Recommendations for Publishers Using Their Own Player

If you are a publisher using your own web player or an app that ingests RSS feeds to distribute podcasts, there are important best practices to follow. These recommendations ensure a smooth experience for listeners, optimize performance, and maintain compliance with industry standards.

Playback Recommendations

Avoid Auto-Play – Auto-playing audio as soon as a user visits a page creates a poor user experience and can lead to unintended interruptions. Let the user decide when to start playback.

Do Not Pre-load Unless Necessary – Avoid pre-loading audio unless the user has explicitly indicated their intent to play an episode. This helps conserve bandwidth and prevents unnecessary data usage.

Media Request Best Practices

Use Header Information – Utilize the metadata located at the beginning of a podcast file to prevent unnecessary full downloads when only partial information is needed.

File Request Handling:

• Full Download: When requesting a full file, ensure the request is made in a single attempt.
• Progressive Download: If implementing progressive downloads, request the file in slices (byte range requests). This ensures full downloads can be distinguished from progressive downloads.

Do Not Modify the Enclosure URL – When requesting media files, do not append additional parameters to the enclosure URL. Modifying URLs can disrupt tracking and analytics.

Avoid Caching Podcast Episodes on Your Servers – Always fetch the latest episode directly from the enclosure URL. Caching can lead to outdated content being served to listeners and can skew analytics data.

Episode Identification and Download Management

Use GUID to Identify New Episodes – Instead of relying on the episode URL, title, or publication date, use the GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) provided in the RSS feed. This ensures that episodes are correctly tracked, even if metadata changes.

Implement an Automatic Download Unsubscribe Mechanism – Automatically stop downloading episodes for users who have not listened to the last five downloaded episodes. This prevents unnecessary bandwidth consumption and respects user engagement.

Do Not Download All Episodes by Default – Avoid downloading an entire back catalog of episodes automatically. Instead, allow users to manually choose which past episodes to download, preventing excessive server load and user bandwidth consumption.

By following these best practices, you can create a better experience for your listeners while optimizing resource usage and ensuring compliance with industry standards. If you have any questions about integrating RSS.com feeds into your custom player, feel free to reach out to our support team.