Clear Differentiation: Ensure your user-agent string provides enough detail to differentiate your app from others. Include specific identifiers such as the app name, version, device brand, model, OS name, and OS version.

Minimal Information: Include only essential details in the user-agent string to avoid unnecessary bloat. Overloading the user-agent string can lead to inefficiencies and privacy concerns.

IAB Submission: Submit your user-agent header value to the IAB Spiders and Bots list. This ensures that analytics platforms recognize your app as a legitimate user-agent and not a bot, which is crucial for accurate data collection.

Distinct Bot Identification: If your platform employs bots for indexing content, use a distinct user-agent string that includes the term “bot” to clearly indicate its purpose. This distinction helps in maintaining transparency and avoids confusion with user-facing applications.

Consistent Structure: Follow a standard pattern for user-agent strings to ensure uniformity and ease of parsing by servers and analytics platforms. Use the following structure: <app name>/<app version> <device info> <os name>/<os version> <other info>

Full Downloads: When requesting a full download, ask for the entire file in one go. This approach is straightforward and ensures that the complete file is delivered without interruptions.

Progressive Downloads: For progressive downloads, request the file in slices using byte-range requests. This method allows for streaming-like behaviour, where portions of the file are downloaded as needed, making it easier to distinguish between full and progressive downloads.

Header Information: Utilize header information located at the start of the podcast to prevent a full download when not needed. This can help in determining the file’s metadata and deciding whether a full download is necessary.

No Modifications: Do not modify the enclosure URL when requesting media files. Avoid adding extra parameters or altering the URL in any way. This practice ensures that the original content provided by the publisher is delivered without alteration, maintaining the integrity of the media file.

No Server Caching: Avoid caching podcast episodes on your servers. Always download the latest episode from the enclosure URL for each user request. This practice ensures that users always receive the most up-to-date content and respects the publisher’s control over their content distribution.

Use GUIDs: Utilize the GUID (Globally Unique Identifier) provided in the RSS feed to identify new episodes. The GUID is designed to be a persistent identifier that remains constant even if other metadata, such as the episode URL, title, or publication date, changes. This ensures reliable identification of new content.

Unsubscribe Behavior: Implement an “automatic download unsubscribe” feature. This feature should stop automatic downloads after a user has not listened to five consecutive episodes. This approach helps manage storage on users’ devices and reduces unnecessary data usage.

Avoid Back Catalog Downloads: Do not automatically download all available episodes (e.g., back catalog episodes) by default. This can place an undue burden on the publisher’s servers and consume significant bandwidth. Instead, allow users to selectively download episodes they are interested in.