.
January 30, 2023:
January 26, 2023:
January 25, 2023:
January 24, 2023:
January 19, 2023:
January 18, 2023:
    In April 2018, Google started showing individual podcast episodes and play buttons in Google Search, which opened a Google Podcasts branded player. Now, a Google search for a podcast no longer shows any play buttons linking to the service, or any links to Google Podcasts itself. A search for "history podcasts" lists a number of shows, but links to reviews, Apple Podcasts pages and other platforms.
January 17, 2023:
    Total downloads are one thing, but what podcast categories are listened-to longest? Apple Podcasts data supplied to Podnews tells us the top five categories with the longest overall global listen time, are: (1) Society and Culture, (2) Comedy, (3) News, (4) True Crime, and (5) Health and Fitness. That data is for December, but is much the same for the last half of the year, with Health and Fitness occasionally making it to #4.
January 16, 2023:
    Australia's Shameless has launched a subscription channel on Apple Podcasts, called Shamemore. "Shameless is known for unpacking celebrity controversies, including scandals that have rocked the public, shaken up popular culture, and changed the way we think such as as the Jen, Brad and Angelina love triangle. Now Shamemore subscribers will receive ad-free listening across all episodes, early binge drops for the SCANDAL series, and monthly bonus episodes."
January 13, 2023:
    46% of podcast listeners say they prefer listening to podcasts with video, according to a Morning Consult survey. Among the reasons why: "to see facial expressions and reactions from the hosts and guests", and "to better focus on the podcast". The same survey unsurprisingly puts YouTube as the most preferred podcast platform among podcast listeners; Spotify, Apple Podcasts and then Pandora.
January 11, 2023:
January 10, 2023:
    Later today, Apple Podcasts will announce the launch of Delegated Delivery (beta), allowing creators to publish Apple Podcasts Subscriptions content directly from their participating hosting provider dashboard. Blubrry, Libsyn, Triton Digital's Omny Studio and RSS·com are the first to offer the service: Acast, ART19, Buzzsprout and other providers will follow. Creators can still upload subscriber audio directly to Apple Podcasts Connect.
January 6, 2023:
January 2, 2023:
December 30, 2022:
    Exclusive: 911 Podcasts is to move into unscripted audio series. The new podcast Unscripted with Adam Murciano will dive into the careers of the actors who have performed on the company's podcasts, and learn what it takes to make it as a voice actor. It launches on Monday, with early access on the company's Apple Podcasts channel.
December 29, 2022:
December 26, 2022:
    If your New Year's Resolution is to support independent journalism, you could subscribe to our ad-free podcast feed in Apple Podcasts. It'll give you our daily and weekly podcast ad-free, and a warm feeling inside knowing that 30% of the money goes to Tim Apple 70% of the money helps support this newsletter.
December 22, 2022:
December 21, 2022:
December 20, 2022:
    Season two of The Midnight Miracle has just started. The show is hosted by Dave Chappelle, yasiin bey, and Talib Kwei. The first episode – “A Magnificent Day for an Exorcism”– is available now on the Luminary channel on Apple Podcasts and on Luminary.
December 15, 2022:
December 14, 2022:
    A small but important UX change in Apple Podcasts comes with the release of iOS 16.2 and iPadOS 16.2 this week: the "+" button is now clearly marked "+ Follow".
December 9, 2022:
December 5, 2022:
    Buzzsprout has posted its network statistics for November. The only regularly released IAB-compliant numbers, the numbers show a slight drop for Apple Podcasts (now 38.2% of all downloads), and a smaller rise for Spotify (up to 26.6%). Google Podcasts is the third largest podcast app, with 2.7% of all downloads.
December 2, 2022:
December 1, 2022:
    Apple Podcasts is beginning to release "Shows We Loved 2022" in various regions, which includes the "top followed" and "top new" shows. You'll see the full list in the Apple Podcasts app in each region: we hope to be able to carry a full set of lists next week. In the meantime, here's the full list from Australia.
November 30, 2022:
November 21, 2022:
November 18, 2022:
November 16, 2022:
    The service only works for shows hosted with Anchor, for playback within Spotify. Open video podcasts using RSS work across many other platforms including Apple Podcasts; Podnews analysis of the Podcast Index suggests there are now 53,952 video podcast shows on RSS, up 38% year-on-year.
November 15, 2022:
November 8, 2022:
November 7, 2022:
October 31, 2022:
October 28, 2022:
October 25, 2022:
October 7, 2022:
October 4, 2022:
    Apple Podcasts is still in the lead in Australia, according to new data from the Australian Podcast Ranker, revealed at Podcast Day 24. Apple accounts for 46% of all downloads for shows in the ranker, according to the data; Spotify for 19%. The data covers over 750 million downloads for the year ending June 2022.
October 3, 2022:
    In the UK, October's Pod Bible magazine was released inside some copies of The Sunday Times, and is available to read online. It features interviews with cover star Brett Goldstein from Films To Be Buried With and Jolyon Rubenstein from The New Conspiracist. There’s also Helen Bauer picking her top 5 shows, and regular columns from Acast, Audible, Stak and Apple Podcasts. We like page 27.
September 23, 2022:
    Wonder Media Network announced its new subscription service through Apple Podcasts. When you sign up for WMN Politics+, you’ll get bonus content from shows like Majority 54 and early access to new podcasts like Teaching Texas, as well as ad-free shows.
September 19, 2022:
    Apple Podcasts wants a website link for your podcast. In an email, the company has reiterated that your podcast should have a link to its homepage in the <link> tag (which you normally set with your podcast hosting company's dashboard). Apple suggest it is an EU legal requirement that your website contains a legal address, telephone number and email.
September 9, 2022:
September 8, 2022:
September 7, 2022:
September 5, 2022:
    The Dateline NBC Apple Podcasts Subscription is the fastest-growing subscription to launch on Apple Podcasts ever, we're told; the show itself jumped from #15 to #2 in Apple's Top Shows trending chart.
August 29, 2022:
    One of the biggest podcasts in the US and Canada, Dateline NBC, is to launch a new premium subscription on Apple Podcasts with exclusive content for true-crime fans. Premium listeners will get shows before anyone else, as well as ad-free content. Dateline's 31st season premieres on NBC Friday Sep 16.
August 24, 2022:
August 23, 2022:
August 19, 2022:
    To promote its paid subscriptions, Apple Podcasts has launched two new 'charts'. One displays the "top subscriber shows", and the other "top subscriber channels". Both charts are visible only in the UK, US, Canada and Australia. For interest, here's Australia's top subscriber channels and shows.
August 17, 2022:
August 16, 2022:
August 9, 2022:
August 8, 2022:
July 29, 2022:
July 21, 2022:
July 7, 2022:
July 6, 2022:
    Buzzsprout's data for June shows a small drop for consumption share via Apple Podcasts: down from 40.7% to 39.4%. Spotify has increased by a percentage point to 26.4%.
June 28, 2022:
    The number of open video podcasts are on the rise. In November last year, Podcast Index listed 39,194 video podcasts. As of June this year, Podnews can reveal the number had grown by over a quarter to 50,863. We measured these by looking for enclosure files with the extension mov, mp4 or m4v, the three filetypes Apple Podcasts supports. Apple has recently put video podcasts in the spotlight again; Spotify launched its own proprietary video podcasts tool in April (which we can't measure).
June 24, 2022:
    A little tweak to the Apple Podcasts page about video podcasts: "Apple Podcasts supports up to 4K video but 1080p is recommended to provide a high-quality viewing experience without requiring significant device storage or data."
June 16, 2022:
June 15, 2022:
June 7, 2022:
    Buzzsprout's global stats don't include AppleCoreMedia, under-estimating downloads from Apple Podcasts. On the other hand, Libsyn's stats wrongly attribute all traffic to AppleCoreMedia as Apple Podcasts.
June 6, 2022:
    The only global statistics produced to the IAB standard, Buzzsprout's download stats suggest that Apple Podcasts is still growing. Apple had 40.7% of all downloads in May, vs Spotify's 25.3% (and Google Podcasts's 2.5%). Separate data from other sources suggest that Spotify reaches more people, though.
June 3, 2022:
May 25, 2022:
May 23, 2022:
May 20, 2022:
    YouTube is now the most popular podcast app in the US, according to new data from Signal Hill Insights. The data suggests that listeners prefer podcasts with video. The question was "Which of the following places do you use the most to access the podcasts you listen to"; YouTube got 24.2%, Spotify 23.8%, and Apple Podcasts got 16% (despite being unavailable on Android).
May 17, 2022:
    Selling paid subscriptions through Apple Podcasts? Until now, you've had to upload that audio separately to Apple; but Apple Podcasts Delegated Delivery was announced yesterday, allowing creators to upload and manage that audio through selected podcast hosting companies when this feature launches in Q3.
May 13, 2022:
May 11, 2022:
May 10, 2022:
    Spotify has published its Swedish Podcast Report 2022. 54% of Swedish people from 18-79 listen to podcasts regularly; 60% say they listen on Spotify; SR Play is #2, and Apple Podcasts is #3.
May 4, 2022:
May 3, 2022:
April 28, 2022:
    Are you selling access to your show? The free ride for Spotify’s paid podcast subscription service is coming to an end. In Spotify’s earnings call yesterday, Daniel Ek said that from 2023, the company will take a 5% cut (plus payment costs). Apple Podcasts takes 30% (including them).
April 27, 2022:
    Coming soon, Apple Podcasts paid subscribers will be able to buy a year's subscription up front. If you're a creator monetising through Apple Podcasts, you can add an annual plan now.
April 26, 2022:
April 22, 2022:
    Many podcasts are available in a separate video format, like the New Media Show (video) in a different feed from the audio version of the New Media Show. Unlike Spotify's solution, they work everywhere else: Apple Podcasts, PocketCasts, and many others.
April 21, 2022:
    Spotify is the clear leader for "apps and websites used to listen to podcasts" - in terms of people, with 41% of respondents claiming to use it. BBC Sounds and YouTube are #2 and #3, with Apple Podcasts at #4 with 23%.
April 19, 2022:
    First look: TED Audio Collective has signed with Supercast to offer paid subscriptions for TED Talks Daily. TED members will be able to enjoy a premium ad-free version of TED Talks Daily, plus all of the existing perks they get with TED membership, like exclusive programming, social events, and more. Supercast works in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and many other apps.
April 18, 2022:
April 12, 2022:
April 11, 2022:
April 5, 2022:
April 1, 2022:
March 28, 2022:
    Want to get your podcast heard in China? You can on the Xiaoyuzhou FM app ("Small Universe" in English). Aladin Farré says "you need to register with a phone number on their app, then register your RSS feed on their website. You'll need to be able to read Chinese (or use Google Translate or similar); and some episodes may be deleted. (Apple Podcasts appears to only allow-list some Chinese publishers in the country).
March 23, 2022:
March 22, 2022:
March 17, 2022:
March 15, 2022:
    Apple has released an update to Apple Podcasts as part of iOS 15.4, iPadOS 15.4 and macOS 12.3, which were all released today. Listeners can now browse by season on show pages, and you can now filter episodes - played, unplayed, downloaded, or saved - from show pages too.
March 14, 2022:
March 8, 2022:
    Majelan, a French premium podcast studio, has launched a number of paid subscription channels on Apple Podcasts. The company had pivoted away from podcasting to a 'personal fulfilment app' in 2020, but the company seems to have grasped podcasting once more. "With Apple Podcasts, we are making majelan’s diverse collection of high quality podcasts easily accessible to millions of listeners. This is a major move for French audio production that Apple and majelan are making by combining our strengths," said Mathieu Gallet, co-founder and president of majelan; while Susie Warhurst, Head of International at Apple Podcasts, welcomed "some of the highest quality and most creative French-language podcasts available, spanning a variety of genres, from personal development and education to kids and culture."
March 4, 2022:
March 3, 2022:
March 1, 2022:
February 17, 2022:
February 16, 2022:
    New controls are coming to the Apple Podcasts app. According to users with the iOS 15.4 beta, you can filter episodes based on played, unplayed, downloaded or saved. You can also now browse by season. As with any features in beta, they might disappear before release.
February 11, 2022:
February 2, 2022:
    Buzzsprout's global stats for January, calculated to the IAB standard, show the company hit 100 million monthly downloads for the first time. Apple Podcasts continues to increase, with a reported 37.2% share of all downloads; Spotify decreased to 28%. (Their stats don't include AppleCoreMedia plays).
February 1, 2022:
January 28, 2022:
    Facebook is a dying breed and you shouldn't focus on it for your podcast, says Hala Taha from the YAP Media Network; Twitter is not the place to promote your podcast either, and audiograms don't work. Speaking to the Podland podcast, she says she recommends looking into LinkedIn instead; and never to just promote Apple Podcasts.
January 25, 2022:
    The Roxane Gay Agenda launches today on Luminary; 'the bad feminist podcast of your dreams—compelling conversations curated in the way only Roxane Gay can'. New episodes will be available ad-free one week early on the Luminary app and the Luminary channel in Apple Podcasts. She's previously presented Hear to Slay on Luminary. - read more
January 21, 2022:
January 19, 2022:
January 17, 2022:
    Apple Podcasts or Spotify don't use Podping. Both platforms check our RSS feed every five minutes or so. Assuming they do that for each of Buzzsprout's 107,045 active podcasts, that is more than 18,090,605 RSS feed requests. Podping would reduce that traffic to just 159,696 requests (one per new episode): saving 99.2% of bandwidth, server time and electricity while offering a better-updated directory for listeners.
January 14, 2022:
January 12, 2022:
January 10, 2022:
    Marvel’s Wastelanders: Black Widow launches today - a 10-episode scripted podcast starring Susan Sarandon as Helen Black. For a week, it's available exclusively on the SXM App and Marvel Podcasts Unlimited on Apple Podcasts; and then it is released more widely via RSS. - read more
January 4, 2022:
    Buzzsprout has published its platform stats for Dec 2021. Compiled using IAB certified data, it shows Apple Podcasts once more well in the lead for episode downloads.
December 31, 2021:
    Meanwhile, Daniel J Lewis's Podcast Industry Insights suggests Apple Podcasts has grown by half that: just 570,000 new shows. There's a big slow-down in June when Anchor stopped automatically adding shows to Apple Podcasts. Only 17,000 new shows have been added in December; 81,900 were added in December 2020.
December 28, 2021:
December 21, 2021:
December 20, 2021:
    Thank you for many boostagrams this week, including Adam Curry saying he was pleased to hear our Editor on the microphone again, Kyrin from the Mere Mortals podcast, and one final boost from Adam Curry, reminding our Editor of his foolish bet of 100,000 sats (almost $50) that Apple Podcasts would release their app on Android this year. C'mon, Cupertino - one final sprint?
December 17, 2021:
    If listeners try to rate a show they haven't listened-to (for at least thirty seconds), they'll be told to listen first. You can rate a show on Apple Podcasts without listening at all.
December 16, 2021:
    An Apple fan writes to Tim Cook about all that is wrong with Apple Music. Tim Cook responds. (Anyone want to do this for Apple Podcasts?)
December 15, 2021:
    Do Anchor podcasters find it too hard to get into Apple Podcasts? The Podcast Index's Dave Jones reports that "726,234 Anchor feeds in the index do not have Apple iTunes IDs". The company stopped auto-submitting podcasts to Apple in June, resulting in a significant slow-down for Apple numbers. (Earlier this year, Buzzsprout told us that only 60% of their shows have bothered submitting to Apple).
December 14, 2021:
    Apple has released iOS and iPadOS 15.2, as well as new versions of watchOS and tvOS. There are new features within Apple Podcasts to help new and long-time listeners.
December 6, 2021:
    88% of all iPhones can use Apple Podcasts Paid Subscriptions, according to the data showing phones running iOS 14.5 and over.
December 2, 2021:
    And Pushkin Industries has also launched a direct podcast subscription program, which will also work in Spotify. Jacob Weisberg, Pushkin co-founder and CEO, acknowledges that they will continue to work closely with Apple Podcasts but adds: “We now want to make sure the same experience is available to listeners on other platforms.” The company will also use Supporting Cast.
December 1, 2021:
November 30, 2021:
    In a few hours, Apple Podcasts will be publishing its "Apple Podcasts Best Of 2021". It'll be awarding a “Best Show of the Year” and a “Newcomer of the Year,” presenting editorially-curated lists for “Shows of the Year” and “Episodes of the Year,” and releasing new charts. There will also be Editors’ Picks and charts for Top New Shows for around 20 international markets. We'll have all the details tomorrow. The company has just announced the winners of the Apple Music Awards.
November 26, 2021:
    First look: The host of indie fiction podcast The Program has given Podnews readers the first look at his growth, marketing and revenue in 2021. A case study like no other, you'll see his download figures, revenue, the effect Apple Podcasts promotion has on his show, the release of a soundtrack album, and his plans for the future. There's something to learn here for every podcaster.
November 24, 2021:
November 22, 2021:
November 19, 2021:
November 15, 2021:
November 10, 2021:
    Journalist and filmmaker Jon Ronson is back with a new show, Things Fell Apart. It features strange, unexpected human stories from the culture wars, and has a strange, unexpected distribution strategy: if you're in the UK, you'll hear it free on BBC Sounds (or on BBC Radio 4, Tuesdays at 9am) . If you're in the US or Canada and using an Apple device, it's available on BBC Podcasts Premium on Apple Podcasts, and if you're on Android or elsewhere, you're out of luck.
November 9, 2021:
    Apple Podcasts has brought back the 'refresh feed' button. While Apple seem confident that new episodes, and other changes in your podcast feed are now seen within 'a few hours' - an update to this page - they've also restored the ability to refresh a feed faster within Apple Podcasts Connect. The feature was removed earlier this year.
November 3, 2021:
November 1, 2021:
October 27, 2021:
October 22, 2021:
October 20, 2021:
October 18, 2021:
    Apple has posted a new page explaining how automatic downloads work on Apple Podcasts. The page explains what gets automatically downloaded, when a podcast stops being auto-downloaded, how Apple Watch works, and cautions that automatic downloads may lead to an incomplete view of listener behaviour (in third-party analytics, we guess), recommending Apple's own analytics.
October 13, 2021:
October 12, 2021:
    Exclusive: Spotify is closing in on Apple Podcasts and indie podcast apps are becoming less popular, according to new data released to Podnews by Podtrac today. Calculated from over a billion US podcast downloads in September, for monthly audience, Spotify is now less than three percentage points away from Apple. But, for monthly streams/downloads, Apple is more than seven times larger - and that number's growing.
October 11, 2021:
    Good Apple: Now that recent versions of Apple Podcasts use one central RSS scraper, instead of every single phone calling on RSS feeds every time, this has resulted in significant bandwidth savings for podcast hosts. Compare: Friday May 7 (2,947 hits) with Friday Oct 8 (just 216 from the scraper; a further 395 from old iPhones).
October 8, 2021:
    Exclusive: A look at the podcast market in Latvia. Andrejs Siliņš tells us that Apple Podcasts is the #4 platform, with just 10% of Latvians saying they use it. Spotify is more than three times as popular; but there's a bigger platform still.
October 7, 2021:
    Formerly a Luminary exclusive, Wisdom from the Top is now a podcast co-branded by NPR, and available across 'most' podcast platforms. Paid subscribers to Luminary (in their app or in Apple Podcasts) will hear the show a week early.
October 6, 2021:
    Want to reach 13-23 year-olds with your podcast? You'll be wanting to promote Spotify, not Apple Podcasts. A Gen-Z survey published by Transistor (and compiled by a Gen-Z'er) shows that Spotify is almost three times more popular than Apple Podcasts - which, in the long run, could "have detrimental effects on both the creators and listeners using Spotify".
October 5, 2021:
October 1, 2021:
    The Podnews Ranker, keeping tabs of companies and people we mention in our news, shows that Apple Podcasts was the company we've written about the most over the past three months.
September 30, 2021:
September 27, 2021:
September 22, 2021:
September 21, 2021:
September 20, 2021:
    iOS 15 is out today at 10.00am in Cupertino CA (so, 6pm London; 7pm Berlin; 3am tomorrow in Sydney). Personalised recommendations are new to Apple Podcasts in this version ("The best podcasts, personalised for you, grouped by topics you care about."). You can also share the podcast you're playing in Apple Podcasts using Siri ("Hey, Siri, send this to Dave") - podcasts that friends have shared with you in Messages will appear in Apple Podcasts in a "Shared With You" section of "Listen Now".
September 16, 2021:
September 10, 2021:
    Transistor has given any customer access to their private podcast feature. The company is beta-testing dynamic pre-rolls, and says it has 16,227 podcasts using their service. (Listen Notes suggests 11,529 are in Apple Podcasts).
September 8, 2021:
    Podtrac reports that iHeartRadio is still #1 for podcasting, according to their US podcast publishers list for August. The average US monthly audience was up 15% from July - a figure affected by Apple Podcasts's download bug - but down 2% year-on-year. Podtrac measures participating publishers only.
September 6, 2021:
    Data: in Germany, the Online Audio Monitor 2021 has been released. 25% of Germans are listening to podcasts at least once a month, a figure that's increased by 26% year-on-year. Spotify is the #1 podcast platform (48.5%), YouTube is #2 (44%), Apple Podcasts is #7 (12.5%), and Google Podcasts is #9 (9.5%). (Thanks, Steffen!)
August 31, 2021:
August 26, 2021:
August 25, 2021:
    On Monday, according to our stats, only 5% of Podnews's downloads by Apple Podcasts were using iOS 14.5.x or below.
August 24, 2021:
    The implementation adds ?t=(seconds) at the end of the URL. YouTube and Spotify use this too, as does Pocket Casts and Podfriend, and it works on Overcast. Google Podcasts works differently; Apple Podcasts doesn't let you do this at all.
August 20, 2021:
    The effects of the Apple Podcasts download bug could be clearer today after the release of new data from Triton Digital. The data allows us to compare overall download numbers from May, which was largely unaffected, with those across July in a number of different territories. Apple's buggy app began to be rolled out from May 24, and was fixed on Jul 31.
August 19, 2021:
August 18, 2021:
    The company also discussed the impact on total listens of the Apple Podcasts downloads bug, which we reported in July; while that bug is now fixed, the bug will also impact Q3 numbers, they said; though it did, however, not impact revenues.
August 17, 2021:
    Good news - cross-platform podcast app Pocket Casts is "scaling back up", the company posts in an update. In a comment perhaps aimed at the buggy Apple Podcasts, they've revealed that the first thing they're working on is "how quickly you get new episodes after a podcast author publishes them". They're also working on app translations; Emmeline Berry is rejoining the team as Content Curator and Podcaster Liaison.
August 16, 2021:
August 13, 2021:
    Did Apple Podcasts cancel their private briefings at Podcast Movement, like we claimed yesterday? Yes: but as part of a travel ban at the company. We're told that the team are still chatting regularly to podcast hosting companies; and have corrected that part of our story yesterday.
August 12, 2021:
    Below - Apple Podcasts: is it still having problems?
August 11, 2021:
    Are there still problems at Apple Podcasts? While nobody wants to put their name to it, Podnews has had a number of large publishers saying that Apple Podcasts occasionally doesn't notice new episodes appearing in podcast feeds - and they sometimes can take up to 72 hours to appear. While iOS 14.7 fixes an auto-download bug, this bug is different. What do you know? Hit reply and let us know.
August 10, 2021:
    Podtrac has highlighted how the Apple Podcasts bug affected US podcast traffic in July - reporting a 31% drop in downloads from the app. The company suggests that traffic during much of August will still be affected. Podtrac also report a significant drop in news podcast downloads since the end of the US election cycle in February 2020.
August 9, 2021:
August 5, 2021:
August 3, 2021:
August 2, 2021:
July 30, 2021:
July 27, 2021:
July 26, 2021:
July 23, 2021:
July 22, 2021:
July 21, 2021:
    The Haunted Estate with CelinaSpookyBoo has teamed up with Studio71 for new episodes, guests and wild stories about not just spooky things but the hauntings of everyday life. It made it to the top 75 of the Apple Podcasts chart.
July 20, 2021:
July 19, 2021:
July 16, 2021:
    The June 2021 US Podcast Report is out from Triton Digital. Stitcher are #1 for a second month, beating NPR (though iH eartRadio isn't measured). Average weekly downloads for the top 10 publishers were up by 5% year-on-year, in spite of an Apple Podcasts auto-download bug and a shift to IAB v2.1. (One investment analyst recently used figures from the competing Podtrac ranker to claim podcasting was in negative growth).
July 15, 2021:
    Analysis: Bernstein quotes Podtrac figures as evidence of this 'slowing market', saying that in June, listening sank 16.5% year-on-year. However, Podtrac don't measure Spotify's podcasts; and it's notable that the top ten publishers in Triton Digital's latest Podcast Report for the US (measuring May vs May) shows an 11.4% growth in downloads. However, a bug in Apple Podcasts may affect total downloads in June.
July 14, 2021:
July 12, 2021:
July 9, 2021:
July 6, 2021:
    The AppleInsider podcast focuses on the Apple Podcasts app this week, with a special guest of Podnews's Editor, James Cridland. There's a full transcript here, including the phrase "I think Apple has done a fantastic job there".
July 5, 2021:
    Apple Podcasts doesn't support MP3 album art in the app, but does support MP3 chapter art. Question: is there any command-line utility to add MP3 chapter art? Hit reply and let us know.
July 2, 2021:
    Seeing lower download numbers from Apple Podcasts? You're not alone: there's an auto-download bug in iOS 14.6, Apple say. Listening is unaffected; it'll be fixed, say Apple, with a software update. Good on them for being open.
July 1, 2021:
    Apple Podcasts has reinstated HTML links in podcast descriptions. The server-side change appears to be live for Podnews, PodClock and for The Feed by Libsyn: it seems to be a recent change with the RSS parser used by the company. HTML links are important for podcasters to allow additional reading, affiliate links, sponsors or support: they broke with the rollout of the new Apple Podcasts infrastructure in late April.
June 29, 2021:
June 22, 2021:
June 21, 2021:
June 18, 2021:
June 17, 2021:
    Lantigua Williams has launched a Spanish show, Mamá Preparada: an Apple Podcasts subscription-only show.
June 16, 2021:
June 15, 2021:
June 10, 2021:
    Apple has set the launch date for Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels as Tuesday, June 15; they link to subscriptions best practices. The launch had been delayed from May. (Podnews will have a channel, but not a subscription offering).
June 9, 2021:
June 8, 2021:
June 4, 2021:
June 3, 2021:
    Of note: we've seen two big launches recently that have glossed over the fact they're not in Apple Podcasts (or have given us links that are just RSS feeds). We've asked: these large publishers had problems with Apple Podcasts Connect. Yikes.
May 31, 2021:
    In an email to podcasters sent late on Friday before a holiday weekend, Apple Podcasts has announced that Apple Podcasts Paid Subscriptions and channels will now launch in June. The company's original announcement had promised a May launch; we understand it is now planned to go live in the coming weeks.
May 28, 2021:
May 26, 2021:

How's Apple Podcasts now? A month after the new Apple Podcasts Connect launched, we hope everything's all fine: but we're curious as to your experiences. For a story on Friday, we'd like to be able to report to our 19,000 podcast industry subscribers that the system responsible for around 40% of all podcast downloads is now working well. If that's not the case with you, please hit 'reply' and tell us what you're seeing when publishing to Apple Podcasts. And don't worry - we'll keep your details private, so you won't jeopardise that New & Noteworthy spot. Thanks.

May 25, 2021:
May 21, 2021:
    Apple Podcasts has launched a new affiliate program for podcast subscriptions. The Apple Services Performance Partner Program now allows people to earn money by linking to (other peoples') paid shows - you earn 50% of the first month's subscription fee.
May 20, 2021:
May 19, 2021:
    Libsyn has released its most popular platforms for April, in The Feed: Apple has 60.01% and Spotify 13.65% of all podcast downloads. Earlier this month, Buzzsprout released its April figures: it reports Spotify and Apple Podcasts both tie at 29.3%.
May 18, 2021:
May 17, 2021:
May 14, 2021:
    We're still seeing reports that Apple Podcasts isn't working correctly: particularly slow to update episodes, and errors that are stopping some publishers from submitting new shows. We'd love to tell you more, but Apple isn't communicating with us - or with you. We guess there's good news in terms of fixing some of the issues: and would love to pass that on.
May 13, 2021:
May 12, 2021:
    CNN is to make a new show, The Handoff, as an Apple Podcasts Subscriptions exclusive when the service launches later this month. Hosted by friends and CNN anchors Chris Cuomo and Don Lemon, it will be a longer chat than their usual 'handoff' between shows normally allows for. It's part of "a subscription to the CNN channel" on Apple Podcasts Subscriptions.
May 10, 2021:
May 7, 2021:
    How long can your episode notes be? Preliminary tests seem to show that PocketCasts, Overcast and Spotify deal with at least 10,000 characters; Google Podcasts (Android) truncates after about 5,000 characters; and we gather that Apple Podcasts currently truncates after about 4,000 characters.
May 6, 2021:
May 5, 2021:
May 4, 2021:
May 3, 2021:
April 30, 2021:
April 29, 2021:
April 28, 2021:
    Apple Podcasts Clustergeddon: Transistor has updated their big list of bugs and problems with the recently-launched upgrade; episodes are missing, many people, like Paul Colligan, have no access to their podcast accounts after seven days. Some podcast publishers who we've spoken to are unable to launch any new podcasts. Apple have yet to give any statement, or even acknowledge the problem, which is unacceptable, says Andrew Clews - "this is people's livelihoods", he says. And Radio INK's Ed Ryan says "When a radio transmitter goes down an engineer will do everything possible to fix it. When Apple’s transmitter goes down they just don’t care."
April 26, 2021:
April 23, 2021:
    Many shows are still missing from the new Apple Podcasts system, but it appears to be gaining stability.
April 22, 2021:
    The launch of the new Apple Podcasts Connect tool has been plagued with bugs and technical issues; and has impacted other apps. We would recommend NOT logging in at this time.
April 21, 2021:
April 20, 2021:
    Potentially related: we are seeing a significant increase in Apple's podcast API not returning the RSS feed URL. This makes it very difficult to use the Apple Podcasts API to power a competing podcast website or app.
April 19, 2021:
    "The ability to submit new shows for review is temporarily unavailable" says Apple Podcasts Connect for us today. This may be related to a big Apple announcement tomorrow, or perhaps it's just broken: the tool is famously unreliable.
April 16, 2021:
    Apple Podcasts on the upcoming iOS 14.5 release will automatically show the release schedule for shows. "Apple’s implementation of this feature seems to be a bit unreliable", says 9to5Mac - it's recognised ours as daily, though.
April 15, 2021:
    Top Podcasts and Top Episodes are worked out differently; we've added their definitions to our comprehensive understanding podcasting stats page, along with details of how the Apple Podcasts charts are worked out.
April 14, 2021:
April 13, 2021:
    A little bit of history: Podcast Machine is a podcast host from 2008, promising "a flash player for your website", and that it's "made for iTunes". But it's a little bit of the present, too - it still hosts more than a thousand podcasts on Apple Podcasts, 31 of which have been updated so far this year.
April 12, 2021:
April 9, 2021:
    The podcast also discusses the company's recent claim that Spotify is now bigger than Apple Podcasts for downloads.
April 2, 2021:
    "Godcasts" are no longer the biggest category in Apple Podcasts. Pacific Content's Dan Misener has produced a detailed look at Apple Podcasts categories, discovering that Education, Society & Culture, and Arts are now the top three, with Religion & Spirituality the fourth biggest. The religion category still produces the most episodes, though.
April 1, 2021:
    In a surprise move from Apple Podcasts, neither "Follow" nor "Subscribe" will be used in iOS 14.6, the next version of the popular mobile phone operating system. The app will, instead, listen to your telephone conversations and monitor your Facebook account to automatically subscribe you to podcasts it thinks you'll like. Every listener will also be automatically subscribed to a new show from U2's Bono.
March 31, 2021:
March 30, 2021:
    Trying to submit a new podcast with Apple? Apple Podcasts Connect has a 'known issue' with validating new RSS feeds. They're working on it, but no timeframe on when it'll be fixed. Hang tight!
March 26, 2021:
    In the Apple Podcasts app in iOS 14.5 beta 5, released earlier this week, some people who have looked carefully at the open iOS beta have noted the Podcasts app now includes "a link to your iCloud information". This, we're told, is typically added to Apple apps that accept payment. There is more discussion in Buzzsprout's Buzzcast this week.
March 24, 2021:
    We just hit 2 million shows in Apple Podcasts, according to Daniel J Lewis's Podcast Industry Insights tool. Overnight, the total number of shows hit 2,004,462. He says that 37.29% are "active" (published at least one episode in the last 90 days).
March 22, 2021:
March 16, 2021:
March 11, 2021:

Correction: Yesterday, we reported an apparent change in Apple Podcasts’ automatic downloads in the next release. In fact, we’d found a known bug in the current beta around auto-downloads, which has already been fixed in a future release. We’ve been told there is no change in automatic download behaviour planned. Resetting an iPod Touch to a clean, anonymous install of iOS 14.5 confirms this - automatic downloads are enabled in the settings app and per podcast by default.

March 10, 2021:
    Playing with the beta, it appears the new Apple Podcasts app will not automatically download new episodes when you follow a new show: bringing it into line with Spotify and Google Podcasts.
March 9, 2021:
March 5, 2021:
    Apple Podcasts is relaxing their 300 episode limit shortly. Listeners using the latest beta versions of the app can browse the latest 2,000 episodes.
March 4, 2021:

Would you recommend us? There are plenty of places to give Podnews an upvote or a good rating - Podchaser, Apple Podcasts, or just your own social media feed. If you'd recommend us, please do so today: we'd really appreciate it.

March 3, 2021:
February 23, 2021:
    Also from Obama's Higher Ground podcast company, a new season of Tell Them, I Am, hosted by Misha Euceph, was announced for Ramadan - promising "a compelling collection of narratives from Muslim voices". The show was previously produced by KPCC: Euceph had said she "doesn't own a single percent of the show", and had railed against KPCC to "give us our shows back". The new season will be on the same Apple Podcasts ID, suggesting that KPCC has reached an agreement.
February 18, 2021:
February 16, 2021:
    For All Mankind: The Official Podcast is a new podcast from Apple, as an accompaniment to the Apple TV+ series For All Mankind. Apple's press release says "available globally on Apple Podcasts and via RSS", which is one way of acknowledging that other platforms exist; however, the show isn't on Spotify.
February 15, 2021:
    The Verge asks "Can anyone moderate podcasts?" - following up on the story that Steve Bannon's War Room podcast is still available on Apple Podcasts. Interviews suggest most podcast apps are trusting Apple to choose what's acceptable and what isn't; and the story claims that podcasting "isn't ready for moderation".
February 12, 2021:
    We had 1,489 downloads yesterday of our podcast. Here's how people listen: Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts and Overcast are our top three podcast apps.
February 9, 2021:
February 4, 2021:
February 2, 2021:
February 1, 2021:
    There were multiple reports that Apple Podcasts's website, including their embedded players, had technical difficulties late Friday night. It's all fine now.
January 21, 2021:
January 20, 2021:
    The most popular way to listen to podcasts in Russia is Apple Podcasts, with Yandex Music occupying the #2 position, according to new research on Russian podcast listening. Google Podcasts is #3, with 8% of listeners, according to an article by Эдуард Царионов.
January 19, 2021:
    “Apple Podcasts Spotlight helps listeners find some of the world’s best shows by shining a light on creators with singular voices,” said Ben Cave, Global Head of Business for Apple Podcasts. “Chelsea Devantez has created a fun, vibrant space with Celebrity Book Club for listeners to gain new perspectives on the celebrities we thought we knew. We are delighted to recognize Chelsea and Celebrity Book Club as our first Spotlight selection and look forward to introducing listeners to creators like Chelsea to listeners each month.”
January 18, 2021:
January 15, 2021:
    Matt Deegan tweets: "New podcast rule: Anyone that tweets excitement over an Apple Podcasts position should also be made to tweet that week's actual download numbers too." 👏
January 13, 2021:
    In case you missed it: when Apple Podcasts gave us a list of the best podcasts in 2020, they told us how the Apple Podcast charts are compiled:
January 11, 2021:
    We put together our own podcast stats which lists the most popular podcast apps used to play our podcast. But which of all the different podcast directories were responsible for each play on Friday? Can you just get away with listing your show on Apple Podcasts and nothing else? Here's the top 6:
January 6, 2021:
    "You can no longer do the lazy thing of just sharing an Apple Podcasts link to your latest episode on your social channels and call it a day", says Evo Terra.
January 4, 2021:
    In May 2018, Apple asked podcasters to switch to a secure RSS feed. "In the future, a secure feed will be required in order to access Podcast Analytics and submit podcasts", they said in an email. 30 months later, according to a recent dump of the Apple Podcasts database Podnews has been analysing, 85% of podcast feeds are now using HTTPS. The main podcast hosts that haven't switched: SoundCloud (38% of all HTTP feeds), and Feedburner (20%).
January 1, 2021:
December 29, 2020:
    The Feed from Libsyn has unveiled the latest data from Libsyn's network, claiming Apple Podcasts was still #1 with 64.5% of all mobile downloads in November. The data relates to mobile downloads only, and the company tells us that these are not based on IAB certified downloads.
December 17, 2020:
December 15, 2020:
December 14, 2020:
December 11, 2020:
December 3, 2020:
December 2, 2020:
December 1, 2020:
    Spotify says there are now 1.9m podcasts in its catalogue (Apple Podcasts lists 1.7m); while streaming data is given for music tracks (especially visible in their poster campaign), no consumption data is given for podcasts.
November 26, 2020:
November 23, 2020:
    Podurama is a free, multiplatform podcast app, which syncs between different devices. We're on it. It appears to use the Apple Podcasts API.
November 20, 2020:
November 19, 2020:
November 18, 2020:
    RadioPublic itself hasn't posted new content to its blog since January 31; and hasn't tweeted since February. Jake Shapiro, who founded both RadioPublic and Podfund, joined Apple Podcasts in early September.
November 17, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts has launched an embeddable podcast player, allowing anyone to embed the audio from any podcast on their own website. We've added it to our list of embeddable podcast players; you can add your podcast's player by visiting your podcast's page on Apple Podcasts on the web, or the Apple Podcasts Marketing Tools website.
November 16, 2020:
    Spotify is taking a bite out of Apple. Buzzsprout has shared the top podcast 'agents' on their platform. Apple Podcasts accounts for just 47% of all plays and downloads, Spotify for 24.4%, and Google Podcasts is third with 2.4%. These are the lowest numbers yet for Apple Podcasts from a podcast host. (Libsyn's data only shows mobile app downloads, and has a higher percentage of US downloads).
November 12, 2020:
    On Monday, the total number of podcasts in Apple Podcasts hit 1.6m, according to MyPodcastReviews. In October, 97,181 podcasts were added, and 13,860 removed, from Apple's directory.
November 9, 2020:
    Spotify, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook have all pulled an episode of the Podbean-hosted Steve Bannon's War Room podcast, after Bannon called for the beheading of Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI director Christopher Wray. Twitter have also permanently suspended Bannon's account. The episode in question is still available via Apple Podcasts and the Podcast Index.
October 30, 2020:
    The second season of Dr Death has hit #1 on Apple Podcasts. This season is about Dr Farid Fata, who subjected over 500 patients to brutal chemo treatments they did not need, just to collect millions from insurance; and it unveils a rotten system that tried to protect him.
October 22, 2020:
    The electric Porsche Taycan now comes with Apple Podcasts. It's the first "full integration" of Apple Podcasts in any vehicle; the Porsche voice assistant will allow you to ask for "popular podcast episodes or shows", and it also includes the Top Charts for navigation. Listening is synched with other Apple devices. We're eagerly awaiting our review unit.
October 20, 2020:
    Apple is still trying to hire an Apple Podcasts Manager for France; this position, first marketed in August, has just popped up again in a job alert email. Pourquoi personne ne veut travailler pour La Grosse Pomme?
October 19, 2020:
October 14, 2020:
    Apple has introduced "HomePod Mini", a small, $99 smart speaker. It will play podcasts, among other things - from Apple Podcasts, not Spotify. "Hey, Siri - play news from Podnews" is probably the best feature.
October 12, 2020:
October 6, 2020:
    Seeing a drop of about 3% of downloads? A reminder that, as of October 1st, Apple Watch downloads from Apple Podcasts are no longer included in IABv2 stats. Here's more from Sounds Profitable, our ad-tech newsletter.
October 1, 2020:
September 30, 2020:
    Bethenny Frankel's podcast officially launched today. Just B has already reached #4 in Apple Podcasts; Frankel is an "entrepreneur and mogul".
September 23, 2020:
September 16, 2020:
    RadioPublic's Jake Shapiro joins Apple Podcasts as Head of Creator Partnerships, in a significant hire for the company. Shapiro co-founded PRX in 2002. New leadership for both RadioPublic and Podfund will be "announced shortly".
September 14, 2020:
    Podcast listeners are listening longer, says Cumulus's Westwood One - who has published its Podcast Download Fall 2020 Report. It's their fourth annual study. Among the findings, Spotify is closing the gap with Apple Podcasts - by total listeners, it's close (22% say they use Apple the most; 20% Spotify). (Also see this data). However, 16% of podcast listeners use the site or app of the podcast itself to listen; and weekly podcast listeners are using more podcast platforms than ever.
September 9, 2020:
    Analysis The downloads data is similar to Libsyn's reported global downloads for July (Apple 68.4%; Spotify 9.1%): but the difference between "downloads" and "audience" is clear - Apple Podcasts might still be bringing in the downloads, but Spotify appears a significant service in terms of increasing podcasting's total audience. This data would explain the discrepancies in some research for platform popularity, which typically measures audience, rather than downloads. (Some audiences may use both apps, of course). We'd expect to see these figures shift significantly as Joe Rogan's audience moves onto Spotify.
September 2, 2020:
    In his podcast, Adam Curry says he's building something called Podcast 2.0. It's a new podcast that outlines an alternative to the Apple Podcasts directory. "I think we've figured out some incentive for developers," he says. He also says he'll be on the first show from Joe Rogan's new studio in Dallas.
August 31, 2020:
August 26, 2020:
August 20, 2020:
August 19, 2020:
    Apple has announced Apple Music radio, which includes a number of on-demand shows from "the world’s top music hosts and artists", and three radio channels: Apple Music Hits and Apple Music Country, with the original Beats 1 station being rebranded to Apple Music 1: the live channels are available free for everyone within Apple Music. (The on-demand shows could be in Apple Podcasts as exclusives, if Apple wanted to...)
August 17, 2020:
August 11, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts is a bit broken - random shows are appearing in Apple Podcasts's category "top shows" listings. Here's what we're seeing for business, comedy, technology or society/culture - some are in foreign languages while none are recognisably "top shows"; we get the Australian storefront, but we hear other storefronts are similarly affected (here are the comedy top shows in the UK). This apparent bug, which has been visible for at least the past three days, coincides with problems that some podcasters are reporting with Apple not updating its website with latest episodes for some shows.
August 3, 2020:
    Libsyn report that Apple continues to be the #1 podcast app, accounting for 68.2% of mobile downloads. According to the podcast host, which is the largest paid podcast host in the world, Spotify is at 8.3% and Google Podcasts at just 1.3%. Sharing these figures on The Feed, Rob Walch adds: "The death of Apple Podcasts has been greatly over-stated".
July 27, 2020:
July 22, 2020:
    The open podcast ecosystem also does video podcasts: supported by Apple Podcasts and Pocket Casts, among others. Spotify's implementation, however, appears to be different. We've asked how it works.
July 21, 2020:
July 17, 2020:
July 16, 2020:
July 3, 2020:
    There were 133,171 new shows in Apple Podcasts in June, according to MyPodcastReviews: that's the highest amount of new shows ever to be added in just one month. It brings the total amount of valid podcasts to over 1,250,000. However, the rate of new shows added each day has declined dramatically, suggesting the growth of new shows is beginning to slow.
June 30, 2020:
    After WWDC, Apple executives have been making appearances on podcasts. Apple Marketing VP Bob Borchers and Product Manager Ronak Shah appeared on Upgrade; Apple SVP Craig Federighi talked on Waveform; John Gruber's The Talk Show snagged Federighi and VP Greg Joswiak. Apple Podcasts' boss Ben Cave? Not so much. We need more aloof British accents in podcasting, Ben.
June 23, 2020:
    Did it work? iHeartRadio's campaign - we estimate it would cost $1.9m if they were buying it - did make a difference, it turns out. All shows saw a significant increase in the Apple Podcasts chart during the week - the chart is worked-out using new subscriptions. Ron Burgundy wasn't even charting before the ad campaign (it's in a break).
June 19, 2020:
    The Apple Podcasts app is to get personalised recommendations, according to a leak. Also apparently coming: "the option for podcast creators to offer bonus content" and "new user profiles may allow you to follow friends and see what podcasts they’re listening to," a feature similar to Breaker or Swoot.
June 17, 2020:
June 12, 2020:
    Some podcast download numbers might be incorrect: and could be 5% too large, according to The New Media Show. If you use Apple Podcasts and own an Apple Watch, your watch automatically downloads duplicate copies of shows you're subscribed to when it's charging - which could be as much as 5% of a podcast's total downloads. According to the podcast, Libsyn already marks these additional downloads as duplicates, but many podcast hosts may not be doing so. In October 2018, Voxnest published that 9.4% of all downloads were to an Apple Watch.
June 11, 2020:
    Pocket Casts has confirmed a report in Podnews on Jun 5 that they've been removed from the Apple App Store in China. The company tweets that they were removed "by Apple, at the request of the Cyberspace Administration of China. We believe podcasting is and should remain an open medium, free of government censorship. As such we won't be censoring podcast content at their request. We understand this means that it’s unlikely that our iOS App will be available in China, but feel it’s a necessary step to take for any company that values the open distribution model that makes podcasting special." Apple Podcasts continues to be available but only carries selected podcasts in the country.
June 5, 2020:
    Podcast apps Castro and Pocket Casts have both been pulled from Apple's App Store in China. Apple Podcasts remains available, but only offers a selection of podcasts to comply with Chinese government content rules. This time last year, they removed a number of shows for, um, some reason.
June 4, 2020:
    Hubl is a new podcast app that offers "the best way to find, review and share podcast episodes". It links with Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and uses the Listen Notes directory.
June 3, 2020:
    The study also suggests that Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts for Canadian podcast listeners aged under 35.
June 2, 2020:
    A record number of podcasts were started in May. 96,537 new shows were added to Apple Podcasts, according to Daniel J Lewis's My Podcast Reviews. The previous record, 90,977, was hit in April: it's likely that the coronavirus pandemic had a positive effect in podcast launches. There are now 1,136,520 podcasts in Apple Podcasts, according to the data. (Apple Podcasts powers at least 75% of all podcast app directories)
May 26, 2020:
May 20, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts, and the apps that use its directory, is responsible for about 70% of all podcast plays. Spotify, according to the latest data from Libsyn, has 9.1%.
May 18, 2020:
    Exclusive: PodKite is to launch a new SEO service this week, aimed at improving search position within podcast players. Most people discover new shows via player searches, the company claims; the company allows you to monitor your place in keyword searches in Apple Podcasts and others.
May 13, 2020:
May 12, 2020:
    Half of podcast consumers in China listen every day, according to the first survey of podcasting in the country from PodFest China. The most popular app is Apple Podcasts, according to the data, with Ximalaya FM and NetEase also being in the top 3; while a chat app, WeChat, is at #4. Most people listen to podcasts on public transport.
May 7, 2020:
    Spotify has removed a COVID-19 podcast featuring an interview with conspiracy theorist and idiot David Icke, after he tried to claim that 5G was to blame for the coronavirus, which it isn't, and then says he doubts the virus exists anyway, which it does. CNBC reports that Apple Podcasts has yet to remove the episode, however. Icke also believes that we're ruled by shape-shifting reptilians, and that the universe is made from vibrational energy.
May 6, 2020:
May 4, 2020:
    The number of new podcasts are increasing massively. Apple Podcasts added just under 91,000 new podcasts in April, according to MyPodcastReviews. By way of comparison: March had 63,000 new podcasts, the previous record; and February just 50,000.
May 1, 2020:
April 29, 2020:
April 27, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts is currently being slow at updating new episodes: some podcasters reporting a delay of a number of days for new episodes to appear. "Our engineers are working to resolve this issue," an email from Apple says, adding "we do not have an estimate as to when the issue will be resolved". However - the delay only affects users who aren't subscribed, including Apple Podcasts Preview on the web. Your subscribers are unaffected - they grab new episodes directly from your podcast host. So everyone's cool.
April 24, 2020:
    Podio is a new open source podcast player for the web. (It uses the Apple Podcasts API).
April 22, 2020:
    More people are listening to podcasts on computers, according to new data from Libsyn's The Feed podcast. Total plays via computer, rather than mobile, increased by almost a percentage point to 12% of downloads. "Those changes had to do with people starting to stay at home", said Rob Walch, the company's VP of Podcaster Relations, adding that he would "expect [the figure] to drop more next month for mobile". Apple Podcasts is still the market leader for consumption, though more people are listening via Android devices according to the company.
April 20, 2020:
April 8, 2020:
    Google Podcasts's new iOS app unfortunately uses a near-identical user-agent to Apple Podcasts, and we noted the potential for misattribution at launch. Speaking on The Feed, Libsyn have admitted that stats from the new Google Podcasts iOS app are mistakenly lumped in with Apple Podcasts in Libsyn stats at the moment: they hope to fix this in the next few weeks. Full marks to Libsyn for being open and letting folks know; a community-maintained list of useragents is over here.
April 6, 2020:
    Spotify-owned podcast host Anchor has quietly rolled two more improvements out to their service: 301 redirects are now available directly from your dashboard, as well as a method of claiming your podcast stats from Apple Podcasts Connect.
April 3, 2020:
    We're not aware of any such policy from Apple Podcasts. YouTube demonetises all related videos by default; Medium adds a note linking to official information.
April 1, 2020:
    First look: Downloads are down; listening is down more. So says Chartable, which has just published how coronavirus is changing podcast listening. Unlike other download numbers that we've linked-to so far, Chartable also has access to Spotify and Apple Podcasts listening data, which it aggregates into its platform. "Listening has dropped off much more than downloads have. This is likely because many podcast apps, like Apple Podcasts, will continue downloading podcast episodes even if they are not actually played." The number of reviews also dramatically dropped, as have downloads over cellular networks. There is a slow recovery on the way though.
March 26, 2020:
    It's likely that many podcast hosts could incorrectly credit downloads from Google's new iPhone app to Apple Podcasts. Unlike the "GSA/" user-agent of the Android app, the iOS app has a user-agent of Podcasts: almost identical to the Apple Podcasts app user-agent of Podcasts/(version-number). Our updated user-agents list for podcast apps now lists this new user-agent.
March 20, 2020:
March 17, 2020:
March 16, 2020:
    On Friday we reported on new charts from Backtracks. On closer look, we'd note that the lists are virtually identical to the Apple Podcasts US charts, which do not measure how popular a podcast is. However, the company tells Podnews: "Backtracks Charts uses a variety of scoring mechanisms using direct data via partnerships with multiple listening platform partners, additional sources of direct data, and indirect signals to derive a proprietary podcast score which Backtracks calls a PodScore. Backtracks has significant ecosystem-wide data that the company will release over time." To our assertion that they're identical to Apple, Founder/CEO Jonathan Gill disagrees: "The charts are not identical, but we are modifying the algorithm as it is closely tracking to one partner".
March 10, 2020:
March 9, 2020:
February 28, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts hit 900,000 podcasts yesterday, according to the My Podcast Reviews service by Daniel J. Lewis. 50,000 have been added in the last thirty days.
February 25, 2020:
    What podcast buttons should you have on your website? The Apple Podcasts button, obviously - but what other ones? We have some data from our own website - and it seems to uncover the need for at least one button we bet you don't have.
February 24, 2020:
    Question - we don't use Apple Podcasts. But wasn't there a way of flagging spammy or offensive reviews within the app? Has that been removed?
February 21, 2020:
    Spotify for Podcasters has added a method of highlighting a trailer for their new-look show pages: it appears to correctly choose the episode that is marked-up as a trailer for Apple Podcasts. (To set yours, go to Your Dashboard > Catalog > (Your Podcast) > Details)
February 14, 2020:
February 7, 2020:
    Spotify is a prison for podcasts, says developer Peter Rukavina, who complains that you cannot export your subscribed list of podcasts out of the service. We checked - you also can't export them from Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. (Apple removed the export when retiring iTunes on the Mac).
February 3, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts is looking for a Head of Partner Relations - "you will oversee all new and existing relationships with podcast creators."
January 31, 2020:
January 29, 2020:
    Developer corner: Edge Case Special: Some podcasts are geo-locked in Apple Podcasts. The Adam Carolla Show in the US lives here, with an ID of 306390087. In Australia, because PodcastOne is run by someone else, it lives here, with an ID of 1471244702. Unfortunately, the Australian ID number fails when used as a lookup to the iTunes API, and therefore breaks our podcast pages. It isn't documented, but you can add &country=au to a lookup and it will work; but there doesn't appear to be a method of knowing what ID number is available in what country from the iTunes API, except cycling through all 28 countries. Anyway, if you've spotted that some podcasts don't work properly (in Podnews or some of the analytics websites) then this is the reason - we've no idea how to work round it.
January 28, 2020:
    The Apple Podcasts directory is currently slow to update podcast episodes on their website and to people who aren't subscribed. Libsyn say Apple are aware of it. Subscribers remain unaffected.
January 24, 2020:
    Just when we thought we'd got the final comprehensive answer, Jack Rhysider wades into the "Apple Podcasts vs Spotify" debate, sharing his stats. A few choice quotes: "Psshhh. This clears up nothing!", "What? Again I'm lost," and "Whoa what is this!?"
January 23, 2020:
January 20, 2020:
    Apple Podcasts has a vacancy for someone in Business Planning. You'll be based in Culver City CA.
January 17, 2020:
    Libsyn has decided to "set the record straight" about whether Spotify is #1 or not, by publishing their app download figures for December to "help debunk the erroneous stories". They show 59.6% of downloads from Apple Podcasts and iTunes, and 11.6% from Spotify. Interestingly, Spotify has dropped from the 13% Libsyn reported in October. (In November, Libsyn became a passthrough destination for Spotify).
January 16, 2020:
January 15, 2020:
January 9, 2020:
January 8, 2020:
    In a private note for investors, Morgan Stanley has published its 6th Annual Audio Entertainment Survey. The survey notes that Spotify is now the most popular podcast platform in the US, claiming 24% of podcast listeners surveyed used Spotify while 21% used Apple Podcasts. Spotify seems to be growing, rather than Apple declining. The research also claims that people are finding it harder to discover new podcasts, not easier. The survey was conducted online, interviewing a nationally representative 1,961 US adults.
December 26, 2019:
    In Libsyn's The Feed, Rob Walch shared growth stats for Libsyn-hosted podcasts in Jan-Oct 2019. Listening on Apple Podcasts increased by 13.1%; but since Apple Podcasts accounts for 58% of all podcast listens, that growth accounts for 44.5% of total podcast growth in 2019. Listening to podcasts on Spotify doubled in 2019, accounting for 39.5% of total podcast growth. We reported on Libsyn's overall podcast app market share numbers in late November; Walch also clarified that almost all Libsyn shows are now on Spotify.
December 25, 2019:
    Ratings and reviews do not affect ranking in Apple Podcasts. That's the analysis of Daniel J Lewis from My Podcast Reviews, who posts the above graphic, saying:
December 23, 2019:
    Podfollow, a free URL that redirects your listeners to the right podcast app on their device (Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, your website) has just had its 1,000,000th click thru. The service now offers free stats as well as automatic social images and has announced more features in the new year.
December 20, 2019:
    Some podcasters are noting that their podcasts appear to be unavailable in some countries in Apple Podcasts. If this is happening to you, please let us know.
December 19, 2019:
    Vox Media's Zach Kahn has joined Apple Podcasts, in the clearest indication yet that Apple may be planning original content.
December 18, 2019:
    Apple Podcasts's market share tumbled by 10% in 2019, according to Podbean, which has posted a Big, Fat 2019 Podcast Statistics and Trends Roundup with all the numbers from the podcast hosting platform. The company has also posted a number of "top 10" lists based on their data.
December 17, 2019:
    Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts in Canada, according to new data released by Voxnest as part of The State of the Podcast Universe 2019. Spotify also became more popular than Apple in another ten countries in November.
December 16, 2019:
    Both Spotify Podcasts and Apple Podcasts on Alexa are only available in the US. It doesn't work in the other 179 countries in the world: caution when advertising the service on your podcast, because everyone else will get an error.
December 11, 2019:
December 10, 2019:
December 9, 2019:
    The My Podcast Reviews service, by Daniel J. Lewis, tells us that there are currently 799,482 valid podcasts in Apple Podcasts. He promises "a little gift" when it hits 800,000, which will probably be later today.
December 4, 2019:
December 3, 2019:
    PSA: SoundCloud's podcast hosting service does not have the new Apple Podcasts categories launched in August, nor the 'new' Apple iTunes tags from 2017. Its stats are not IAB compliant.
December 2, 2019:
    Has Apple Podcasts broken again? We note that "New Shows" in the Society & Culture category, in Australia, includes "The Spill" (new from Jul 22), "The Disappearance of Des" (from Aug 2), "The Duolingo French Podcast" (from Jun 18), "True Crime Conversations" (from Jun 19), and "The Portal" (from Jul 17). These appear to have been, mostly, updated for the launch of the new categories on Aug 2, but there appears to have been few updates for the Australian market after that. What Happens Next is the only new one we can see (along with lots of new US stuff). Perhaps the US listings are being maintained, and the Aussie-specific listings are not being refreshed as often? How's it looking in your country?
November 27, 2019:
    In the latest episode of The Feed, Libsyn report which mobile apps downloaded podcasts from them in October. Apple Podcasts is the highest, at 58%. Of note: only around 40% of Libsyn shows are published on Spotify (so the app will be under-represented in these figures). Libsyn won't publish any numbers next month, because of work they're doing on Spotify passthrough.
November 25, 2019:
    Podcasting websites are getting excited that Emily Ochsenschlager, former director of podcasts at National Geographic, has apparently joined Apple Podcasts. "What if Apple produced their own podcasts?" they ask. But in March, our Editor wondered how Apple could revitalise Apple Podcasts - not by just producing exclusive content; but by selling it instead. Is this the master plan?
November 22, 2019:
    Correction: as far as we can tell, the incorrect information about host images in Apple Podcasts's email last week was, itself, incorrect information from an Apple Podcasts support team member. We've reverted the amendment to our copy of the email.
November 19, 2019:
    Yesterday, we quoted Libsyn's Rob Walch about what happens if you mark your podcast as explicit: that you're removed from Apple Podcasts in many countries. Jack Rhysider, who hosts an occasionally potty-mouthed podcast Darknet Diaries, says things have changed somewhat, and that "it's hardly a hurdle now".
November 18, 2019:
    There were over 11,100,000 new podcast episodes in 2018. Listen Notes have developed a new "stats" page, looking into their database of podcasts (which appears to include all in Apple Podcasts). 21% of podcasts are hosted at Anchor, and a further 11% at Soundcloud, the results show. (Some great data for any pitching documents!)
November 14, 2019:
November 13, 2019:
    Microsoft have launched a podcast. "The In Culture podcast brought to you by Microsoft is a platform for musicians, artists, fashion designers, gamers, and creators to tell their stories and how they have harnessed Microsoft's technology to make strides in their prospective artistic fields!" Interesting to note, no prominent "subscribe with Apple Podcasts" link on the podcast's homepage. (Simplecast)
November 12, 2019:
October 30, 2019:
    Voxnest claim that Spotify is now more popular than Apple Podcasts in most of continental Europe, South and Central America: Spotify claimed another six countries in September, the company says, based on listener data from the Voxnest Audience Network. The main holdouts are the US, Canada, the UK and Australia (all countries where Apple has around 50% market share).
October 28, 2019:
    Zack Kahn from Vox Media adds on his personal Twitter that "we are building a billion dollar industry on late 90s tech, and it's going to really hurt us unless we start modernising", and "even the best podcast hosting providers are doing a C+/B job". We helped a podcast publisher with an issue with Apple Podcasts last week: their podcast host had let them upload the wrong sized image, and had also allowed them to upload a VBR audio file. Both of these issues are easily caught by simple software routines, and are obvious best practice.
October 22, 2019:
October 21, 2019:
    The open user-agent list for podcast apps now includes a bunch of examples and a whole lot more apps. (Did you know that Apple Podcasts's user-agent is पॉडकास्ट or Balados depending where your listener is?) The Slack group is over here - if you're a serious developer and want in, hit reply and ask.
October 16, 2019:
    A few small tweaks to Google Podcasts on the web have been spotted. Most importantly, the service is now prominently linking to publishers' websites (rather than hidden behind a menu option as previously). (Neither Apple Podcasts nor Spotify appear to link to publisher websites at all, depriving podcasters of potential revenue).
October 15, 2019:
    Apple has sent an email to all podcasters, highlighting the new Apple Podcasts for Mac app, and search enhancements. Some podcasts ("top English language shows") will get full audio search, and images of hosts and guests, which continues to appear to be a manual process. There's also a requirement for a signed photo release; and notice of some downtime for Podcasts Connect.
October 14, 2019:
    Radio Sodoma has topped the Finnish podcast charts, with the dark comedy podcast achieving 800,000 downloads in 14 days (not bad for a podcast in a language only spoken by 5.5m people). The podcast was released on Spotify and Apple Podcasts after spending a short time as an exclusive on YLE's Areena app.
October 11, 2019:
October 8, 2019:
    Apple Podcasts has demonstrated "browse by hosts and guests", showing Conan O'Brien Needs A Friend's guests (and if you're running iOS 13, you can see that too). We also found it in the desktop app in MacOS Catalina. The documentation for the feature, earlier this year, describes the image requirements but just says "these search enhancements will first be available for selected top shows in English"; we can't see any evidence of them in the podcast's RSS feed, and the guests appear not to include Conan's latest guest, David Letterman, highlighting that this may be a manual process.
October 4, 2019:
October 3, 2019:
    As of Friday 27 September, there were 741,600 podcasts in Apple Podcasts (excluding iTunes U content), says Daniel J Lewis from The Audacity to Podcast. This number started a presentation from James Cridland, Podnews's Editor, at OzPod 2019, highlighting the benefit of RSS for a level playing field and looking at Australian and global podcast data. His slides are here.
October 2, 2019:
    A new "podfading" statistic: Apple Podcasts say they remove podcasts from their directory with technical problems, that violate rules or manipulate charts. So - how many have they removed from Apple Podcasts over the last 90 days? 23,460 according to data from podcast analytics and attribution company Chartable - that's 260 a day.
September 20, 2019:
    Only 14% of podcast listens on Apple Podcasts are downloads, according to new data from Simplecast: the rest are streams. In comparison, on Overcast 87% of podcasts are downloaded first. "Podcasts apps ought to default their audio delivery to streaming", says the company.
September 11, 2019:
    Exclusive: The amount of listening to podcasts on the web is increasing, according to new data supplied to Podnews by Simplecast. The data represents all Simplecast shows, and shows plays from Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts on the web. "Many podcast hosts would just credit 'web browsers' with this data," said Stephen Hallgren, CTO of Simplecast. "But because Simplecast is able to check HTTP referrers, we're also able to see how successful Apple Podcasts Preview is on the web, and how popular Google Podcasts plays are within Google Search. All these metrics are IAB compliant and are reportable through our Audience dashboard."
September 3, 2019:
    Instagram appears to be temporarily banning links to Apple Podcasts, marking them as not allowed. (You should be linking to your website or a service like podfollow or plink anyway, we reckon).
August 30, 2019:
August 29, 2019:
August 22, 2019:
    Apple Podcasts appear to have turned on transcript search in their beta podcast apps. A search for "Google Pixel" appears to return a bunch of podcasts that have mentioned the device (albeit mainly in ad copy). Daniel J Lewis says that transcription search has been available for a while for select shows, but that they may have enabled it for many more.
August 20, 2019:
    Wondery's Dr Death has hit the #1 spot in Apple Podcasts worldwide, after translated versions were released last week at Podcast Movement. They're the first to launch a set of translated podcasts across the world. (Here's how the Apple Charts work).
August 9, 2019:
August 8, 2019:
August 6, 2019:
    Spreaker Prime: Switch, Pivot or Quit is a podcast that lets you sit in with your girlfriends and chat all things career changes and challenges. These influential women often find themselves in Apple Podcasts’s curated list of “Inspiring Women.” They're using Spreaker Prime to earn money and cut their hosting costs.
August 5, 2019:
August 2, 2019:
August 1, 2019:
July 31, 2019:
July 30, 2019:
    It’s now day seven without any categories in Apple Podcasts apps while the company reworks them. Spreaker has supported them since last week; podcast app Player FM has completed integration, though points out that their own categories are more detailed. Podnews podcast pages, like this for The Thing About Cars, now display the Apple primary genre (in this case, 'comedy').
July 29, 2019:
    It’s now day six without any categories in Apple Podcasts apps while the company reworks them. Omny Studio and Zencast has both announced that they are supporting the new Apple Podcasts categories. Pocket Casts say it intends to support them and suggest publishers adopt them. "Apple’s leadership in the space is still meaningful and the [new] categories do feel like a good step," the CEO Owen Grover told us.
July 26, 2019:
    It's now day three without any categories in Apple Podcasts apps. There were visible categories on show pages within the new Apple Podcasts desktop app for macOS Catalina, but these have been removed.
July 25, 2019:
    Ten hours after we published yesterday, Apple emailed all podcasters highlighting that their new podcast categories are now live. As we reported, they advised that the category menu (in Apple Podcasts) "may be temporarily removed". Category browsing remains unavailable in apps when we went to press, to the consternation of some podcast publishers.
July 24, 2019:
    Browsing via category appears to have been suspended in Apple Podcasts apps, including the beta Apple Podcasts macOS and iOS 13 apps, and, we understand, iTunes too.
July 22, 2019:
July 15, 2019:
    Exclusive: There's been a significant increase in one-star reviews in Apple Podcasts since 1st July, according to analytics company Chartable, which tracks rankings and reviews across a number of podcast directories. Of the most one-voted, four of the top ten shows are true crime podcasts, including the #1.
July 8, 2019:
    The Apple Podcasts app will appear on the front page of new iPhones. The new iOS13 operating system, to be launched in September, places the Apple Podcasts app on the front screen for the first time. The Apple Podcasts app will also be on the front screen of iPadOS13. (Users upgrading won't have their homescreen apps moved.)
June 27, 2019:
    Rob Walch from Libsyn has released the latest download figures for podcasts hosted on Libsyn on mobile apps: Apple Podcasts 59.9%; Spotify 10%; Overcast: 2.9%; Castbox 2.5%; Stitcher 2%; Podcast Addict 1.6%; Google 1.3% and Pocketcast 1.2%. This is the first time, he notes, that Apple have slipped below 60%. (Libsyn's podcasts aren't all in Spotify, incidentally.) You can hear commentary on this in The Feed.
June 26, 2019:
June 19, 2019:
    Via Product Hunt, and oddly not available on Apple Podcasts, Terms and Conditions is a podcast consisting of a guy reading the terms and conditions from large banks. (It's branded advertising from Current, a US bank that claims it's better than all the others.)
June 11, 2019:
June 10, 2019:
    The 'iTunes Performance Marketing Campaign', an affiliate system used by many podcasters to measure promotion of their Apple Podcasts shows, is changing name to the Apple Services Performance Marketing Campaign.
June 7, 2019:
June 6, 2019:
    Apple's attention to detail is evident: unlike the previous categories, the new Apple Podcasts categories stand on their own. "Daily News", for example, doesn't require to have its parent category present to make sense: which should lead to clearer and easier UX for podcast apps.
June 5, 2019:
    Meanwhile, Apple is censoring podcasts within China. Unlike the rest of the world, Apple says "only shows from select partners are available in the Chinese Apple Podcasts store", and there are reports that a number of shows have been removed from the service at a sensitive time for China.
June 4, 2019:
June 3, 2019:

So, what does this mean for podcasting? NOTHING: because you're on Apple Podcasts, not iTunes. In fact, Apple mailed us back in February 2018 reminding us to always say "Apple Podcasts", not "iTunes".

May 30, 2019:
    Podcast host Spreaker has launched a new tool - one-click distribution, making it easier to get a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Google Podcasts and Castbox.
May 23, 2019:
    We built this for ourselves - but if you want to link direct to a podcast episode, our episode link pages now use "magic links" that open directly in Apple Podcasts (on iPhone), Google Podcasts (on Android), or a web player. Here's an episode about a haunted school in Brisbane from the Brisbane is Weird podcast, as one example. Search for your podcast in Podnews, and choose "Link direct to an episode" from the tools at the bottom to find a list of episodes.
May 22, 2019:
    Apple have removed the words "Listen on iTunes" from their podcast pages, preferring now to use "Listen on Apple Podcasts". This is the surest indicator yet that they plan to build an Apple Podcasts desktop app for the next iteration of MacOS.
May 21, 2019:
    The largest independent podcast host Libsyn has released its Q1 earnings report. Libsyn's podcast revenue increased by 16% to $3.3m (and, including Pair Networks, the company got $6.28m in revenue, up 24% year-on-year). Libsyn now hosts 62,000 shows (and 4.9m media files); it claims it's responsible for around 35% of the Apple Podcasts top 200, and delivered over 5.1 billion downloads in 2018.
May 15, 2019:
    We regularly see which podcast app is most popular; but Simplecast have shared which web player is most popular for their podcasts. Ignoring their own player, Apple Podcasts leads the pack, driving about 2.5 times more plays than Google Podcasts - so far.
May 13, 2019:
    We've been trying to understand the rationale behind Google's placement of the podcast play buttons in their search, rolled out to desktop and iOS devices last week. A search for Podnews (now) correctly shows play buttons underneath our website, but that's not the case for a search for Fun Kids Book Club Podcast, which despite doing everything technically correct, doesn't show any play buttons - which are attached to its Apple Podcasts page a little further down. Here are some more examples - we'd be grateful for your comments as to why. (In our mind: if the web-page unambiguously links to the RSS feed and vice-versa, that should be the signal for Google to put them together).
May 10, 2019:
    A search for "podnews" will display our website, then our page on Apple Podcasts with attached Google Podcast play buttons. Our podcast RSS feed correctly links to our website, though, and back again. Curious. We'd love to know why.
May 7, 2019:
    We also had feedback from the developer of Podcast Addict. He's keen to explain that the view of show notes, when unsubscribed, is not formatted - but that when you do subscribe, the formatting is correct. (This is the way Apple Podcasts works). We - like listeners, perhaps - were unaware of this, but we're happy to amend the app's scoring, and our articles, to bring them in line with the way we scored Apple Podcasts.
May 2, 2019:

Background: Speaking to Podnews, CEO Ross Adams highlighted that the company has always taken a platform agnostic view about their podcasts - you can listen to them anywhere - and that the same principle should happen for premium, paid-for podcasts as well. Acast Access is "GDPR compliant subscription technology" that is, in his words, "properly secure - it has a link that can't be shared with other people - and a simple user flow": and works in any app that allows standard RSS feeds (like Apple Podcasts, Pocketcasts, etc). It also adds lockable, embeddable players for websites, too. The two launch partners are the FT and The Economist, and the next phase, he says, is to open this technology up to other publishers. Of note: both the FT and The Economist operate their own subscription platform, which this integrates into._

May 1, 2019:
    Another one leaves Luminary - the podcast app has lost content from ESPN. Meanwhile, also gone: a bunch of Luminary podcast feeds on Apple Podcasts, which contained short promo shows and unsubtle advertising for the Luminary platform.
April 29, 2019:
April 25, 2019:
    Luminary appears to be fighting back with PR: Matt Sacks, the co-founder and CEO of Luminary, has written a long piece explaining Luminary's model, the sole post in a hastily-erected Medium blog. Manoush Zomorodi is also interviewed in Digiday hawking the company, saying "As a creator, it’s hard to get a production off the ground if you don’t know you have a steady income". Her podcast Note To Self is relaunching as a Luminary-funded production. Luminary have also placed sample episodes of all their premium podcasts in Apple Podcasts (and therefore most other places).
April 24, 2019:
    Libsyn's The Feed usually contains some nice stats. In the latest show, for March, 62% of Libsyn's podcasts were downloaded from Apple Podcasts; 9.6% from Spotify, and 2.8% from Overcast (with Google Podcasts at #8, with 1.2%). (Fewer than 40% of Libsyn shows are available on Spotify).
April 23, 2019:
    Yes, your podcast is there already. Luminary links now appear in our podcast pages, like this for Gladiator, and our availability page now includes Luminary too. Here's how to add your podcast if it isn't there already. Luminary's base directory was taken from Apple Podcasts before October 20th and podcasts since deleted from Apple's database have not been removed from Luminary's directory. There is no contact point for how to achieve removal of podcasts.
April 17, 2019:
    Zach Kahn has spotted that Apple Podcasts has much better browsing functionality in the latest beta version of iOS. "It makes it that much easier to discover new shows", he adds.
April 16, 2019:
    Network 10, an Australian television network owned by CBS, has released its first podcast. The Professor and The Hack is the first from the company's 10 Speaks division, and is a political podcast coinciding with the recently-announced Federal Election in the country. It isn't, yet, in Apple Podcasts, though.
April 15, 2019:
April 12, 2019:
    Apple appears to have rolled-back their Apple Podcasts on the web product, which we reported on yesterday - the old pages are now appearing again. We did notice some errors using the service yesterday; perhaps it needed a little more polish, or maybe they're waiting until WWDC in six weeks. Meanwhile, 9to5Mac has discovered an icon for a rumoured-but-likely Apple Podcasts desktop app in an upcoming macOS release.
April 11, 2019:
    Apple Podcasts is now available on the web, with a brand new web interface. The pages are responsive, and work on desktop and on Android phones. All these new pages are already indexed within a Google search, including specific episode pages, the first time that podcast episode pages have surfaced in search.
April 9, 2019:
    Will we have an Apple Podcasts app on desktop? iTunes is apparently to be broken up, says Pocket Lint. We're expected to see them at Apple's WWDC conference in early June.
April 4, 2019:
    Ben Cave has joined Apple Podcasts in a senior role, and moved to California. He's worked for Apple for eight years, and was previously with production company Somethin'Else.
April 2, 2019:
    Job: Apple is looking for a data scientist. "Apple is seeking an expert Data Scientist to join a team passionate about Data Science & Analytics for Apple Media Products (AMP) covering Apple Podcasts"
March 29, 2019:
    Chartable say that we've just hit a total of 700,000 available podcasts. The company monitors Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher and other podcast apps. (Interesting fact: our average lifespan, in hours, is also 700,000).
March 26, 2019:
    Apple has released iOS 12.2, which displays episode numbers more clearly in the Apple Podcasts app. We'd recommend you use the episode tags - they're good for accessibility. Meanwhile, Apple announced a lot of things yesterday including a new credit card and a Netflix imitation; there was no news about podcasting.
March 19, 2019:
    Our Editor, James Cridland, has written an opinion article called Podcasts - what Apple should do next: three simple steps to stop the decline of Apple Podcasts and help podcasters.
February 28, 2019:
    Apple has sent an email to podcasters reminding them to ensure decent-looking metadata. They particularly don't want spammy-looking names or authors, and no episode numbers in titles. There's a tag for that. "These practices could result in your show being rejected or removed from Apple Podcasts," they warn. They have, though, unveiled a mechanism to resubmit podcast feeds if required.
February 26, 2019:
    Through an undocumented API call, we've now worked out how to link to individual episodes in Apple Podcasts (joining Google Podcasts, which is a base64_url encode of the GUID). If you scroll down to the bottom of any podcast page on Podnews, you'll find a link to "episode links", and one of those looks like this. Our quest continues: how does a Spotify episode link work?
February 22, 2019:
    Apple Podcasts appears to have a branded embedded player, called the "Mezzanine Player Prototype". This player - designed to be embedded in a web-page - was sent to us as part of a press release. Of interest - the audio is hosted by Apple and is available in both MP3 and OGG varieties. A Google search reveals it's been used for Beats 1 video clips as well.
February 21, 2019:
February 19, 2019:
    The #2 radio advertiser in 2017 is now also the #2 podcast advertiser, according to data from Magellan's podcast ad report for January. Magellan details all 110 ads the company found in the US top 2,000 Apple Podcasts trending chart. The top three: #3 Indeed, #2 Geico, and #1 ZipRecruiter. While this does show that US radio's $15.9bn annual revenue is beginning to come to podcasting (which stands at a more meagre $314m), none of radio's other big advertisers are yet visible in the podcast top 15.
February 5, 2019:
    Apple's quarterly financial figures now include total active users on iPhone: there are 900m globally (and therefore 900m installations of Apple Podcasts). Analyst Benedict Evans estimates 2.5bn Google Android phones (which all have the Google Podcasts player installed, if not the full app), and a further 600m in China.
February 1, 2019:
    Apple Podcasts has launched downloadable podcast analytics data from their Podcast Analytics portal. The company says we should "look for the Download button under the date control in the upper-right corner"; the information downloaded is a simple tab-separated-value file for use in spreadsheets. The email also asked podcasters to market how podcasts work on Siri.
January 29, 2019:
    Our podcast availability list shows that, in general, every podcast is available in Google Podcasts as well as Apple Podcasts, though Spotify still only lists about 60%
January 22, 2019:
January 18, 2019:
    Paul Colligan posts his Podcast Predictions for 2019 in the latest episode of The Podcast Report. He views Pandora as having an "exponentially bigger" impact than Google; he forsees major changes at Apple Podcasts since Apple's turning into a service company; and thinks Instagram is the future for promoting podcasts. He says that Pandora is his #2 platform currently.
January 14, 2019:
January 11, 2019:
    There's widespread anger at an announcement that a popular BBC podcast, Fortunately, is going to be made exclusive to BBC Sounds, the broadcaster's new audio app. It means that the podcast, which isn't aired on radio, will no longer be available on other services like Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts. There's concern that because the BBC Sounds app is unavailable outside the UK, overseas listeners may be unable to listen.
December 28, 2018:
    "Most would classify [Google Podcasts] as a big disappointment", says the report, placing the app at #5, and noting that Android is responsible for only 23.7% of all podcast listens (and smart speakers just 1.3%). Spotify, the company's data shows, is a strong second - responsible for 25% of the downloads of Apple Podcasts.
December 18, 2018:
    Yesterday, we reported that Apple Podcasts has mysteriously removed many reviews and ratings from their service. Those that contacted us reported losing around half their ratings and reviews; issues were seen throughout the whole App Store, not just for podcasts. Some noted that review removals were seemingly at random, and not related to a purge on automated or spammy reviews. At time of going to press, podcasters report that their ratings are back to normal.
December 17, 2018:
    Something strange is happening in the Apple Podcasts app: podcast ratings in some cases are being recalculated and can even entirely disappear. Reader Josh sends us this example. Meanwhile, many others are seeing their number of ratings being significantly reduced in the app - "trying to figure out why it said I had 33 reviews when I could only see 25 to read", says one Facebook commenter, "I went from 60 to 30" says another. Are you seeing this too? Hit reply and tell us.
December 10, 2018:
December 5, 2018:
    Apple is releasing "most downloaded podcasts of 2018" lists in most countries. Here's Australia's. For noting: it's "most downloaded in Apple Podcasts", which is responsible for about 60% of all podcast downloads.
December 3, 2018:
    There are now 609,000 podcasts in the Apple Podcasts directory. Daniel J Lewis posts that 158,000 podcasts have three or fewer episodes; and that 43% of all podcasts haven't released a new episode in 2018.
November 27, 2018:
    Chartable, a podcast analytics product, has added integration for Apple Podcasts Analytics. To use this, however, you need to share your Apple username/password with Chartable; the company told Podnews that "we triple encrypt all usernames and passwords with the same technology used by sites that ask for the same information for bank accounts". They've also launched Trackable, a redirect stats service much like Podtrac or Blubrry. (We're trying it out for our podcast).
November 26, 2018:
    Wondering where else to add your podcast, apart from Apple Podcasts? We've got a list for you, and we even link directly to the submission pages.
November 15, 2018:
    COLD, a new weekly podcast from KSL Investigative Reporter Dave Cawley, was released on Nov 12 and has spent the last day at #1 in Apple Podcasts. It looks into the case of missing Utah mother Susan Powell.
November 13, 2018:
    Many staff at Apple Podcasts are on vacation from November 16, 2018, to November 26, 2018, and December 21, 2018, to January 2, 2019. "Shows submitted during these windows may not be available within our regular time frame of five business days."
November 8, 2018:
    Apple has sent many podcasters a note saying: "Site Manager Reporting - we have received reports of steep consumption declines in reporting. We are investigating these figures as they do not match playback data in Podcast Analytics." Site Manager is a product used by a very small group of podcasters that allows them to brand their podcast section within Apple Podcasts. Chances are you're not using this to report on your stats.
November 7, 2018:
    Apple has removed a crypto podcast, Off The Chain, from Apple Podcasts for some reason. (That will also have resulted in its removal from most third-party podcast apps, who use the iTunes API).
October 30, 2018:
    To learn from 1: UK radio station LBC posts "how to listen to podcasts", a simple guide that directs people towards Google Podcasts or Apple Podcasts.
October 22, 2018:
October 12, 2018:
    What's the category in Apple Podcasts with the most titles? Comedy? News? Nope. Dan Misener posts about the most crowded categories in Apple Podcasts, to help you choose the right category (and secondary category) for your podcast. #data
October 5, 2018:
    Podcasts have been disappearing from Apple Podcasts - kind of. Many publishers are reporting that iTunes, and the Apple Podcasts app, showed no episodes at all for certain podcasts. Subscribers continued getting the episodes, though - with Apple, when you subscribe to a podcast, your app pulls the RSS feed directly from the publisher rather than Apple's copy. Libsyn report that Apple has fixed it.
October 4, 2018:
October 2, 2018:
    Spotify, the second-largest podcast platform in the world, has today released a dedicated podcasters portal. The website now lets you instantly add your podcast, even if you're not with a partner host; and promises audience consumption data including gender, age and location. Unlike Apple Podcasts, there is no editorial approval process.
September 26, 2018:
September 25, 2018:
    Podkite have added Spotify and Stitcher chart rankings to their service. They also monitor Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
September 11, 2018:

Our podcast pages now include prominent Google Podcasts and Apple Podcasts buttons. (Here's an example). We're also parsing descriptions for Patreon links, to help you support the podcasts you like.

September 6, 2018:
    In an astonishing video, Twitter user Lime Link posts a video that shows the extent of Apple Podcasts Chart manipulation: it shows a clever way of how to spot the podcasts gaming the system, and how to do it yourself (don't).
September 5, 2018:
September 5, 2018:
September 4, 2018:
    People are still offering to manipulate the Apple Podcasts Chart. Some podcasters are being threatened by negative reviews if podcasters don't buy their "service". (We'd like to see examples.)
September 3, 2018:
    In an interesting blog post, UX designer Henry Cheng interviews users of the Apple Podcasts app, and redesigns it to make it better. Of particular interest: in his mockup, "search" returns not just that person's podcast, but other podcasts they've appeared on. This is nice.
August 24, 2018:
    There might be about 540,000 shows in Apple Podcasts, but they're not all active. In fact, according to Todd Cochrane from Blubrry, 75% of podcast [shows] are no longer in production, he tells Stephen Goldstein - a phenomenon known as "podfade". Separately, Chartable's hosting data suggests only 16% of podcasts on the free podcast host Anchor have published more than 9 episodes: that figure rises to 77% of podcasts hosted on the paid platform Libsyn. (Anchor is considerably younger, of course.)
August 17, 2018:
August 16, 2018:
    Apple have apparently fixed the login issues with Apple Podcasts Connect. #launchallthethings
August 15, 2018:
    Podkite launched today. "It's an analytics and intelligence platform for individual podcasters, larger publishers and advertisers", they tell us, and they measure both Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
August 14, 2018:
    Followup - in November 2017, we reported that much of New & Noteworthy was broken within many iTunes country categories. At the time, we noted that the Business category in Australia consisted of podcasts added in Q1 2016, and hadn't been updated since then. Nine months later... nothing appears to have changed. Every single podcast in the category appears to have started two and a half years ago; of the twenty podcasts in this category, eight haven't posted a new episode in the last six months. (Meanwhile, Apple Podcasts Connect is still reportedly unusable for many podcasters).
August 13, 2018:
    Still can't log into Apple Podcasts Connect? You're not alone - the best and brightest in Cupertino are fixing it right now, according to an enterprising Redditor. Internal ticket 2900775 is the one to watch, if you're on the inside.
August 9, 2018:
    Rakhim Davletkaliyev writes about his concerns that podcasting might become a walled garden, after Alex Jones was removed. "When you perform a search on Apple Podcasts, you aren’t searching for podcasts. You are searching for Apple-approved podcasts."
August 3, 2018:
    On Aug 1, we reported that Spotify was under pressure for hosting The Alex Jones Show Podcast. AP reports that the company has now 'removed specific episodes', citing hate content. Most episodes remain. Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, among others, still appear to link to all available episodes. The podcast is hosted with Spreaker.
August 1, 2018:
July 16, 2018:
June 28, 2018:
    Joe Clark discovers what he calls censorship of a sort - Apple Podcasts is, according to him, censoring podcasts from far-right groups; and thus, all podcast apps that use Apple's directory are doing similar. (The majority of the censored podcasts are, however, listed in Google Podcasts, we'd note, which has no editorial gatekeeper).
June 27, 2018:
    "Podcast links are a mess", says a new service called Play Podcast - they promise simple one-click podcast links for social media and similar. They gave us playpodca·st/podnews which automatically opens Apple Podcasts and/or Google Podcasts on phones, and helpful links on desktop.
June 22, 2018:
    While your podcast is probably in Google Podcasts, getting correctly listed, including in Google Search, is a bit difficult. We continue to finesse our how to get listed guide, and have now added a Google Podcast link validator to our podcast pages. To get started, search for your podcast and press the 'more info' button for the technical details. It also checks if you have a secure RSS feed for Apple Podcasts.
June 6, 2018:
    Data: Apple Podcasts now has over 550,000 shows - 25,000 added since the last announcement on April 30. Stuff You Should Know has officially become the first podcast to be downloaded over 500 million times, according to announcements at WWDC.
June 5, 2018:
June 1, 2018:
May 31, 2018:
May 30, 2018:
    Apple Podcasts have sent an email to all podcasters today, "strongly encouraging" podcasters to use "a secure podcast feed with a SSL certificate" - in practice, this means a podcast RSS feed that starts https:// . The email says that, in future, a secure feed will be required for Podcast Analytics and also to submit new podcasts.
May 24, 2018:
    In April, report Magellan, there were 361 brands or products advertised in the top 200 Apple Podcasts; and 1,864 pre-roll or mid-roll ads. SquareSpace is the second-biggest podcast advertiser - you'll have heard #1 probably.
May 2, 2018:
    Gimlet and Squarespace announce a competition to look for podcasting's next star. "The two podcast giants looked at the top 100 podcasts on Apple Podcasts and found that over 55% of the shows were made by production companies in either New York or Los Angeles, despite the fact that there are reportedly other places on the planet." says Fast Company. The competition is available to anyone living in... the United States.
April 30, 2018:
April 4, 2018:
    Do podcasters really need to beg for ratings and reviews? Dan Misener from Pacific Content asks the questions that ought to be asked. "We have not seen conclusive evidence that ratings or reviews directly contribute to chart performance, visibility, or editorial support from Apple Podcasts", he says. (Some others claim that reviews are only used for the "What's Hot" algorithm; and not for the others).
February 27, 2018:
February 20, 2018:
    Of interest: the minimum number of unique devices required for any iTunes Connect Podcast Analytics data is... five. You also appear to need this minimum number for the majority of your podcast episodes to get the detailed stats and graphs. Don't ask us how we know this, but in an entirely unrelated item, here's where we are if you want to subscribe in Apple Podcasts or anywhere else. Cough.
February 15, 2018:
    iOS11 is now in use on 65% of all iOS devices. (As a reminder: Apple's podcast stats only works on this version of iOS, and only for listeners to the Apple Podcasts app.)
February 12, 2018:
    Steve Wilson, who looks after marketing at Apple Podcasts, notes "friends don't let friends host their podcasts on SoundCloud" in a tweet, and recommends SimpleCast instead. He wants podcasters to use a podcast host that's designed to be a podcast host.
February 2, 2018:
December 15, 2017:
    It only measures devices on iOS 11 (only using the Apple Podcasts app) and iTunes 12.7. Android, web plays, listening using Overcast and other apps are not measured.
December 12, 2017:
December 11, 2017:
    Remember Omny Studio claimed they'd worked out how to get podcast analytics out of Apple Podcasts? Here's how they did it. Clever idea of using rate limiting to force the player to get "just enough" data to play, but no more.
December 7, 2017:
November 30, 2017:
    The Houston Press lays into the Apple Podcasts app. "Somewhere in a nice office there are people paid to make an iOS podcast app, and I’m convinced said people have never actually listened to a podcast in their life. It’s the only thing that would make the baffling decisions they’ve made for how the app handles podcasts make any sense."
November 24, 2017:
    In an Australian podcast chatroom, news of a quiet but significant update for Pocket Casts on Android. Click on any "Subscribe on Apple Podcasts" link on your phone, and your Android phone will now offer to open that link within Pocket Casts instead. Shouldn't be any reason why other Android podcast apps shouldn't follow-suit; that would mean an end to the plethora of subscribe links. Here's an iTunes link to try it on.
November 23, 2017:
    A quite savage piece about Apple's non-appearing HomePod speakers. It transpires that they won't be available for developers to access, unlike the competing Amazon Echo and Google Home. It will, however, play Apple Podcasts flawlessly.
November 17, 2017:
November 16, 2017:
    Old data, but worthwhile understanding: Spanish smartphone penetration is over 90% (population: 46m), but the more interesting figure is the Android market share which is 93.9% - small wonder, therefore, that readers of podnews in Spain don't really care about the Apple Podcasts store, and dismiss it as not having much impact. If you're a Spanish-language podcast, you apparently want to be making friends with iVoox, who describe themselves as the leading podcast platform in Spanish (and also host and monetize).
November 15, 2017:
    Yesterday, we reported that much of Apple Podcasts is broken, with "New and Noteworthy" in most sections being stale for at least 18 months. Correspondents in the UK report that many entire categories are similarly stale, with the home-page for "Kids and Family", as one example, not having changed for over one and a half years. It'll be interesting to see whether Apple cares.
November 14, 2017:
    In the Apple Podcasts store, how old is "New and Noteworthy" for you? Is the entire feature broken? In a (closed) Facebook group, it's been noticed that most "New and Noteworthy" categories, for example Australian Business, only feature podcasts that launched between January and March 2016. It's not alone - the US store also appears to only show podcasts launched in early 2016, too. I checked "Comedy" in the Australian store: it includes one podcast that hasn't added a single episode since October 2016, another was updated in November 2016, and plenty that haven't been updated in three months. Has something broken at Apple?
October 31, 2017:
    Original: How podcast show notes actually display - so, can anyone read those podcast show notes you're making? Not if they listen in TuneIn; nothing's clickable and everything's scrunched together in Spotify; and Apple Podcasts isn't very consistent either. Our first long-form article tests 17 different apps. (Please share it!)
October 10, 2017:
    How important is a feature on the iTunes Apple Podcasts front page? Quite important, according to this article on The Podcast Host - a podcast improving from 71 downloads a day to well over 1,000.
July 12, 2017:
    AdWeek covers an announcement today that Panoply is working with Nielsen data for targeted podcast advertising. "Advertisers will be able to deliver ads to specific segments of listeners based on data such as interests, purchase intent, demographics, geography, media consumption and psychographics.". This uses data collected from Nielsen's web-bugs and app-bugs. The press release says ads can be targeted "across all podcasting apps, including Apple Podcasts and other third party podcast apps." Consumers will be able to opt out in a link in the show notes.
July 7, 2017:
    AudioBoom email me to enthuse about their new Very Bad Words podcast. From ex-WNYC radio producer Matt Fidler, which explores fruity words and why they're a bit bad. Made it to the top 30 of the Apple Podcasts chart.
June 30, 2017:
    Anchor, a "push to talk" type app - like the original AudioBoo, in many respects - now interfaces with Apple Podcasts and Google Play Podcasts. "Coming soon" - an RSS feed. Caution: they're doing this under their Apple/Google accounts, not yours, so don't expect any analytics.
June 28, 2017:
June 12, 2017:
    The WWDC session about Apple Podcasts, with new features for iOS 11, and lots of stats. Here's a direct link to the streaming video for those of us not using Safari, and slides. Of note: lots of changes to the RSS spec (which other podcatchers will have to support too), and way more flexible. Here's an Engadget piece covering the main news. /ht Matt Wade

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