Apple launches its podcast analytics service into beta

At WWDC this year, Apple announced it would soon offer its own podcast analytics service for show creators who publish on Apple Podcasts. Today, that service has launched into beta, offering podcasters the ability to track unique devices and playback metrics for their podcasts, including when listeners drop off in the middle of a show.


This sort of client-side data is something podcasters have wanted for a long time. But Apple had shown little interest over the years in offering analytics – despite the increasing popularity of podcasts.

That changed with the arrival of iOS 11, however. Apple redesigned its Podcasts app, and added new consumer-facing features like support for trailers, as well as those focused on newer podcast content trends, like support for serialized show type and seasons.

Under the hood, it provided the collection points for the reporting and analytics package being introduced today.

For that reason, the podcast analytics service will only track data from iOS 11 devices, and not older versions of Apple’s mobile operating system. It can also track iTunes desktop 12.7 users.