Podcasts are a huge part of my life. If I’m not listening to one, it’s probably because I’m recording one for ChurchMag or with a friend. I’ve been working on podcasts for about six or seven years, and in fact, the first podcast I did—my church’s sermon podcast—had a hand-coded XML document to serve as the RSS feed.
So, with my “podcast credentials” fully laid out, I’d like to give you a little update on how podcasts can be added and/or updated in iTunes. There’s be some awesome developments in this area, and I’m very excited to share them with you.
However, before I begin, I have to give credit where it’s due: Google Play has had a system like this for quite some time. So, yes, once again, Apple is playing a bit of catch up. Whatever.
What is iTunes Connect?
iTunes Connect is a new web portal for current and prospective iTunes podcast producers. Gone is the tiny, hard to find “Submit Podcast” button in the iTunes Store. Now, podcast producers are given treatment on par with other publishers (books, music, apps, etc.).
Log in to the site using your iTunes account—so, you’ll need an iTunes account—and you’ll be directed to a page listing all of the podcasts you’ve ever submitted.
If you’re never submitted a podcast before, I don’t know exactly what you’ll see, but I imagine you’ll see a lot of white space a “+” button which will take you through the process of adding a new podcast.
If you’re already a podcast producer, you’ll be able to edit, refresh, and delete your feeds with ease. This really is a major improvement, and it should make managing your church’s podcast feed a breeze.
You should also know that Apple has updated it’s explicit settings—you must now choose either “explicit” or “clean,” no more being noncommittal—and they have updated the podcast artwork dimensions…again. Gone is 1400 x 1400; our images should now be 3000 x 3000 to accommodate the iTunes app on the Apple TV.
Eric Dye says
Oh, snap!
Phil Schneider says
Daaaaaaang!
Kent Kingston says
We have some cool new artwork for our iTunes podcast, but can’t figure out how to replace the lame, old image with the new one.
Phil Schneider says
Hey, Kent. It all depends on what you’re using to send your RSS feed to iTunes. Are you using a service or doing itself?