Report: Apple Podcasts Favors Shows With Subscriptions

Apple favors podcasts in its "Browse" tab that participate in its subscriptions program, according to Semafor.

Podcasts Feature
To be featured at the top of Apple Podcasts' Browse tab, creators simply have to submit a form to Apple, but the report noted that, last week, five of the first seven shows in the "Browse" carousel in the ‌Apple Podcasts‌ app were participants in ‌Apple Podcasts‌ Subscriptions.

Apple launched podcast subscriptions in 2021, allowing creators to offer premium content to their audience, such as bonus episodes and exclusive segments, in exchange for a small subscription fee. Apple, in return, takes up to a 30 percent cut of the revenue generated from these subscriptions.

One executive at an independent podcast told Semafor that Apple explicitly said to them that podcast subscription enrolment would help their chances of being promoted in the carousel, while another remarked that ‌Apple Podcasts‌ Subscriptions was worth participating in simply for in-app placement advantages. An individual at Apple added that the ‌Apple Podcasts‌ app is now designed to offer more features to shows that participate in the subscription program, with several key slots reserved for this purpose.

Popular Stories

m1 chip slide

Five Years of Apple Silicon: M1 to M5 Performance Comparison

Monday November 10, 2025 1:08 pm PST by
Today marks the fifth anniversary of the Apple silicon chip that replaced Intel chips in Apple's Mac lineup. The first Apple silicon chip, the M1, was unveiled on November 10, 2020. The M1 debuted in the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro. The M1 chip was impressive when it launched, featuring the "world's fastest CPU core" and industry-leading performance per watt, and it's only ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.2 Available Next Month With These 8 New Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 9:48 am PST by
Apple released the first iOS 26.2 beta last week. The upcoming update includes a handful of new features and changes on the iPhone, including a new Liquid Glass slider for the Lock Screen's clock, offline lyrics in Apple Music, and more. In a recent press release, Apple confirmed that iOS 26.2 will be released to all users in December, but it did not provide a specific release date....
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

Apple to Hide Selfie Camera Under Display of 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday November 10, 2025 1:55 am PST by
Apple will conceal the front-facing camera under the screen of its 2027 iPhone, a Chinese leaker said today, corroborating reports that Apple's 20th anniversary iPhone will have no visible cutouts in the display. Weibo-based account Digital Chat Station said Apple's development of under-screen camera technology was progressing as planned for adoption in 2027, one year after it will...
iphone pocket%402x

Apple Debuts iPhone Pocket, a Limited Edition iPod Sock-Style Accessory

Tuesday November 11, 2025 1:23 am PST by
Apple has teamed up with Japanese fashion house ISSEY MIYAKE to launch iPhone Pocket, a 3D-knitted limited edition accessory designed to carry an iPhone, AirPods, and other everyday items. The accessory is like a stretchy pocket, not unlike an iPod Sock, but elongated to form a strap made of a ribbed, elastic textile that fully encloses an iPhone yet allows you to glimpse the display...
iphone air thinness

iPhone Air Sales Are So Bad That Apple's Delaying the Next-Generation Version

Monday November 10, 2025 11:41 am PST by
The thin, light iPhone Air sold so poorly that Apple has decided to delay the launch of the next-generation iPhone Air that was scheduled to come out alongside the iPhone 18 Pro, reports The Information. Apple initially planned to release a new iPhone Air in fall 2026, but now that's not going to happen. Since the iPhone Air launched in September, there have been reports of poor sales...
Early Black Friday Deals 1

The Best Early Black Friday Apple Deals on AirPods, Apple Watch, iPad, and More

Saturday November 8, 2025 6:16 am PST by
We're officially in the month of Black Friday, which will take place on Friday, November 28 in 2025. As always, this will be the best time of the year to shop for great deals, including popular Apple products like AirPods, iPad, Apple Watch, and more. In this article, the majority of the discounts will be found on Amazon. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with some of these vendors. When ...
homepod mini colors

New HomePod Mini Coming Soon With These Features

Tuesday November 11, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is expected to announce a new HomePod mini imminently, headlining with new chips. Here are all of the new features we're expecting. The second-generation HomePod mini is highly likely to contain a more up-to-date chip for more advanced computational audio and improved responsiveness. The current HomePod mini is equipped with the Apple Watch Series 5's S5 chip from 2019. Apple is likely ...
Apple fitness plus feature

Future of Apple Fitness+ 'Under Review'

Sunday November 9, 2025 5:30 am PST by
The future of Apple Fitness+ is "under review" amid a reorganization of the service, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. In the latest edition of his "Power On" newsletter, Gurman said that Apple Fitness+ remains one of the company's "weakest digital offerings." The service apparently suffers from high churn and little revenue. Nevertheless, Fitness+ has a small, loyal fanbase that...
iphone black friday gold

The Best Early Black Friday iPhone Deals

Monday November 10, 2025 10:18 am PST by
Cellular carriers have always offered big savings on the newest iPhone models during the holidays, and Black Friday 2025 sales have kicked off at AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and more. Right now we're tracking notable offers on the iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro, iPhone 17 Pro Max, and iPhone Air. For even more savings, keep an eye on older models during the holiday shopping season. Note: MacRumors is...
2024 iPhone Boxes Feature

Apple Adjusts Trade-In Values for iPhones, iPads, Macs, and More

Thursday November 6, 2025 11:12 am PST by
Apple today updated its trade-in values for select iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Watch models. Trade-ins can be completed on Apple's website, or at an Apple Store. The charts below provide an overview of Apple's current and previous trade-in values in the U.S., according to its website. Maximum values for most devices either decreased or saw no change, but the iPad Air received a slight bump. ...

Top Rated Comments

DMG35 Avatar
21 months ago
Man, Apple seems to do shadier and shadier things every day. I still love their products but they do raise my brows seemingly every other day.
Score: 20 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
21 months ago

But those days are mostly gone. Podcasts started out as randoms in their basement recording on their laptop mics, now many of them are professional operations that people rely on to feed their families. There are still some of the former around, but we're kidding ourselves if we don't look at podcasts as a business.
I‘m okay that those exist, but Apple being hell-bent on taking an extra cut of every service and content you access through an Apple device is an abuse of their position. The bicycle for your mind turned into a vacuum for your wallet. It literally sucks.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
klasma Avatar
21 months ago

They don’t build and grow platforms for some charitable purpose. Apple is a business and it’s executives dutifully bound to maximize profits as much as possible in conjunction with maintaining the health of the company.
This is very American view of business. There is absolutely no necessity to maximize profits in order to have a healthy business. It’s also a myth that there would be a duty towards shareholders to maximize profits. And if there was, we should rally against it, because it’s not beneficial to customers and not healthy for society. Profits should be a means to an end, not the end itself.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
contacos Avatar
21 months ago
EU like: excuse me!
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
21 months ago
Any problems, he goes to Paulie. Trouble with the bill? He can go to Paulie. Trouble with the cops, deliveries, Tommy, he can call Paulie. But now the guy's gotta come up with Paulie's money every week, no matter what
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ThunderSkunk Avatar
21 months ago
Last time I looked you could subscribe to every podcast on earth, bc that’s how podcasts work. Someone over there keeps making a continual effort to break up the beautiful simplicity of what podcasts fundamentally are & complicate it with groups, channels, stations, the inexplicable listen now/browse/library/search redundancy & Microsoft-bad screen wasting ui designs with minimized controls that take more and stupidly precise taps to operate, all still running on a backend that still can’t remember to keep your downloads current over Wi-Fi until it’s too late and you’re in the car & open the app trying to listen to something. And it still isn’t integrated into the home screen resume playback control.

Twenty years ago podcasts were a single simple ui screen in iTunes that showed you everything you needed to know and gave you clear accessible playback controls all in a single efficient layout. Apple should familiarize themselves with what a nice job they used to do.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)