Short-form news podcasts from publishers including NPR, PRI, and the Wall Street Journal will be interspersed with a user's favourite music tracks (and some new songs as well).

The company is experimenting with playlists that have a mix of music and spoken word content. Spotify users who listen to podcasts are also in for a better experience. Google announced something similar a few months back, but given that the majority of podcast listeners still use Apple products and apps, it’s an important step forward. That means you’ll be able to do a text search beyond just an episode title or description.

Apple Podcasts will now use machine-learning technology to index speech in podcasts. In addition, just as the Apple Podcasts app placed a podcast icon front and centre on every iPhone, Macs with the newest operating system will now have a podcast icon in their application dock in the bottom of the screen.Īside from the new app, Apple released more exciting news for podcast listeners.

The Podcasts app will be familiar to Apple mobile device users, but for those who aren’t familiar, the Mac site iMore has a very thorough “how to” article that walks you through the desktop app’s features and interface. This month, Apple finally announced that it’s splitting iTunes up into three pieces - Music, TV and Podcasts will each have their own app. There’s a risk that when a service is doing too many things for too many different types of users, it can threaten some of the unique design and functionality that can make or break a user experience. As Apple Music became a bigger player in the space, and Apple rolled out bigger investments in video, iTunes arguably became bloated and harder to use. In fact, the Apple Podcasts app has been credited with contributing to the boost in podcast listening in the fall of that year, helping draw attention to the launch of the hit podcast Serial.īut for Mac desktop users, podcasts have historically shared limited real estate with movies, TV shows, audio books and music in the desktop iTunes application. Apple’s mobile devices - iPhone/iPad/iPod/Apple Watch - have included a standalone Podcasts app since iOS8 was released back in 2014. Some of them have already launched.įor Apple users, the change has been a long time coming. Apple and Spotify are offering some new features they’ll be rolling out to users in the near future. Two of the biggest names in the podcast distribution game have announced significant upgrades to their services.

Spotify podcasts wall streetjournal