Cast Adds Experimental JSON Feed Support

Julian Lepinski, creator of Cast:

So I sunk my teeth in, and in about half a day I’d added experimental JSON Feed support to podcasts published with Cast.

Half a day. If you’re wondering whether JSON Feed publishing is straightforward to implement, that’s your answer right there.

That half a day includes some custom extensions specific to podcasting (iTunes-style categories and sub-categories, and an “explicit” flag).

All the regular experimental caveats apply — JSON Feed support is experimental, and could change (or disappear) at some point in future. We’re not yet seeing widespread client support for JSON Feed, but someone has to be the first in the pool to get this party started, and I’m happy for that to be Cast.

Bootstrapping something new like JSON Feed often feels like it requires magic. Clients tend not to support a new format until publishers are generating it, and publishers tend not to support a new format until client software supports it. That’s why it matters that JSON Feed is so easy and fun to support. Being easy and fun is a path around the bootstrapping problem.

If you haven’t heard of Cast before, it’s a rather remarkable all-in-one web-based creative platform for recording, editing, and publishing podcasts. You literally don’t need anything other than Cast to record a podcast (with multiple guests, none of whom need anything other than a web browser and microphone), edit it, and publish it.

★ Tuesday, 30 May 2017