How to upload a podcast to Apple Podcasts, video included: steps, requirements and what changed in 2026

How to upload a podcast to Apple Podcasts, step by step

The first surprise for almost everyone is that you don't upload anything to Apple. Apple Podcasts is a directory: it reads your show from the outside. Your files live on a host, the service where you upload episodes and that generates the RSS feed, the address every podcast app reads. It can be Spotify for Creators, Acast, Transistor or any other.

Once that's clear, there are only a few steps. First you publish at least one episode on your host; a short trailer is enough. Then you copy the RSS feed address, which is usually in the distribution section. You sign in to Apple Podcasts Connect, Apple's web dashboard for podcasters, with your Apple Account, press the add button, choose a new show with an RSS feed and paste the address. Apple reads the feed, shows you the name, the artwork and the episodes and, if everything is in order, you submit it for review.

Do you have to pay? No. Apple doesn't charge to be on Apple Podcasts, for audio or for video. And you only do it once: when the show is approved, every episode you publish on your host appears on Apple without you logging in again.

If you host on Spotify for Creators, you first need to turn on RSS distribution in the show settings. Bear in mind that your email address becomes visible in that feed, because it's what platforms use to check that the show is yours.

What Apple needs to approve your podcast

Apple Podcasts Connect runs a technical check as soon as you paste the feed, but passing it doesn't mean you're approved: Apple reviews every show before publishing it.

The cover art must be square, between 1,400 and 3,000 pixels per side, in JPG or PNG, in RGB colour and without transparency. Apple recommends 3,000 by 3,000. It's the first thing people will see, and they'll see it small on a phone screen, so the show's name has to be readable at that size.

The feed has to be public and complete: title, description, language, at least one category and one episode with its file. The most common mistakes are an empty category, a missing description or file names with accents or spaces. Any serious host fills this in for you if you complete the show's profile properly.

How long does Apple take to approve it? It varies: sometimes a few hours, sometimes several days. That's why you shouldn't submit it the night before launch. What we recommend is publishing a trailer, submitting the show for review one or two weeks ahead and launching with several episodes, so whoever arrives has more than one to watch.

Once you're in, changes to the artwork or description take a while to show. If they don't appear, Apple Podcasts Connect has a button to make it read the feed again.

How to upload a video podcast to Apple Podcasts

For years, Apple Podcasts was almost audio only. That changed in March 2026: with iOS 26.4, the app launched streaming video, with horizontal full screen, downloads for offline viewing and a button to turn the picture off and keep listening. It works on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro and the web.

Here's another surprise: you don't upload the video to Apple either. Your host serves it in a streaming format called HLS, and it's the host that tells Apple about each episode. That's why it only works with hosts that have an agreement with Apple. At launch these included Acast, ART19, Audiomeans, Ausha, Captivate, Omny Studio, Podbean, Podigee, Riverside, RSS.com, Simplecast and Transistor, and the list keeps growing. If yours isn't there, ask them; in the meantime, Apple will keep getting the audio.

There's one important detail on the listener's side: on mobile data, video is off by default, and automatic downloads stay audio unless the person chooses video. Your episode has to work without the picture too.

The good news is that the master is the same one you already prepare for YouTube and Spotify: horizontal, high definition and with good sound. If you already record on video, Apple is one more door, not a new job. If you're not sure it's worth it, we cover that in what a video podcast is and what it's for, and the other big shop window is in how to upload a podcast to Spotify.

Apple Music, Android and the other questions Google brings up

When you search how to upload a podcast to Apple, Google also suggests Apple Music. Podcasts aren't on Apple Music: they live in the Apple Podcasts app, which comes installed on iPhone, iPad and Mac. If someone tells you they heard you "on Apple", it's almost always there.

What about people with Android? There's no Apple Podcasts app for Android, but anyone can listen to or watch your show on the Apple Podcasts website, in a browser. It's free for listeners; some shows also offer paid content, but that's each creator's choice.

Do you have to upload each episode to Apple? No. Once the show is approved, you publish the episode on your host and it appears by itself. If you want it out on a specific day and time, you schedule it there.

Is it worth being on Apple if you're already on Spotify and YouTube? Yes: it costs nothing beyond a one-off submission, and plenty of iPhone users listen there and in no other app. Apple Podcasts Connect also gives you its own analytics, such as how many people follow the show and how far they get into each episode. Comparing them with YouTube and Spotify tells you a lot about which topics hook people; we explain it in how to promote a podcast.

That said, Apple won't push your show for you. Being listed isn't the same as being found, and that's where the way each episode is made matters.

Uploading is the easy part: what gets it heard

Sending your feed to Apple takes ten minutes. What decides whether someone stays happens earlier, in the recording and the edit: how the episode opens, how it looks and how it sounds. On Apple, many people also listen with the screen locked, so the sound needs as much care as the picture.

On Aladetres, the interview podcast whose entire post-production we handle, every episode opens with a 30 to 45 second intro with motion graphics and original music. With more than a hundred episodes post-produced, the channel has gone from around 100,000 to over 800,000 subscribers on YouTube, and that same master is what reaches every platform.

The other half is consistency. With La Fábrica, our monthly service, we deliver per episode the full show, five cuts of around ten minutes for YouTube, seven reels and the thumbnails with their titles, and if you prefer we also take care of distribution. That's how we work every week on The Sage Steele Show, together with our partner Dull Light, from two or three hours of raw footage per episode.

If you want your podcast to reach Apple, Spotify and YouTube at that level, at Bostak Films we do it from Barcelona and remotely for the whole of Europe and Latin America. Book a free diagnosis: we look at your show and tell you what we'd change. Everything we do is on our podcast production page.

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