When you subscribe to a podcast in Apple Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Overcast or AntennaPod, the app is doing what a feed reader does: it checks an RSS feed regularly and downloads new episodes. The only difference is that each item in a podcast feed carries an audio file instead of an article.
How it works
Each episode is an item in the feed with an enclosure, a link to the MP3 or AAC file with its size and type. Apple added its own set of tags in 2005 for artwork, categories and explicit content, and those tags became the de facto standard. More recently the community project Podcasting 2.0 added tags for transcripts, chapters, funding links and more.
Why it matters
- No gatekeeper. Anyone can publish a podcast by putting a feed online. Directories like Apple’s only list it; they do not host it.
- Any app works. You can switch podcast apps and keep your subscriptions, often through an OPML export, just like with a feed reader.
- You can use a normal reader. Most feed readers will show podcast feeds and play the episodes, which is handy if you only follow a couple of shows.
Finding the feed of a podcast
The podcast’s own website usually links to it, often with an “RSS” button next to the app badges. If not, search for the show in a directory such as the Podcast Index, which shows the feed address of every podcast it lists.
Shows that are not feeds
Some audio shows are exclusive to one platform and have no public feed. They may call themselves podcasts, but you can only listen in that company’s app. That is a choice the publisher makes, and it is the clearest example of what the open feed protects.
Following podcasts in your feed reader already? You can keep them in a folder of their own; with the OPML Builder that is one line per show, such as Podcasts / Show name | feed address.
