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A podcast episode QR code links to an episode. The hard part is not the code, it is that your listeners are split across Apple, Spotify, YouTube and a dozen apps — and a link to one of them is a dead end for everyone else.
The payload is a plain HTTPS address, so Website URL here builds the same code for free. This type is about the destination problem rather than the format, and that problem is real: podcast listening is spread across apps that do not share links, and there is no universal "play this episode" address.
The deep link versus the web page. A platform link opens the app if it is installed and a web player if it is not, which is usually what you want. A raw audio file link plays in the browser instead, losing the subscribe button — which is the thing you actually wanted from a printed code.
The RSS feed is the format that is not owned by anyone. It is also unfriendly to scan directly: most people who scan an RSS URL get a page of XML and conclude something is broken. Use it in the chooser page, not as the code’s destination.
A code beside a piece that turns a mention of the interview into the interview, at the moment someone is already interested.
The code that makes "we have a podcast" actionable rather than a thing people intend to look up later.
Point at the episode that expands on what you just said, while the room still cares.
One platform’s link excludes everyone else. This is the defining limitation of the type. A chooser page is the only destination that treats every listener the same.
No signal, no episode. Audio is heavy and the page has to load first. Transport and venues are common scan locations and bad coverage.
Episode URLs are long. Measured with this site’s encoder, a 40-character address is 29 modules across and a 98-character one is 41 at the same error correction — and platform episode links are firmly in the second group.
Platforms change their URL formats. A printed code that points directly at a platform depends on that company’s decisions for as long as the print exists.
The code cannot know what app someone uses. Only the page behind it can ask, so a code that leads straight to a platform has already chosen for them.
Generate a shareable QR code for apps, websites, and more.