# Apple Podcasts (آبل بودكاست)

> Apple Podcasts is available in Syria with limited functionality, as of 2026-08-10.

- Status: limited
- Outreach: Contacted
- Company: [Apple](https://unblocksyria.com/en/companies/apple.md)
- Categories: Podcasts, Creator Economy
- Official site: https://podcasts.apple.com
- Community votes: 15
- Last updated: 2026-08-10
- Page: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/apple-podcasts

## About

Apple's podcast directory and listening app with millions of free and premium shows

## Activity summary

Partially blocked in Syria, verified in February 2026. The app and website load and browsing works, but playback of certain podcasts fails with geo-specific errors that a VPN resolves. The team named Apple Podcasts among several Apple products in a follow-up to the company in March 2026; no resolution yet.

## Official timeline

- 2026-03-31 — Follow-up Sent. Official follow-up email sent from corporateaffairs@unblocksyria.com to executiveescalations@group.apple.com. Apple Podcasts was explicitly named as restricted alongside six other Apple products. The email argued that Apple's own accessible services demonstrate the compliance groundwork is already established internally.

## Community reports

- 2026-02-21 — Verified. Community testing confirmed that Apple Podcasts is partially restricted from Syria. The app and website load normally, and podcast browsing, episode listings, and search all work. However, attempting to play certain podcasts (including The Joe Rogan Experience and The Shawn Ryan Show) triggers errors: "This episode can't be played on this device" or "This episode is temporarily unavailable. Try again later." These playback restrictions are confirmed to be geo-specific — enabling a VPN resolves the issue. Tested across iOS, macOS desktop app, and Chrome web browser on both DSL and cellular networks from a Syrian IP. (evidence: https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/ushij1uj1fq6m90jhu4pvixf/i2k9u6aq3jaun2krafjjk9pe-img-4306.png, https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/byfd0am2162qwyjzehqx7xtc/djeprzzku6ucb9b2s62kv1an-img-4305.png, https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/mfl1gmyvz4jt3e6yrk1mb0ey/soih2q0m1acsxgv5jui9lu11-screenshot-2026-02-22-at-12.43.31-am.png, https://api.unblocksyria.com/files/evidence/r1qn9nel77pqeiyh7rjp0aw7/f52e318d6z48x3pf34ux3o23-screenshot-2026-02-22-at-12.45.48-am.png)

## Context

These are geo-restrictions the companies applied themselves, not filtering by Syrian ISPs and not a legal requirement. US and EU sanctions on Syria were lifted in 2025. See https://unblocksyria.com/llms.txt for the regulatory summary and https://unblocksyria.com/en/about for citations to the specific orders and regulations.

## Machine-readable

- JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/apple-podcasts?locale=en
- Timeline JSON: https://api.unblocksyria.com/services/apple-podcasts/timeline?locale=en
- HTML: https://unblocksyria.com/en/services/apple-podcasts
- Other languages: https://unblocksyria.com/ar/services/apple-podcasts.md, https://unblocksyria.com/ku/services/apple-podcasts.md