How to share a podcast at a specific timestamp

Spotify: share from the current time

Spotify added timestamped sharing for podcasts in May 2021, on iPhone and Android.^[1] It shares from wherever the episode is playing.

1. 1
   Play the episode and pause at the moment you want.
2. 2
   Tap Share.
3. 3
   Turn on the option to share from the current time.
4. 4
   Pick where to send it, or copy the link.

The link opens the episode in Spotify at that time and keeps playing from there. There is no end point. If you want to clip a Spotify podcast with a start and an end, paste the same link into BitePods.

Apple Podcasts: share from a time or from the transcript

Since iOS 18, the share sheet in the Podcasts app shows a "From Start" banner. Tap it to share from a specific time instead. You can also press and hold a paragraph in an episode's transcript to share a link to that point.^[2]

On a Mac, Apple's own guide gives these steps:^[3]

1. 1
   Open the episode's transcript in the Podcasts app.
2. 2
   Select up to 200 words.
3. 3
   Control-click the text and choose Share from [timestamp].
4. 4
   Pick an app such as AirDrop, Mail or Notes.

Apple notes that transcripts aren't available in every language, country or region.^[3] Like Spotify's, the link has a start but no end. To share an exact stretch, clip the Apple Podcasts episode instead.

Overcast: a link at the current time, or a one-minute clip

Overcast's share menu can share a link at the current time. In 2019 it added clip sharing: clips of up to a minute, from any public podcast, as audio or as portrait, landscape or square video.^[4] The link to a clip opens an overcast.fm page queued to the start of the clip.^[5]

Any app: send a clip with a start and an end

A timestamp says where to start. It doesn't say where the part you mean ends, and it opens in the service it came from. A BitePods clip does both: it plays only the seconds you marked, in any browser, with no app or account.

1. 1
   Copy the episode's link from Spotify, Apple Podcasts, any podcast app or the show's RSS feed.
2. 2
   Paste it into BitePods, or search the show by name.
3. 3
   Drag the start and end to the exact seconds, or type the times.
4. 4
   Press Clip it and copy the link.

The clip plays from the publisher's own file, so their download and play counts stay theirs.

For Instagram or TikTok, where a link in a caption can't be pressed, press Share and pick Instagram or TikTok. You get a Story picture of the clip with the show's cover, the title and the link on it, and the link is copied. Post it, and add the link as a link sticker or in your bio.

Side by side

Why a timestamp can be a few seconds off

Many shows insert ads separately for each listener, so the same moment can sit at a slightly different time in different copies of an episode. We see it in BitePods too: a Spotify link is played from the show's own feed, and that copy can carry different ads. Whatever you use, play the link once before you send it.