Is iOS 17 Causing Podcast Downloads to Tank? (YEP!) Everything You Need to Know!

Hey Friend!

Are your downloads decreasing because of the iOS 17 update and the changes Apple made this past year? The answer is probably yes! My downloads are down a lot for my podcast and probably are for you too. There’s no need to worry. I’m going to encourage you to utilize this to your benefit as a podcaster. Let’s dive in, and get ready to grow your online business and make more money online. 

Apple Released the iOS 17 Update

On September 18, 2023, Apple released iOS 17. I noticed my downloads continued to decline from that point on. The reason podcasters’ downloads are declining is because Apple made a shift. Here’s how Apple explains it:

When someone is subscribed to a podcast, in the past, every single episode would download and it counted as a download number inside that podcaster’s metrics. Prior to September 2023, every episode that got played would automatically download.

Now that the iOS 17 update has taken into effect, not every podcast episode gets played. There are fewer automated downloads. Fewer automatic downloads mean fewer downloads sitting unplayed on people’s phones. Basically, Apple Podcasts quit auto-downloading, in essence. This is great for people who pay for advertising spots on podcasts, but it’s not beneficial for podcasters like myself and for my students. 

Podcast Download Metrics Are Changing

We use the download number as a metric to gauge if our podcast is actually growing and getting listened to. It’s easy to spiral and think the worst about the future of your podcast because of this Apple shift, but you don’t want to give up when a little bump in the road hits. I decided to turn this whole thing over to God in this moment of surrender. God so lovingly reminded me recently that I had glanced over something with the iOS 17 update. I decided to reread the details of the update again. I realized that my download number slipping didn’t mean that I was doing something wrong, and that my podcast was failing, this slipping was because of the iOS 17 shift. 

Apple is the Biggest Podcast Platform

Eighty percent of my “Listens” as a podcaster come from Apple, and most likely the same is true for you and your audience. If you’ve been podcasting for a while, and your download number is between 25,000-100,000, this update is most likely going to affect you. If you are a new podcaster, this update is not going to affect you as much because, as you get your podcast going, you are listened to across a wide variety of platforms. But, any larger podcasters with a bigger reach will dramatically be impacted with a lower download number. You may have seen a 3-6 month decline or a holding pattern. At this point, take a deep breath and praise God for giving you peace. There is nothing to worry about. It’s actually a great thing for our industry. 

Reason #1 – Downloads are Not a Good Metric

Downloads were never a great metric in the first place. Someone would come to my podcast, subscribe to my podcast, and then my episodes would auto-download on their phone. This was never a true depiction of who was actively listening to my show. It gave this inflated number. It wasn’t a true number based on our audience size and knowing how many people were engaging in the show. I want metrics to show me real data so I can use that data to continue to grow my podcast.

We have to completely eliminate the vanity metric of downloads when we are analyzing our monthly metrics. In the past, we used this as a metric to measure the growth of your podcast, but now times have changed. As business owners and entrepreneurs, we have to consistently be willing to adapt to find what’s working and refine, and then find what’s not working and throw it out.

Are Your Podcast Downloads Declining? Check Your Metrics

The first thing you need to do is discover if your downloads are actually declining. If you log into your podcast host, such as Podbean, click on Analytics and take a look at the past 6-12 months. Try to pinpoint when the download number started to either stay stagnant or decline. Most of you will see that it was between September and December of 2023 and maybe into January of 2024.

iOS 17 was released at the end of September of 2023. People started to adapt to the new software and downloaded the update on their phones pretty quickly once it was released. Over the next 90 days, most people were downloading the update. The automatic downloads stopped at this point in time. If you can pinpoint a dip in your metric map, you know you are facing a decline from the iOS 17 update. I hope this alleviates any fears or concerns around your download numbers declining. It’s the update causing the dip.

Reason #2 – Is the Size of My Apple Podcast Audience Declining?

Next, you want to see if your audience is declining as well. Follow these steps:

• Log into Apple Podcast Connect and navigate to Analytics.

• Go into Apple Podcasts Connect

• Sign in to this account. 

• Find your show and click on your podcast.

• Go to Analytics

• Scroll all the way to the right and click on Trends

• Click the purple button that says “All Time” and make sure it’s set for “All Time”

• Go to the drop-down on the left and make sure you toggle down to “Listeners”.

This graph is going to show you your engaged listener number. My graph is up and off to the right. I’m feeling good about this. While you are inside your analytics, click on “Plays” and “Followers” as well. Looking deeper into these analytics will give you a lot more peace around your podcast. Knowing that, while my download number is down, my listeners, my plays, and my follower numbers are either stable or going up. 

If you are tracking metrics for your podcast, consider shifting to tracking your follower number, your plays, or your listeners in the Apple Podcast Connect dashboard. Now, please note that as this landscape transitions, Spotify may very well become one of the larger players in this podcasting space. We will have to wait and see. 

Reason #3 – How Does This Benefit Me? 

Ask yourself the question “How does this benefit me?” How can I learn to grow through this change? How can I adapt and get better because of it? I have seen some amazing opportunities since the iOS 17 update. The first is, I think people are going to give up. I’m not saying I’m excited that people are going to give up,  but if someone is unaware of what’s going on with the iOS 17 update and they’re not part of a podcasting community like ours, they may throw in the towel. They may think it’s the end of their podcast because everything they try isn’t working. It’s critically important that you stay true to the thing that you decided you were going to do in your online business.

I have never felt more clear that I’m supposed to be podcasting, and I hope the same for you. God has asked me to share my giftings through my podcast. Podcasting is the way that I can best communicate to my audience. My business is glorifying, it’s peaceful, and it allows me to be present. I never felt that shift in my heart happen where I thought I should give up because my downloads were going down. 

So many people are emotionally driven. Don’t be that person. Instead allow yourself to feel something and then look at the data, dig in a little bit deeper, and get resilient. The podcasters who stay in the game and don’t stop are the ones who are going to rise to the top. Hang on, dig in, and continue to teach, guide and mentor through the content you share. You are a blessing because of it.

Podcasting Is Not Going Away!

These podcast platforms are coming up with more and more amazing ways for us to be seen and found. Some of the fun Apple Podcast changes include allowing different podcast art per episode, cool filters, and search features. These recent changes allow people to search for certain things and find our shows even more easily. This podcasting game is not going away. We are players in an incredible game. Content creation is just growing and exploding. If we don’t have a foot in the door, we’re losing. If you want to be an online business owner that makes money in the next 12 to 24 months, you’ve got to be in the game. You have to learn to adapt, continuously show up, and rise to the occasion.

Do not give up just because one of our metrics changed. Our number one responsibility is to shine, show up in our gifting, and continue to glorify God. Remember to keep doing what you are doing and keep digging in. I pray that you have that type of tenacity for the people that you’re called to help.

I pray this blesses you!

Xo,

Stef

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