Apple Podcasts

Castbox is a really interesting podcast app that I’ve been watching for a while now. The app offers what you expect when you think of an iOS podcast application, but Castbox wants to add their own spin on it. Today, they’ve announced the launch of Livecast. Castbox Livecast is a free audio streaming service that lets podcasters go live to their audiences with the tap of a button. Livecast is available on Castbox mobile and desktop apps, so users can join wherever they are.

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I’m very passionate about the podcast industry. I believe it’s the most exciting medium for sharing content on the market today. The technology to create a show is accessible to all, the technology to listen to shows is available for smartphones and even Apple Watch (listening to podcasts while running was one of the main reasons I bought an Apple Watch). I was recently at a local running event, and afterward, everyone met up at a burger place to consume the calories we just burned. The conversation quickly turned to “what are your favorite podcasts” at the moment. Listening to podcasts is no longer a niche thing. It’s become mainstream. Over the summer, I found a show that has completely sucked me in, and it’s doing something pretty unique. I’m talking about Carrier. Before I realized it came out on Tuesdays, I would check Overcast every morning to see if a new episode had been released.
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Apple plans to use some of its spare cash to fund original podcasts for its platforms, according to a Bloomberg report. The news comes as the podcast game heats up with competitors like Spotify investing hundreds of millions of dollars in original content projects.

Up to now, Apple has participated in the podcast ecosystem by hosting the de-facto canonical directory of shows, which most third-party apps rely on to find new shows. The directory was free to join and did not require an Apple business relationship.

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Since I am currently training for a marathon later this fall, I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts on Apple Watch during my long runs. I’ve been a heavy podcast listener since before Apple integrated it into the iPod, so being able to listen to them on a watch is a dream come true for me. Pairing Apple Watch with the new Powerbeats Pro is the perfect combination for running.

While I am generally an Overcast user, I have experimented with Apple Podcasts here recently as well. I wrote an article about the best podcast app for Apple Watch that I encourage you to read as well. This week, I want to talk about what Apple could do for Apple Podcasts on watchOS 6 and beyond to improve the experience.
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I’ve been a fan of podcasting since 2004 when I was listening to This Week in Tech, DL.TV, The MacCast and other great shows. Since then, the podcast industry has grown by leaps and bounds. When the iPhone included a built-in Apple Podcasts app, podcasts finally moved from a niche industry to something that is part of the social norm. But it’s still incredibly complicated to actually build podcasts unless you are familiar with microphones, editing software, and RSS technology. Could Apple offer an official podcast creation tool?

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A few weeks ago, we published an article where Tim Cook said that Apple had acquired 20–25 companies in the past six months. Cook mentioned that Apple generally is looking at smaller companies and eyeing “talent and intellectual property“. I have an idea on a company who would fit in very nicely at Apple given its current strategy. Apple should buy The Athletic.
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Last month, Apple overhauled the web interface for Apple Podcasts with a modern design and support for web playback. Today, Apple has made another slight change to the webpage, dropping the ‘Listen in iTunes’ branding.

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A few weeks ago, I wrote about how I had purchased an Apple Watch Series 4. One of the key reasons I purchased it was for GPS tracking while running. I’ve been listening to podcasts while working out for a good decade even when people thought I was crazy. For me, the Apple Watch with AirPods or Powerbeats Pro is the dream device for running. With watchOS 5, we finally got a built-in Apple Podcast app and support for third-party apps to sync files over to Apple Watch. Since I am such a fanatic about podcasts, I try almost every iPhone podcast app that comes around. For the Apple Watch, there aren’t as many podcast apps that support watch only playback, but I still wanted to give a round-up of the best ones.
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One of the hot news items from Apple’s March event was Apple News+. Apple News+ is a $9.99 per month subscription that includes access to 300 magazines and a handful of popular newspapers. Apple News+ got me thinking about an Apple Podcasts+ service to help drive revenue for podcasts.

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[Update: As first noted by Mac Generation, Apple has also recently overhauled the Movies and TV show web interfaces with designs similar to the new Podcasts interface.]

Apple this week has overhauled the web interface for Apple Podcasts. The new design is much cleaner and easier to navigate, while also offering support for playback, individual episode details, and more.

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Earlier this week, Apple sent an email to Apple Podcast Providers informing them of upcoming changes to how metadata is handled in Apple Podcasts. This evening, Apple has clarified those changes in a new email to podcasters.

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I’ve written a lot about the podcast ecosystem on iOS. I think that Overcast is an absolute gem of an app. Castro is also a top-notch app as well. I manage a few podcasts for some clients of mine, and I know that despite the incredible third-party podcast apps, Apple Podcasts is podcasting to the vast majority of people out there. That withstanding, the Apple Podcast app isn’t perfect, but it’s come a long way from version 1 many years ago (the tape player UI). While Apple Podcasts doesn’t need to offer the exact same features as other apps, its development does help drive the industry forward. Here are four new features I’d love to see in Apple Podcasts in iOS 13.
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Earlier this month, NPR debuted its new Remote Audio Data system – referred to as RAD – that aims to offer new types of podcast analytics data to advertisers and podcast creators. The Verge is out today with an overview of the RAD standard, including how Apple is already involved.

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A decade ago, podcast listeners were almost three-quarters white. Today, says a new report, the audience for podcasts is almost as ethnically diverse as the US population …

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After announcing the project earlier this year, popular music streaming service Pandora is today launching its new podcast service, powered by the Podcast Genome Project. The service will be rolling out in beta today for select users on iOS and Android.

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