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This article provides instructions on how to hide a show or episode from Apple Podcasts

In this article, we are going to cover:

• When Should You Use It?
• How It Works
• Best Practices

In Podcaster, you can control whether your podcast or specific episodes appear in Apple Podcasts. Log in to your SoundStack Podcaster account. From the left-side menu, navigate to Content and select a show. Once inside the show, you can either access the Edit tab and scroll down to the Hide the show from Apple Podcasts checkbox or click on a specific episode and scroll down to see the Hide the episode from Apple Podcasts option.

Show level:

Episode level:

When either option is selected, Podcaster automatically updates your RSS feed with the special Apple-only tag:

<itunes:block>Yes</itunes:block>

How It Works

1. Show-Level Blocking
   • Selecting Hide the show from Apple Podcasts adds "<itunes:block>yes</itunes:block>" at the channel level in your RSS feed.
   • This hides your entire podcast, including all episodes, from Apple Podcasts.
     
   • Even if you had not blocked individual episodes, the show-level block overrides everything.
     
     Show-Level Example Code Snippet:

     <channel>
        <title>SoundStack Podcast</title>
        <link>https://soundstack.com/</link>
        <itunes:block>yes</itunes:block>
     </channel>

2. Episode-Level Blocking
   • Selecting Hide the episode from Apple Podcasts adds "<itunes:block>yes</itunes:block>" to the individual episode's feed entry.
   • This hides only that episode from Apple Podcasts, while the rest of your show remains available.
   • It’s useful if you want to keep most of your catalog visible but remove one or two episodes.
     
     Episode-Level Example Code Snippet:

     <item>
        <title>Episode 10 – SoundStack Bonus Content</title>
        <enclosure url="https://pds.cdnstream1.com/p/ep10.mp3" length="8727310" type="audio/mpeg"/>
        <itunes:block>yes</itunes:block>
     </item>

Note: The <itunes:block> tag is only recognized by Apple Podcasts. Other directories like Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Pocket Casts typically ignore it.

Best Practices

• Use episode-level blocking if you just need to hide or correct a single episode.
• Use show-level blocking when you're sure you want your podcast hidden completely from Apple Podcasts.
• If your goal is to remove your podcast or episode from all platforms, blocking alone is not enough. You’ll need to delete the show or the episode.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact our Support Team through the ticket submission form or by emailing us at support@soundstack.com.