How to Require Parent Approval for Podcasts on iPhone

Apple Podcasts parental controls allow parents only a single "no explicit podcasts" control, but no way to require parental approval for the many inappropriate, undesired, or mislabeled podcasts in the public podcasts index. Children are still free to arbitrarily search, explore, and subscribe to any number of tens of thousands of podcasts on every conceivable topic.

Gertrude Podcasts fixes the problem with a PIN-protected podcast app: parents or accountability partners control exactly what podcasts are approved and available. All approved shows continue to update as new episodes are released, and are freely available for listening at any time. Only searching, exploring, and adding shows are blocked behind the PIN. Plus, there are no recommendations or algorithms - just parent-approved shows.

How Gertrude Podcasts works

When first installing Gertrude Podcasts, the parent or accountability partner sets and confirms a 6-digit PIN code. Once set, this PIN code is required when adding a new show.

Shows that are explicitly allowed are always available for listening, and auto-update as new episodes are added.

The limits of Apple Podcasts and Spotify parental controls

Spotify's managed accounts are music-only, so children cannot access podcasts through them. The problem below applies to standard Spotify accounts, where podcasts are available, and to Apple Podcasts: there are simply too many off-topic, unimportant, and inappropriate podcasts that are far too easy for kids to find and consume. In Apple Podcasts, the only control a parent has is to ban "explicit" podcasts, but this explicit designation is primarily supplied by the podcast author themselves. Basically it's up to the podcast to self-report if content is explicit, and it's not known how much verification Apple does for accuracy.

Even beyond podcasts that technically don't use explicit language, there are many subjects and themes that are unwanted or inappropriate for kids. Apple Podcasts is specifically designed to algorithmically present many other popular and interesting podcasts of all varieties, using a recommendation engine, and trending themes and shows.

There are also many podcasts that are specifically pornographic, and not all of these are labeled explicit. There are numerous reports from parents on Spotify's user forums of pornographic or erotic podcasts not labeled properly and available to kids.

This type of problem will only grow as it has become trivial for people to leverage AI to create spoken-word podcasts on all kinds of topics, often with ads interspersed, as a low-cost money-making scheme.

The safest posture for families who want parent approval is a parent-curated podcast library, where a parent specifically selects in advance which shows can be added, and the app functions only as a listening experience, not a discovery or social feed of podcast topics from the entire internet. This is exactly how Gertrude Podcasts works.

For adults too

It's not just kids who need and want a curated podcast player app. Many adults are wanting a greater measure of restraint and self-control, and don't want to wrestle with impulse control, preferring to yield control to a spouse or accountability partner to help them maintain a more healthy relationship with their device and listening habits. Gertrude Podcasts works great for these individuals as well.