During last weeks Apple Event, Apple revealed big updates to Apple Podcasts which brought podcast subscriptions, podcast channels, and more. Along with the big updates Apple revealed, they have also updated Apple Podcasts Connect which allow creators to submit shows, manage podcasts, view statistics, and more. The update included a redesign to Apple Podcasts Connect which supports native Dark Mode, support to manage Apple Podcast subscriptions, and other new features that are helpful for creators.
But the redesign has also caused numerous of issues for podcast creators including for ourselves at Appleosophy for the Appleosophy Weekly podcast.
One of these issues is accounts being stuck in “We’re setting up your account” screen. When you first login to the new Apple Podcasts Connect, it asks you to agree to the new terms and conditions and then asks you to wait up to 24 hours so your Apple Podcasts Connect account can be setup. It appears all creators have to setup their Apple Podcasts Connect account again after the redesign and big updates. But it appears it is taking longer than 24 hours. Some creators on Twitter have reported they have been waiting for 7 days and counting which is long past what Apple says. We can verify this as we are experiencing the same issue with our Apple Podcasts Connect account for the Appleosophy Weekly Podcast.
https://twitter.com/evoterra/status/1385611667728261121?s=21
@mijustin has broken down all the Current problems with Apple Podcasts Connect, of which there are many. Check out the thread on @TransistorFM >> https://t.co/3WHfLHpoZi#podcasting #podcasters #podcasts #Apple pic.twitter.com/sVcGiaOTl9
— Podcast Taxi (@PodcastTaxi) April 28, 2021
Unfortunately, this isn’t the only issue. Creators on Twitter have reported on other bugs that they have experienced in the new Apple Podcasts Connect.
Transistor.fm which is a company that provides podcast hosting and analytics for creators around the world created a list of all of the reported bug and issues in Apple Podcasts Connect. Some of these issues that they notes is episodes showing up in Apple Podcasts, when people update their show art, it’s not updating in Apple Podcasts, Submitting an RSS feed to Podcasts Connect results in various incorrect warnings (they’ll say your artwork is missing, your website is missing, language is missing, even when they are present in the feed, RSS feed URLs have been removed from Apple’s public podcast API, and more. The list goes on and on.
- When you try to log in, Apple will say: “We’re setting up your account. This could take a few hours.” Many people are locked out of their accounts after 5+ days.
- Evo Terra: “Day 7 of @ApplePodcasts’ silent treatment of podcasters and others attempting to do the most basic of management of their shows.”
- Jason Lange: “Apple is still setting up my ‘accounts’ I already had 3+ days later.”
- Harry Morton: “This is getting tricky. Apple Podcasts: can we at least have an ETA please?”
- Many podcasts are missing episodes:
- Jack Rhysider: “You can add my show (Darknet Diaries) to the list of ones all screwed up in Apple Podcasts. There are several episodes of my podcast that suddenly are missing. Eps 90, 88, 83, 71, 62, and 52. I registered for the new site but made no changes to anything. My feed is fine. I’ve received no email from you as to why these are gone.”
- Benjamin Mayo: latest episodes aren’t showing up in Apple Podcasts (for iOS 14.5 and later)
- Quentin Guéroult: “My podcast, Bagnolards, disappeared from Apple Podcasts, then came back on it, but with some episodes missing. They told me their engineers were working on it on Friday and they are still missing today.”
- Anonymous DM: “This apple podcast connect issue is totally f**cking me and nobody at Apple has responded to anything! so crazy! published my new episode 4 days ago and still nothing. now only half of my first season is showing to non-subscribers. so frustrating!”
- There doesn’t appear to be a way to refresh your feed in Podcasts Connect. Update: Apple has told me that “refresh your feed” will no longer be available.
- When people update their show art, it’s not updating in Apple Podcasts.
- Some folks can not submit a new podcast feed through Podcast Connect
- Submitting a new podcast currently requires a phone number for some reason.
- Submitting an RSS feed to Podcasts Connect results in various incorrect warnings (they’ll say your artwork is missing, your website is missing, language is missing, even when they are present in the feed)
- Many podcasts are not showing up in search. Update: Appears to be fixed now?
- Some podcasts have disappeared from Apple Podcasts
- Some people’s Apple show URLs aren’t working
- RSS feed URLs have been removed from Apple’s public podcast API
Apple has not officially commented on this issue, but we will reach out to them for comment and update this story if we receive one. Some Apple Engineers have reached out to creators noting that they are working on fixing the bugs as soon as possible and they are aware.
“The Apple Podcasts Connect feed issues you’ve noticed are all bugs. There was no intention to remove feed URLs en masse. Cover art hasn’t been appearing because we’ve been having issues with the crawler (I hope they’ll be resolved today).”
“Regarding the overall submission errors that they’re experiencing, our engineers are aware of the issue and are currently working to have it resolved as soon as possible.”
Are you a podcast creator and having issues with Apple Podcasts Connect? Comment down below and tell us your experience.
Author: Holden Satterwhite
Founder of Appleosophy and Redfruit Media. Twitter: @hesatter
In case anyone in the future reads this, the issue on the podcast page seems to be happening for people with older Apple accounts. Some people have reported luck reaching the site if they create a new Apple ID. Kind of a bummer, I hope Apple fixes this soon, but it seems like they haven’t 1 year in.