Release Notes

What's New on Podbay

Smart Timestamps, Podcast Privacy, App Betas, and more
November 2, 2020 • v2.9.2
Smart Timestamps
Podcast audio is now easier to explore, share, and rediscover on Podbay with Smart Timestamps. This feature integrates markers of key moments into our player, and introduces an easy-to-use, tappable list view that lets listeners jump straight into any segment.
Podcasts that include timestamps in their show notes, or implement the podcast:chapters specification in their RSS feeds will automatically have Smart Timestamps enabled for all their episodes.
Listeners can also create Smart Timestamps to share with their friends or followers by using the new "Share at current time" feature on any episode page. This lets you share a URL that with a marker & timestamp for your chosen time, and starts at that time when played.
We're working on something next that will use popular shared timestamps to identify and tag interesting moments. This will help each episode page become richer and more informative over time for more listeners.

An example of Smart Timestamps using episode descriptions. Try out Smart Timestamps here.
Podcast Privacy
We've added privacy-related information about the services podcasts use to distribute their content. As the podcasting industry grows, more services start looking at and tracking more listener data with each episode stream or download.
Podbay now analyzes the services hosting each individual podcast, and displays easy to understand information about the privacy implications of each service. We cover stats collection, tracking, and dynamic content & advertising. You can find this information on any podcast's About tab.
Podcast Privacy for The Daily
We think it's important for listeners and podcasters to be more aware of this information, so we've open sourced a library and released a free production-ready API for other app developers to integrate podcast privacy data into their own apps.
App Betas
We're ready to start getting beta testers on the Podbay apps for iOS and Android. You can download both betas now.
Core features in the beta release:
• Discover and listen to any podcast on the go using the same experience you’ve had on the website.
• Sync your account including My Podcasts, My Queue, and listen history, between the website and apps.
• Download episodes to listen anywhere.
• Import private RSS feeds.
• Import or export OPML files to share podcasts from or to other services.
• Just like the website, you can use every feature without needing an account.
These apps are in beta, and we'll be making improvements before officially launching. Your feedback helps us make the best apps possible. You can send us feedback in the app by clicking “Beta Feedback” in the “Your Stuff” tab. You can also use the form below.
Other Stuff
• Podcasts with videos now have standalone video pages and an improved viewing experience.
• Users can now hide podcasts around the site by clicking "Hide Podcast" from the menu on any podcast link.
• Previous and next episodes are now automatically linked to on episode pages for easier navigation.
• Bugs that caused the player to fail to restart or resume an episode have been fixed.
• The mobile player has been updated to utilize space better on small devices.
• A "Stream or download on Podbay" badge is available on the About tab of any podcast page for sharing.
• The player is now hidden by default when on an episode page. This behavior can be adjusted from the Settings page.
Up Next
We're getting our desktop apps (Mac, Windows, and Linux) ready to release in beta soon, and will be working on enhancing the mobile app betas with the help of your feedback.

Customization, analytics, promotions, and more
October 16, 2020 • v2.9.1
We've added lots of new features improvements around Podbay and want to start highlighting the best new stuff. If you have suggestions or requests of your own, you can let us know with the form at the bottom of this page.
Analytics and Customization for Podcasters
If you're a podcaster, you can now access your show's analytics - pageviews, subscribers, listens and more using the new Analytics tab. Here's an anonymized screenshot of how it looks. You can also use the Customize tab to update your podcast URL, change your theme color, associate a YouTube channel for video integration, add new links, write a message to your listeners, and more.

To access these features, make sure you're signed in with the email address used to submit your podcast. Once you confirm your email via Settings, your new Analytics and Customize tabs will appear on your podcast page. You can also access them via the Podcast Manager link in the sidebar. You can write us a message if you have any issues or questions while using these new features.
Promoted Podcasts
We now let podcasters and listeners promote their favorite podcasts to Podbay's audience of over 40,000 unique listeners per day (average as of October 2020). We're launching this feature with a limited time introductory price of just $20 per day so it's affordable for anyone interested in trying it out. Revenue from promotions help us pay for our costs in hosting Podbay without introducing intrusive advertising, tracking scripts, or paywalled features. More details are available on the new Promote tab of every podcast page. Here's an example of how Promoted Podcasts look.
Player and Queue Customization
You can now customize the times on your Player's skip buttons, playback speeds, and more in your Settings. You can also adjust your Queue's auto-play, auto-refresh, and auto-remove settings. All these settings are saved to your device and synchronized automatically if you're logged in.
Speed and Data Usage Improvements
We've been making lots of improvements to our overall site performance and data usage. Since launching the last major update in August, we've brought down the overall size of our codebase and cut average page load times in half. We're commited to keeping Podbay the fastest and lightest podcast player on the web even as we add new functionality.
Other Stuff
• Added a Refresh button to podcast pages.
• Improved our synchronization system for mobile users.
• Lots of other small bug fixes and design improvements around the site.
Up Next
We're putting the finishing touches on our mobile and desktop apps now, and will be starting an open beta very soon. If you have any suggestions or feedback, please let us know using the contact box below.