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<div style="font: bold 2em/1.2 -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'SF Pro Display', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: var(--wiki-color);">Apple Podcasts</div>
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! class="ios-lab" | Operator
| class="ios-val" | [[Apple]]
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! class="ios-lab" | Directory since
| class="ios-val" | 2005 ([[iTunes]] 4.9) · standalone app 2012
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! class="ios-lab" | Model
| class="ios-val" | Free and open RSS · optional paid subscriptions (2021)
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! class="ios-lab" | Features
| class="ios-val" | Transcripts · chapters · Top Charts that define the industry
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{{Apple Navbox}}
Apple Podcasts is where podcasting got its name and its audience: when [[iTunes]] added a podcast directory in 2005, a hobbyist RSS format became a medium, and the iPod's "pod" stuck to it permanently. Two decades on, the app remains the medium's reference directory — its charts the industry's scoreboard.
= Position =
Apple has kept podcasting's open substrate intact — any RSS feed, no exclusivity wars — while layering conveniences on top: a standalone app since 2012, paid channels and subscriptions since 2021, and automatic transcripts since 2024. Against Spotify's exclusive-shows strategy, Apple bet that podcasting stays open and ubiquitous; the medium largely agreed, and the app ships on every device from [[iPhone]] to [[HomePod]].