Chapter support across different apps

Chapters are a great way to enhance your podcast episodes, allowing listeners to easily navigate between segments and topics. But here’s the catch, not all platforms treat chapters the same way.

There are several different ways to create chapters, and each method has its own level of support depending on the podcast app.

At RSS.com, we support and recommend using Podcasting 2.0 chapters. These chapters are:

• Built into your RSS feed
• Open and future-proof
• Visually rich, supporting titles, images, and links
• Displayed beautifully on our web player and on modern podcast apps like Podverse, Fountain, and Castamatic

We believe this open standard is the most creator-friendly approach and expect adoption to grow over time.

The Four Ways to Create Podcast Chapters

Currently, there are four main formats for chapters in podcasting. Each serves a slightly different use case:

1. Podcasting 2.0 Chapters (RSS-based)

These are the chapters you create directly in the RSS.com dashboard. They’re stored in your RSS feed using Podcasting 2.0 tags and appear in compatible apps and our web player. This is the easiest and most flexible option for RSS.com users.

2. ID3 Chapters (Embedded in MP3)

This is the method used by Apple Podcasts. Chapters are embedded directly into the audio file using ID3 metadata. To use this method, you’ll need to prepare the file using a tool like Forecast (macOS) or another ID3 editor before uploading to RSS.com.

✅ Good news: If you need to update an episode later, you can re-upload the audio file with ID3 chapters. As long as you don’t delete the episode, your analytics and stats will remain intact.

3. Timestamps in Episode Description

Spotify and Apple Podcasts (starting in iOS 18) will detect timecodes in your episode description (e.g., 00:18:20) and convert them into clickable chapter markers. This is a simple and effective way to give listeners quick access to topics with no special tools required.

4. Podlove Chapters

Spotify also supports this less common XML format, originally developed by the Podlove project. While similar to Podcasting 2.0 chapters, it uses a different technical implementation. RSS.com does not currently support Podlove chapters.

Best Practices for Maximum Compatibility

Because of this fragmentation, there’s unfortunately no single chapter format that works across all platforms. But here’s a recommended approach to get the best coverage:

• Use Podcasting 2.0 chapters for a rich, structured experience in the apps that support it — and to future-proof your content.
• Add timestamps in your show notes to ensure clickable chapters in Spotify and Apple Podcasts (iOS 18+).
• Optionally, embed ID3 chapters manually if Apple Podcasts compatibility is especially important to you.

We know it’s not ideal that chapters aren’t universally supported yet, but we believe open standards like Podcasting 2.0 will eventually become the norm. And when that happens, all the chapters you’ve created in your RSS.com dashboard will just work, no extra steps needed.