Imagine being fully immersed in a great podcast when you suddenly hear someone speak in a language you don’t understand. It takes a bit, but you soon realize: This is an ad. Something many of us are annoyed by already, but in this case, it is even worse because you can’t skip this unwelcome interruption and don’t understand it either. It doesn’t even serve the purpose of selling you something. The only impact it has is being purely annoying.

That is the experience of Apple Podcasts’ ads for many people traveling abroad. And it is the experience I had this morning while making breakfast. While traveling to a café the other day. When I listened to a podcast during my grocery run earlier this week. While cleaning the bathroom before that… you get the picture. It’s not a rare occurrence for me. Over time, this experience has got me so annoyed I am now taking time out of my work-day to write this:

Dear Apple,

I like Apple Podcasts. Sure, it isn’t perfect, and there are a few things I would like to change about the apps, but overall, it’s comfortable enough for me to keep using it. The simplicity and ease of use are what keeps me from switching to another player.

Like many Europeans, I travel across Europe more than you might imagine. And every country over here has its own language. When I listen to a podcast with ad breaks, and Apple Podcasts selects the ads for me, they are usually in languages I don’t understand — utterly useless and annoying interruptions of the listening experience.

I think ads should respect the primary language of the country my AppleID is set to, or the language I set my listening device to. After all, the ads are part of the experience, and I selected the language I would like that experience to be in for the device. Alternatively, you could use the language of the podcast I’m listening to, as I will likely speak that language. Ads should never prioritize my physical location over language, as they lose their utility when I cannot understand them.

Kind regards, Wenzel

⌞w⌝