[wp-trac] [WordPress Trac] #55860: Add Pocket Casts as an oEmbed provider

[WordPress Trac]

#55860: Add Pocket Casts as an oEmbed provider
-------------------------+-----------------------------
 Reporter:  mattwondra   |      Owner:  (none)
     Type:  enhancement  |     Status:  new
 Priority:  normal       |  Milestone:  Awaiting Review
Component:  Embeds       |    Version:
 Severity:  normal       |   Keywords:
  Focuses:               |
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 👋 Hello! I'd like to suggest adding [https://pocketcasts.com/ Pocket
 Casts] to the [https://make.wordpress.org/core/handbook/contribute/design-
 decisions/#adding-new-oembed-providers oEmbed provider allow-list].

 Pocket Casts is a podcast player with apps for iOS, Android, Web, Desktop,
 smart speakers, and more. The service is free (with an optional paid
 upgrade) and it syncs your listening history and subscriptions across all
 platforms.

 The oEmbed API provides `rich` HTML to embed any audio or video episode
 onto a website. The endpoints—which support all required parameters—can be
 found here:

 - https://pca.st/oembed.json?url=[EPISODE_URL]
 - https://pca.st/oembed.xml?url=[EPISODE_URL]

 The URLs are for episode share pages like these:

 - https://pca.st/k2rof194
 - https://pca.st/qekyjgs6
 - https://pca.st/63wN

 The HTML source of those pages include `<link>` tags pointing to their
 relative oEmbed URLs. If you follow those URLs, they will provide code for
 an `<iframe>` with the following respective sources:

 - https://pca.st/embed/k2rof194
 - https://pca.st/embed/qekyjgs6
 - https://pca.st/embed/63wN

 Here are the answers to the questions that help illustrate Pocket Casts'
 establishment and popularity:

 > Is the service is popular enough for core developers to have heard of it
 before? Is it “mainstream?”

 It's a popular podcast player with around 1,000,000 monthly active users,
 and podcast-listening in general is a fairly mainstream hobby.

 > If similar services are already supported, how does this service compare
 in terms of size, features, and backing?

 Pocket Casts is a full-featured podcast player which
 [https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/16/22580023/automattic-pocket-casts-
 podcast-app-tumble-wordpress moved under the Automattic umbrella in 2021].

 The Spotify Block can also embed podcast episodes, however they don't
 support third-party video podcasts or embeds like Pocket Casts does. Other
 supported services like Mixcloud, ReverbNation, and SoundCloud, can also
 embed audio podcasts, but are much more focused on music.

 > Does this service have a large following on Twitter, Facebook, or other
 social media?  Is its Twitter account verified?

 Yes, the [https://twitter.com/pocketcasts verified Twitter account] has
 30.7K followers, and the [https://www.reddit.com/r/pocketcasts/
 r/pocketcasts subreddit] has 14.4K members.

 > Is its oEmbed endpoint clearly established and properly documented?
 (Sometimes, they are just a developer’s pet project that may not be
 supported.)

 There is no public documentation yet, but the endpoint is discoverable via
 `<link>` tags on episode share pages ([https://pca.st/nh65td20 example])
 and conforms to [https://oembed.com/ the oEmbed standard].

 > Does the oEmbed endpoint work with WordPress’ oEmbed auto-discovery? If
 not, could it be made to work with additional HTML tags or attributes
 being added to the allow-list?

 Yes, we've already tested it and the auto-discovery will pick it up.

 > Does the service make an effort to build relationships with developers,
 such as through robust APIs?

 Pocket Casts doesn't have any other public APIs at this point, but has
 internal developer relationships with other companies/vendors who rely on
 their private APIs to be well-formed and stable.

 > How old is the service?

 The apps debuted 12 years ago.

 > Does it have a well-established Wikipedia article? (Seriously.)

 There's no dedicated article, but it's mentioned in
 [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_podcast_clients this List of
 Podcast Clients] with references.

 > Has anyone written a WordPress plugin that leverages the service in some
 way, whether adding it as an oEmbed provider, creating a shortcode, or
 leveraging other APIs of the service? Do these plugins have any noticeable
 adoption or traction that would indicate usage and demand?

 No, not yet.

 > Is the provider frequently proposed?

 This is the first proposal.

-- 
Ticket URL: <https://core.trac.wordpress.org/ticket/55860>
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