The Podknows Podcasting Apple podcasts hack
**UPDATE** – Thanks to updates in Apple Podcasts, the below no longer works within the app on iPhone.
However, you can still do it via the web version.
All you’ll need to do is change the country code in your home page URL to see the local home page of your country of choice.
For example, change https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/home (UK homepage) to https://podcasts.apple.com/us/home (US homepage)
Here are the country codes for you.
Just insert the relevant territory you want to visit in the part of the URL before ‘home’ in order to display that country’s content!
AD Andorra
AE United Arab Emirates
AF Afghanistan
AG Antigua and Barbuda
AI Anguilla
AL Albania
AM Armenia
AO Angola
AR Argentina
AT Austria
AU Australia
AZ Azerbaijan
BA Bosnia and Herzegovina
BB Barbados
BD Bangladesh
BE Belgium
BF Burkina Faso
BG Bulgaria
BH Bahrain
BI Burundi
BJ Benin
BM Bermuda
BN Brunei Darussalam
BO Bolivia
BR Brazil
BS Bahamas
BT Bhutan
BW Botswana
BY Belarus
BZ Belize
CA Canada
CD Congo, Democratic Republic of the
CF Central African Republic
CG Congo
CH Switzerland
CI Côte d’Ivoire
CL Chile
CM Cameroon
CN China
CO Colombia
CR Costa Rica
CV Cabo Verde
CY Cyprus
CZ Czechia
DE Germany
DJ Djibouti
DK Denmark
DM Dominica
DO Dominican Republic
DZ Algeria
EC Ecuador
EE Estonia
EG Egypt
ER Eritrea
ES Spain
ET Ethiopia
FI Finland
FJ Fiji
FM Micronesia
FR France
GA Gabon
GB United Kingdom
GD Grenada
GE Georgia
GH Ghana
GI Gibraltar
GM Gambia
GN Guinea
GQ Equatorial Guinea
GR Greece
GT Guatemala
GW Guinea-Bissau
GY Guyana
HK Hong Kong
HN Honduras
HR Croatia
HT Haiti
HU Hungary
ID Indonesia
IE Ireland
IL Israel
IN India
IQ Iraq
IR Iran
IS Iceland
IT Italy
JM Jamaica
JO Jordan
KZ Kazakhstan
LA Laos
LB Lebanon
LC Saint Lucia
LI Liechtenstein
LK Sri Lanka
LR Liberia
LS Lesotho
LT Lithuania
LU Luxembourg
LV Latvia
LY Libya
MA Morocco
MC Monaco
MD Moldova
ME Montenegro
MG Madagascar
MH Marshall Islands
MK North Macedonia
ML Mali
MM Myanmar
MN Mongolia
MO Macau
MR Mauritania
MT Malta
MU Mauritius
MV Maldives
MW Malawi
MX Mexico
MY Malaysia
MZ Mozambique
NA Namibia
NE Niger
NG Nigeria
NI Nicaragua
NL Netherlands
NO Norway
NP Nepal
NR Nauru
NZ New Zealand
OM Oman
PA Panama
PE Peru
PG Papua New Guinea
PH Philippines
PK Pakistan
PL Poland
PT Portugal
PW Palau
PY Paraguay
QA Qatar
RO Romania
RS Serbia
RU Russia
RW Rwanda
SA Saudi Arabia
SB Solomon Islands
SC Seychelles
SD Sudan
SE Sweden
SG Singapore
SI Slovenia
SK Slovakia
SL Sierra Leone
SN Senegal
SR Suriname
ST São Tomé and Príncipe
SV El Salvador
SZ Eswatini
TC Turks and Caicos Islands
TD Chad
TG Togo
TH Thailand
TJ Tajikistan
TM Turkmenistan
TN Tunisia
TO Tonga
TR Turkey
TT Trinidad and Tobago
TV Tuvalu
TZ Tanzania
UA Ukraine
UG Uganda
US United States
UY Uruguay
UZ Uzbekistan
VC Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
VE Venezuela
VG British Virgin Islands
VN Vietnam
VU Vanuatu
WF Wallis and Futuna
WS Samoa
YE Yemen
YT Mayotte
ZA South Africa
ZM Zambia
ZW Zimbabwe
Let’s get one thing straight. The notion of a singular “front page of Apple Podcasts?” Total bollocks!
I mean, they don’t exactly want you to know this, because that would be totally off brand for this shrouded in secrecy platform, but….
Apple Podcasts is just like Netflix, with 175 unique homepages, each tailor-made for different countries and regions.
Let’s help you get access to more of these homepages shall we?
What does the apple podcasts ‘hack’ reveal?
When we’re talking about different homepages, we’re not just talking about a little tweak here and there.
Every country’s got its own special mix of carousels and ‘hero placements’ like “New & Noteworthy” sections, and other editorial selections.
Now, here’s where this article is going to get really tasty.
Those good ‘helpful’ folks at Apple Podcasts made it near impossible to switch countries.
A VPN? Forget it, mate! VPNs can be useful for some aspects of podcasting, but it won’t get you anywhere in this locked-down app.
But here at Podknows Podcasting, we thrive on making impossibilities possible.
Also, we’re based in UK and have clients all around the world in the United States, Australia and all across Europe.
So, we kinda needed a way to check out our podcasts rankings and searchability in other countries.
No more platform geolock? Ok, so what?
We cracked this a couple of years ago and it’s been one of the ways we were able to nail down the search ranking for our clients.
And I’ve decided to share this code with you that will allow you to take yourself (and your clients if you’re a podcast agency owner spying on this blog for insights) on a worldwide tour of Apple Podcasts.
No digital passport required!
With this code trick you’ll be able to savour the unique podcasty flavours of Brazil or the sounds of Australia—all from the comfort of your favourite listening chair.
I’ve assembled the links for all 175 storefronts. You’ll be able to access them on your iPhone, iMac, Macbook Pro, you name it, any device using iOS, they’ll work.
You’ll initially get a “Can’t connect right now” message, but this will quickly disappear, and you’ll be in.
A real use case for the Apple Podcasts hack
Here’s a real use case I’ve carried out this morning (which inspired this post)
My podcast SEO team were telling me that during our routine checks for the search rankings of our podcast the Weeniecast from the awesome Katie McManus, they found it was ranking for “Jen Sincero” in the US.
This will have been because we’ve mentioned lovely Jen in a couple of episodes recently, thanks to Katie’s love of the “You Are A Badass” range of books.
Ordinarily, I’d have never known that or been able to check. But thanks to this code, I was able to have a look for the search term “jen sincero” and sure enough, there’s the show, ranking in the top 50 results for the term. And yet it’s nowhere to be seen in my own feed here in the UK.
Had enough of nosing at other countries?
Fancy a return to your homeland’s podcast scene?
Easy peasey, mate.
Just click your country’s link right on this same page.
Bookmark this page, audio adventurers.
It’s your gateway to a world of sound, with us lot at Podknows Podcasting as your guide.
Here’s the tool for you!