Android still highly fragmented for podcast apps

Android still highly fragmented for podcast apps

• Android is still highly fragmented for podcast apps, according to data from the Open Podcast Prefix Project, analysed by Podnews. Data from 4.75mn downloads in May suggests that, while Spotify is the clear leader, the app ecosystem on Android remains significantly more fragmented than that of Apple - even when combining downloads from iOS, iPadOS and macOS.

  • By way of illustration, the #10 podcast app for Android devices has 2.42% of all downloads; the #10 podcast app for Apple devices has four times less, at 0.6%. (The #10 podcast app for Android was Stitcher, which announced its closure this week).
  • 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.
  • OP3, the Open Podcast Prefix Project, measures download data for over 600 different shows; find a sample of its data on the Podcast Business Journal, and add your podcast to the service for free.

• The Podcast Host has published the IndiePod Manifesto – based on a census of independent podcasters earlier in the year. How do you guarantee success for indie podcasters? “Playing the long game”, say most creators.

• Congratulations to the Wonder Media Network for turning 5 years old.

• A great long-form read about “four in-depth daily news podcasts are taking their time—and getting the story right” in the Canadian Review of Journalism. It’s by Tim Cooke (not that one).

• A smart idea to get the most out of your podcast - turn the transcripts into a book. The History of Chinese Philosophy is produced from transcripts of The China History Podcast from Laszlo Montgomery.

• The latest Podnews Weekly Review contains an interview with Naomi Mellor from the International Women’s Podcast Awards. Entries opened earlier this week.

• Our sister publication Podcast Business Journal this week contains an interview with Spafax, a company that can get your podcast onto the seatbacks of aeroplanes. Discover how it works, what airlines want, and how you can get there.

Thank you to Bjørn Barfoed Vestergaard, who has become our latest personal supporter. Based in Denmark, he hosts the Rollemodellerne podcast, - which he (well, Google Translate) describes as “an attempt to demystify success; to get to the human behind and create a collection of concrete tools, habits and strategies that you and I will be able to use today to kick-start our dreams”. Nice. Our dream is that you, too, support our journalism.

Tips and tricks

• JAR Audio writes about how to land the perfect guest for your podcast.

Podcast News

Small Town Dicks will be covering the 1981 Carmel, CA Sonia Stone / Michael Glazebrook case in a new season which started today. The 2-part episode comes on the heels of Glazebrook’s sentencing to life in prison earlier this month.

The F1 season makes it to Silverstone shortly. Matt Gallagher and Tom Bellingham are two die-hard fans of Formula 1 and in February they turned their passion into a project, launching their first podcast P1 with Matt and Tommy. On launch, the show went straight to the top of the Apple and Spotify podcast charts and has since amassed over 4 million listens and a social following of 1.5 million.

Podcast Newsletter Promotion In The Wild

Our Editor was on national television in Australia, on ABC tv’s The Drum. Find him at 49 minutes in: although it’s probably geo-locked. And yes, that’s Podnews red on the shelves.