How to add a podcast to Breaker
By: Jacob Tender
Tags: Podcasting, RSS, Breaker, Apps, Podcast

It’s easy to add a new podcast to Breaker. If you’re a host, you can add it via Breaker for Podcasters. For listeners, you can add the RSS feed in your iOS or Android app.

One of the most commonly asked questions we receive at Breaker is “How do I add a show to your directory?” Although Breaker crawls the web for new podcasts on a daily basis, it’s possible you host or want to listen to one that we haven’t indexed yet. If so, read on.

Adding a podcast to Breaker’s directory is easy! There are many ways to do this, outlined below.

For podcast hosts

Breaker for Podcasters is the best way to add your podcast to Breaker and keep it updated. You can sign up for Breaker for Podcasters by visiting podcasters.breaker.audio and clicking the “Get Started” button.

Connect your podcast with Breaker for Podcasters.

Here you can paste your RSS URL into the box that says ‘Connect your podcast with Breaker.’ It may take a few moments to find and import your podcast.

Once your show appears, select it from the dropdown list and proceed with the steps to connect and confirm ownership of the show. This will give you access to a dashboard with Breaker-specific stats about your show and your listeners!

You can update your podcast’s episodes on Breaker at any time by going to the Episodes tab on your dashboard and clicking the “Sync with feed” button.

Using the Breaker iOS app

First, you’re going to need Breaker installed on your iOS device. If you have it already, great! You can skip ahead. Newcomers will want to download the app from the App Store.

Once logged in, try searching for the show from the Search tab in the menu. If the show you’re looking for doesn’t appear, you’ll find a link at the bottom of the search results that says “Can’t find a podcast? Add it by URL.” This will take you the import screen.

You can also do this by tapping “Add show by RSS feed URL” from the settings panel in your profile or by tapping the + button in the top right of the Subscriptions area of the Library menu tab. A small menu will pop up with an option to “Add from link.”

Add a show to Breaker from an RSS feed URL on iOS.

Once you’re here, simply paste in a link to the podcast and we’ll pull it in for indexing. In addition to RSS feed URLs, Breaker will accept and parse out feed information from iTunes, SoundCloud, Stitcher, and Overcast links to a particular show.

After we’ve created a listing for a podcast, you’ll be automatically subscribed and it will be visible in search for all Breaker users. If the RSS feed contains a <itunes:block> tag, you will be subscribed, but the show will not be indexed in search.

Using the Breaker Android app

Add a show to Breaker from an RSS feed URL on Android.

Similarly to the iOS app, you can use the “Add show by RSS feed URL” from the settings panel in your profile to add your show to Breaker.

For hosting providers

Podcast hosting platforms can automate the import of their client’s new podcasts in Breaker using our public API endpoint for posting them. It takes a feed_url parameter, which can either be an RSS feed or Apple Podcasts URL.

Here’s an example request using cURL:

The response will be either a 201 (created new show) or 200 (show exists on Breaker already) and will contain a slug, which you can use to construct the Breaker website URL. For example, if the slug is “bantha-fodder”, the Breaker web link would be: https://www.breaker.audio/bantha-fodder

You can view a full sample response here.

To simply check if a feed already exists in Breaker without submitting it for inclusion, you can make the following request :

This will return a show JSON object with a 200 response code if it exists.

{“show”:{“id”:…}}

If the show is not found, it will return a 404 code with a null show.

{“show”:null}

If the response body doesn’t matter, you can make a HEAD request instead.