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RSS is rarely shown to end-users any more, but I know a lot of people who use tools like ITTT to push their RSS feed to Twitter automatically, and services like

RSS is rarely shown to end-users any more, but I know a lot of people who use tools like ITTT to push their RSS feed to Twitter automatically, and services like iTunes use RSS to import podcasts into their walled gardens. RSS is not dead; it's just become invisible infrastructure.

scarface74 7y ago
There is no “walled garden” around Apple’s podcast. They crawl and index RSS feeds just like Google crawls web pages. Once you subscribe to the podcast, the app itself polls the podcast’s feed and the audio is played directly from the host’s website. You can also add a podcast directly if you know the feed url. On top of all that, there has been a freely available API to the podcast directory for years that other podcast players use. If you want to see a wall garden for podcasts, see Spotify, Google, etc.
- jeffchien 7y ago
  I think you are currently right, but that's probably ending soon as Apple looks to fund their own exclusive podcasts too [1]. I hope podcasters and their cooperatives/companies can resist the siren call. [1] https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/16/apple-will-reportedly-fund-exclusive-podcasts-to-challenge-spotify/ https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/16/apple-will-reportedly-fun...
  - scarface74 7y ago
    I would be okay with that if Apple introduced a standard in the RSS feed that allowed subscription, paid for podcasts that worked across apps. I’m all for a business model that lets me give companies money and they give me stuff as opposed to advertising.
    - stordoff 7y ago
      FWIW, Giant Bomb (and I assume other sites) have premium podcasts that you can only access if you are a paid member[1], and you just subscribe using: https://www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premiumbombcast?api_key=<KEY> https://www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premiumbombcast?api_ke... (you just copy it from the RSS button on their site) (previously it was https://username:password@www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premium/ https://username:password@www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/prem...) Seems to work across most apps. I don't see why it would be that hard to build a standard around something similar. [1] primarily ad-free versions of their main podcasts, but they also have premium-exclusive podcasts

scarface74 7y ago

There is no “walled garden” around Apple’s podcast. They crawl and index RSS feeds just like Google crawls web pages. Once you subscribe to the podcast, the app itself polls the podcast’s feed and the audio is played directly from the host’s website. You can also add a podcast directly if you know the feed url. On top of all that, there has been a freely available API to the podcast directory for years that other podcast players use. If you want to see a wall garden for podcasts, see Spotify, Google, etc.

jeffchien 7y ago
I think you are currently right, but that's probably ending soon as Apple looks to fund their own exclusive podcasts too [1]. I hope podcasters and their cooperatives/companies can resist the siren call. [1] https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/16/apple-will-reportedly-fund-exclusive-podcasts-to-challenge-spotify/ https://venturebeat.com/2019/07/16/apple-will-reportedly-fun...
- scarface74 7y ago
  I would be okay with that if Apple introduced a standard in the RSS feed that allowed subscription, paid for podcasts that worked across apps. I’m all for a business model that lets me give companies money and they give me stuff as opposed to advertising.
  - stordoff 7y ago
    FWIW, Giant Bomb (and I assume other sites) have premium podcasts that you can only access if you are a paid member[1], and you just subscribe using: https://www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premiumbombcast?api_key=<KEY> https://www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premiumbombcast?api_ke... (you just copy it from the RSS button on their site) (previously it was https://username:password@www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/premium/ https://username:password@www.giantbomb.com/podcast-xml/prem...) Seems to work across most apps. I don't see why it would be that hard to build a standard around something similar. [1] primarily ad-free versions of their main podcasts, but they also have premium-exclusive podcasts