P3
Privacy Preserving Playback
When you press play, most apps silently route your request through a chain of third-party tracking servers — companies that log your IP address, what you listen to, when you listen, and how long you stay.
P3 cuts them out.
With P3 enabled, YourPods strips away those hidden middlemen and connects you directly to the audio. And with the new Streaming Proxy, you can go even further — route your audio through our servers so the podcast CDN never sees your IP at all.
What's happening without P3.
Podcast episode URLs are rarely direct links to audio files. A typical episode URL passes through multiple layers before reaching the actual audio.
What P3 does.
P3 runs entirely on your device. Before YourPods plays or downloads an episode, it performs three steps — automatically, in the background.
Strips Tracking Redirects
Inspects episode URLs for known tracking and ad-insertion prefixes, then strips them — extracting the direct link to the audio file.
Removes Attribution Parameters
Cleans UTM query parameters and other attribution tags that identify where traffic comes from and how you found the episode.
Connects Directly
Your device connects straight to the podcast's audio host. The tracking companies never see your request. They don't know you exist.
How it works.
P3 is a tracking blocker, not an ad blocker. It removes the analytics and fingerprinting redirects from episode URLs — your device still connects to the podcast's audio server exactly as intended.
Streaming Proxy.
P3 strips the trackers. The Streaming Proxy goes further — it routes your audio through YourPods servers so the podcast's CDN never sees your IP address, your browser, or your location. Just our server, requesting audio on your behalf.
Proxy Playback
Route audio streams through YourPods servers during playback. The podcast CDN sees our server — not your IP address, not your browser, not your location.
Proxy Downloads
Download episodes through the same relay. The file arrives on your device without the hosting provider ever knowing who requested it.
Per-Podcast Granularity
Set each podcast to Always On, Always Off, or Default. Global settings apply everywhere — per-podcast overrides give you fine-grained control.
Usage & Limits
Each unique episode counts as one use, regardless of how many times you play, pause, or seek within that episode. Your quota resets on the first of each month (UTC).
Track your usage in Settings or at account.yourpods.app. When you reach the limit, playback gracefully falls back to a direct connection — no interruptions, no errors.
Under the Hood
For the security-minded and the source-code curious.
The proxy relays audio bytes directly to your browser using streaming I/O. Nothing is cached, stored, or written to disk on our servers. The CDN receives requests from our server IP with user agent YourPods.app/1.0 — your real IP, browser, and cookies are never forwarded.
What it blocks.
P3 recognizes and strips tracking and dynamic ad insertion services — maintained and updated with each app release.
Download Analytics
Services that log your IP, device, and listening behavior every time you press play or download an episode.
Dynamic Ad Insertion
Servers that stitch targeted ads into the audio stream in real-time, personalized based on your listener profile.
Attribution Tracking
UTM parameters and campaign tags appended to any URL — stripped automatically so your listening can't be traced back to a source.
What it doesn't do.
Doesn't block baked-in ads
If the podcast creator records an ad read as part of their episode, that's part of the audio file itself. P3 never modifies audio content.
Doesn't phone home
The URL stripping logic runs locally using a bundled list of known domains. No network requests are made to check URLs. Ever.
Doesn't log what you listen to
Even with the Streaming Proxy enabled, YourPods never logs episode URLs, podcast names, or your full account identifier in connection with proxy requests.
You're in control.
P3 is designed to get out of your way — but when you need to adjust it, everything is one tap away.
Global Toggle
One switch in Settings turns P3 on or off for all podcasts. Turn it on once and every episode you play or download goes through the direct route.
Support Your Favorites
Podcast creators rely on download metrics to measure their audience and earn revenue. If you want to support a specific show's data collection, just disable P3 for that podcast — your choice, per show.
Syncs Across Devices
P3 preferences sync across your devices if you use YourPods Sync. Configure it once on any device, and it applies everywhere.
Why we built P3.
We believe podcast listeners have the right to choose whether they're tracked. Most podcast apps silently pass your requests through multiple tracking servers before you hear a single second of audio. You never consented to this.
P3 gives you that choice. It's off by default, fully opt-in, and can be controlled per-podcast — because we also respect that creators depend on audience metrics. We're not making a judgment call for you. We're giving you the switch.
P3 processes URLs entirely on your device. The Streaming Proxy relays audio through our servers without storing, caching, or logging what you listen to. In both modes, your listening habits remain yours alone.
Take control of your playback.
P3 is included free in YourPods. The Streaming Proxy is available to Pro subscribers — 25 episodes per month, no strings attached.