The RSS feed is the foundational pillar of the podcasting industry, serving as the backbone for seamless data exchange and connecting all industry players.
While the benefits of this interconnected ecosystem far outweigh the minimal drawbacks, there are moments when, in our pursuit of providing excellent support to our content creators, we encounter challenges in promptly assessing and addressing temporary issues within the industry that could affect our customers. For instance, it becomes crucial to swiftly identify and resolve problems such as import procedures failing due to the temporary unavailability of an RSS feed or RSS enclosure, or playback issues arising from tracking prefix glitches.
Enter PodUptime
PodUptime is a distributed uptime monitoring for the podcast industry, developed and maintained by Spreaker. Its primary objective is to measure the availability of hosting platforms and track prefixes, and its source code is available on GitHub.
The project is currently in its early stages, but since its inception, our goal has been to maintain complete impartiality and objectivity. The release of its source code represents a significant milestone. At Spreaker, observability is one of our fundamental principles, and we firmly believe in the advantages that come from being able to observe a system from both its internal and external perspectives.
We understand that without the awareness that something is not performing as expected, improvements cannot be made. Therefore, we hope that this project can, even in a small way, contribute to promoting a positive attitude towards critical thinking and data-driven improvements within the industry.
What comes next?
We have plans for two upcoming features: a daily view that displays the availability of a platform over the past 30 days and a detailed view of the most recent failures to assist with troubleshooting.
Our goal is to include as many platforms and services in the industry as possible. If you represent a service within the podcasting industry, please reach out, and we’ll make every effort to incorporate your product into our list of monitored services.
Furthermore, if you come across any issues with the code or wish to discuss adding a specific feature to the product, please don’t hesitate to open an issue on GitHub. We will promptly review and address it to the best of our ability. Your feedback and contributions are highly valued.