You can now get Apple Podcasts on the web. In this episode I discuss why this matters and what you should be doing to inform your listeners.

Welcome to Podcast Answers, the show where I help you start and grow your podcast, answering

any podcasting questions along the way.

That's right.

I'm back.

I was off for a few weeks.

I was out of town.

I was not anywhere near a mic and so I couldn't actually get podcast answers out.

So hopefully you guys had a good time while I was gone.

You kept the house clean.

You didn't throw any too many parties and you were just...

Yeah, well, I'm back now and we're talking about podcasting because that's the name of

this show, guys.

That is the name of this show.

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So guys, again, welcome back.

Hopefully you've been using the time off to that I've been off to do some podcasting and

to grow your show, to put some tips, to put some of the tricks that I've taught you into

your show and help grow your show.

But I'm back.

I did miss doing this show.

But today we are going to be talking about Apple podcasts.

So for the longest time, Apple podcast has been only available on an Apple device or

Windows, I guess you could say there was a Windows iTunes had had the ability to to have

Apple podcasts in it on Windows.

But really, for the most part, I'd say that it's been only available on an Apple device.

So if you own an iPhone, if you own a iPad or a Mac, you've had the Apple podcast app.

It's a standalone app away from iTunes.

It's just a standalone app just for podcasting, which is great because I mean, I didn't like

when it was together because it really is a separate thing.

It's a separate product.

It's separate.

So now, as of today, this is Thursday, August 20th 2024, when I'm recording this episode,

and Apple podcast is available on the web.

So I know a lot of people have said, Hey, you know, in particular, James Cridlin of

pod news has said and pod news weekly review has said, they're not stupid.

Apple's not stupid.

They're going to put they're going to put an Android app out that will allow us to,

to be able to listen on Android.

They're not stupid.

They're not stupid.

And when I, I, I agree with him, I said, you know, I think they're not stupid.

They're gonna they, they know that they're missing some of the audience.

Yes, they have a good majority of the people, especially in North America listening with

are being on an Apple device.

But not everyone is.

And especially in third world countries and other countries that are not necessarily as

predominant Apple devices are not as as prominent in the mix.

And so they're losing market share there.

And really, I wasn't, I didn't think it was a big deal.

Really, when it was just a podcast app, when it was you could listen, you could do whatever.

But when they came out with the Apple podcast subscriptions, so in other words, that allows

us creators to do a couple different things that allows us to start or have a show that

has either completely all paid for where it's not in any other directories, it's just an

Apple and it's paid, it's a premium type podcast, you have to pay to get it.

They also allow you to have bonus type content.

So you can say, here's my main content, but we're going to be talking a little bit more

after the show with the guests today.

And it's going to be available only on our Apple podcast subscriptions.

And if you have Apple podcasts, the nice thing about it is it's right there in the app.

So yes, you do Patreon buy me a coffee, lots of other services have offered this ability

to have bonus content, if you will, right content where you can put out if you you know,

you can put it out, can have extra shows, things like that.

But you had to have an extra RSS feed, you had a blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

The nice thing about the Apple podcast integration is in Apple podcast, it really was just a

single one click thing.

You had your episodes, this is where you're normally listening to podcasts at.

If you listen on Apple podcasts, there's a button right on top of it basically says subscribe.

And then if they can see other content come in the bonus content come in, in intermixed

with the regular feed.

And if you try to click on it, it says the subscription is required.

And as as a creator, you can set that up a couple different ways.

You can set it up a monthly subscription, a yearly subscription or do like a free trial,

you know, seven day free trial or whatever.

And you can kind of set your your amount however much you want that.

Apple does take 30% of that.

I believe it's 30% of that.

We call it Apple tax, right?

I mean, they're gonna take 30% of whatever you make.

But you can set that up.

Now the one the one downfall on that is you had to pay $20 a year as a podcast creator

to be part of the podcasters program to be able to do this.

But really $20 a year is not much if you're going to make a handful.

So I did that.

There's a pod, an extra show for this usually what I do.

And the cool thing about it again, is you can set up like early releases.

So if I record this on, let's say, a Tuesday, which I usually do, and I release it on a

Thursday, I can actually release it to podcast to Apple podcasts early.

So that way, people who are subscribed can see it.

And so then they click on it, they see a notification, there's an episode, they click on it, and

it says early release, blah, blah, blah, you need to have the subscription.

And then as soon as I actually release it to the public through my RSS feed, that episode

becomes playable for everybody.

So really, it's genius.

Like Apple has done a great job at this.

Apple has done a good job at keeping it making people engaged, they can buy right in that,

you know, they're good at that, right?

That's what they do.

In apps, the in app purchases are great.

And that's really what this is, is an in app purchase for Apple podcasts.

So what that allows is allows you to easily seamlessly get people in involved in it in

your program.

So what I when they came out with that, I thought this is this would be dumb for them

not to have Apple podcasts on an Android device.

Well, today, they have it as a website.

So let's take a little bit of a look at that if you're watching on the YouTube channel,

but so this is the release for it.

It says that Apple podcast is now available on the web.

And it allows listeners to enjoy the full Apple podcast experience from any web browser

on any device.

They can browse millions of podcasts across dozens of categories, purchase subscriptions

to their favorite shows and more.

So again, this is this, this is this is key here.

Because now I can take it on my Android device.

I don't have one because I'm an Apple person through and through.

But on an Android device, I can open up the website, and then actually install it like

a web app, a progressive web app.

So save it to your home screen or wherever it's going to act and look just like a just

like a native app.

Apple doesn't have to pay any money to Google for this for their in app subscriptions.

But you can sign in to Apple podcasts and purchase subscriptions to your favorite show.

You can do those on the web, you can do it anywhere.

So if you have anything, you can listen to anything.

And the cool thing about it is it remembers your playback position.

It's just like your library.

So I'll show you in a little bit.

If you're watching on YouTube, I'll show you what that looks like in a browser.

But essentially, your whole library, your up next to your subscriptions, everything.

Once you're signed in, if you have an Apple ID, you can sign in and anyone can get an

Apple ID, they don't have to have an Apple product.

Listen to any podcast things like that.

You don't have to sign in either.

Now you can you can listen to a podcast just by searching it being signed out.

But that doesn't save any of the progress that doesn't allow you to have subscriptions

and things like that because they have to be able to track that for that.

But so the cool thing again, this is available right now for free for anybody.

All you have to do is go to podcasts.apple.com.

And here I'm signed into it.

And if I look into my shows, you can see all the shows that I'm subscribed to.

And again, I don't I don't listen to on Apple podcast as my daily new driver podcast app.

So I only have a few in here, basically, that I help produce so that way I can check and

see what they what they look like an Apple podcast to make sure that they're coming through.

But if I click into one, let's say, let's go back into the podcast answers one.

And I'm not going to play it.

But you can see here that you could easily quickly try for free my premium subscription,

which is $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year after a seven day trial.

You can try it free.

You can listen to all of the episodes right here in the app.

It's it's great.

It is.

It is amazing.

And I say app because it sounds and feels like an app.

It really sounds and feels like an app because I can browse podcasts.

I can see anything that I want to see.

So again, this is this is great.

So what does what does this mean for you?

As a podcast producer, what does this mean for you?

Well, really, you can start if you're not already, I would recommend becoming part of

the Apple podcasters program so you can start producing content that is subscription based

if you want to create a subscription so that only people that pay can listen to it.

But this means now that everybody can access that anybody that wants to pay for that can

access that.

So today, starting today, even if your listeners have an Android device, they can still listen

to your premium content.

So this is this is huge.

So while they didn't release a Android app, this essentially makes Apple podcasts available

on an Android on any device.

They did a great, great job because it's responsive.

It looks great in any any resolution.

And so it allows you to go in there and your listeners go in there and have access to your

podcast.

And again, there's thousands of hundreds of podcast apps, right?

I mean, there's these big players like Spotify and Apple podcast and things like that.

But now, well, and a lot of smaller players to smaller players, I mean, like, cast, dramatic

and other things like that.

And those podcast apps are amazing.

But now that Apple podcast is available on the web, you can you can have your subscriptions

are right there.

You can have people that subscribe right to your podcast, your premium content.

And the cool thing about that is, again, now it's not limited just to people who are Apple

device listeners who listen on an Apple device.

So guys, what you need to know and what you need to do is make sure that if you have a

premium subscription, you can now let your listeners know, hey, even if you're not on

Apple podcasts, even if you're not listening to Apple podcast, you can subscribe to our

premium content, you can subscribe to our premium content.

And so that allows you to sell extra make a little bit of income on your extra content

and things like that.

Or the other thing that allows you to do is offer it free to everybody for a time.

And then it goes behind the Apple podcast paywall.

And so you can make it essentially an archive if you want to.

So with that, guys, what are you going to do?

Make sure to tell your listeners this is the action items for this episode, make sure to

tell your listeners they can now go to podcasts.apple.com and they can get your premium content.

They can listen there anywhere they're at on any device and still get your content.

So guys, it's good to so good to be back.

Hey, one of the things I did try while I was a was away was I did run across this website

called suno suno s u n o.com.

It's in a site where you can ask it to create an AI song.

And so I'm going to leave you with the AI song that I created for Apple pot for podcast

answers.

And again, it's fun to play around with.

I there's, it's definitely AI generated.

You can definitely tell that it's not the best quality song that I've ever heard.

But if you're looking for something that is just an easy way to create a song for your

show, you can definitely do that.

So with that, I will, I will leave you with the song.

The mind shows the way.

Gotta start your podcast now.

Let them teach you show you how from the first to the last word.

Every tip you never heard.

Grow your fans may come stay tuned into the podcast way.

Clear the doubt rise above the fear.

And he's got the tips you see.

Tune in every single week.

Edit tight, make it right.

Sound the goons out of sight.

And intro to the close podcast grows and shows.

Listen, learn, you got the tools.

Turn the trick and bend the rules.

Audience is gonna grow.

Thanks to Andy.

Now, you know, podcast answers in your ear.

Clear the doubt rise above the fear.

And he's got the tips you see.

Tune in every single week.

And intro to the close podcast.

And he's got the tips you see.

Tune in every single week.

Edit tight, make it right.

Sound the goons out of sight.

From intro to the close podcast grows and shows.

Listen, learn, you got the tools.

Turn the trick and bend the rules.

Audience is gonna grow.

Thanks to Andy.

Now, you know, podcast answers in your ear.

Clear the doubt rise above the fear.

And he's got the tips you see.

Tune in every single week.

And intro to the close podcast grows and shows.

(howling)