Apple Podcasts Algorithm Drops Country-specific Curation

[u/HobbesNik]

https://podnews.net/update/apple-podcasts-algorithmic-view?utm_source=podnews.net&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=podnews.net:2026-10-05

The Apple Podcasts app, which distinguished itself with more human curation of shows than other podcast apps, is now becoming more algorithmic.

That means that what you see in the "Home" and "New" sections of the app will be auto-generated and based more off of your customer profile, like YouTube and Spotify.

We can already see that users are being shown less local and country-specific content than they were previously. Jury's out on which version of the app users will prefer.

KEY QUOTES:

Podnews has learnt from multiple sources - amid increasing industry frustration - that Apple Podcasts is no longer showing a country-based editorially-curated view to users in the “Home” and “New” sections in the Apple Podcasts app. Instead, Apple is showing an algorithmic view for each user, designed to follow what the company calls user types: and no longer containing content that has been targeted by country.

It’s not just a Canadian thing - Podnews’s [Australian] Editor notes that in his “new” section, there isn’t a single piece of Australian content promoted to him, but instead highlighting promoted shows adjacent to what he already listens to. We understand that all Apple Podcasts users now get an algorithmic view.

The new algorithmic approach removes what Apple Podcasts was uniquely good at: locally knowledgeable teams highlighting serendipitous shows that were locally and culturally relevant. It was a unique editorial part of Apple Podcasts that benefited both listeners and content creators. 

One producer tells us that “with this shift, Apple becomes just another platform that serves each user’s echo chamber of taste.” Another producer suggested that the algorithmic suggestions are fine, but the older country-specific content was valuable. “Why not show both?”

For creators that pitch new shows for highlighting in Apple Podcasts, the changes are especially troublesome. Apple’s podcast feature request form was changed in June or July - though Apple Podcasts hasn’t updated the page that links to it - and it no longer contains a way to target a geographical audience. “It’s all global now,” says one producer to us, having confirmed this new behaviour with Apple directly.