@js Question: can creators support this but only if their podcasts hosting solution does? (I’d assume so) and secondly does creator support help drive adoption beyond Apple now? (I’d also assume so)

@js My question is if they got bigger name creatators to vocally support this format and use it does that help drive the rest of the ecosystem....

@tchambers eh, the experience goes through their hosting company, which might look different from company to company.

I'd imagine the typical flow is: creator gives the hosting company one huge video, and the hosting company chops it up, creates the HLS, inserts any dynamic ad interstitials, and hosts the playlist and media segments.

Creators never see HLS.

@js @tchambers This.

@dave @js

So how does Apple podcats as a service support HLS video as of today exactly?

Press releases like this one sounded like they *were* delivering HLS video via the "podcast" but what I'm hearing is that may not be via RSS?

Apple Podcasts brings native video support in iOS 26.4

Apple Podcasts gains native video support in iOS 26.4 with HLS streaming, seamless audio switching, offline downloads, and dynamic video ads for creators.

iThinkDifferent (www.ithinkdiff.com)

@dave @js

Actually I think i just found out the answer:

"Apple Podcasts is not doing video via RSS. You still need an RSS feed to publish a show but once you’ve published the audio, your podcast hosting provider needs to separately send an HLS playlist URL for that episode to Apple Podcasts, which it does using a special API that the podcast hosting provider has access to."

"https://www.ithinkdiff.com/apple-podcasts-native-video-support-ios-26-4/

@tchambers @dave yea the hosting company calls the Apple api to associate an HLS url with an existing podcast episode, using an API key given to them by the creator

How to publish video on Apple Podcasts - Apple Podcasts for Creators

Add video to your podcast with your existing tools and workflows, and give fans more ways to connect.

(podcasters.apple.com)