Apple Podcasts transcript not available?
Most English, Spanish, French and German episodes get a transcript, but not all of them. These are the reasons we see most often, and what to do about each one.
1. The episode just came out
Apple generates transcripts after an episode is published, and it takes a while. Most episodes have one within a day; some take two or three. Try again tomorrow. Nothing about the episode needs to change.
2. The publisher switched transcripts off
Shows can opt out of Apple’s automatic transcripts in Apple Podcasts Connect. When they do, no episode of that show has one, old or new. If three or four recent episodes all fail, this is almost certainly the reason. There is nothing to fetch, here or anywhere else that reads Apple’s transcripts.
Looking for a show that does have them? These popular podcasts were all checked and have transcripts on every recent episode.
3. The language is not supported
Apple writes transcripts for English, Spanish, French and German. A show in another language, or an episode that mixes in a lot of another language, usually has none.
4. It is mostly music or very old
Episodes that are mainly music, and some older back-catalogue episodes, have never been transcribed. Apple has been filling in older episodes over time, so a gap today may not be there next month.
5. The link points at the show, not the episode
An episode link ends with ?i=1000…. A link without it belongs to the whole show. Paste it into PodText anyway: you will get a list of the show’s episodes to pick from.
6. It is a subscriber-only episode
Episodes behind an Apple Podcasts subscription are only available to subscribers in the Podcasts app, and cannot be read through a public link.
Questions
Can I make Apple transcribe an episode?
No. Listeners cannot request a transcript. Only the publisher can upload their own transcript or turn Apple’s back on.
Does the transcript show up in the Podcasts app but not here?
That should not happen, since PodText reads the same file. Make sure the link is for the same episode, then contact us with the link if it still fails.
Is there another way to get a transcript?
Some shows post transcripts on their own website. Otherwise you would need a speech-to-text service that transcribes the audio itself, which takes longer and may cost money.