Apple is going all-in on original content for the iPhone, as the tech giant has unveiled a major upgrade to its Podcasts app iOS 17, introducing a redesigned layout and new features.
The company has made several promises throughout the year to expand Apple Podcasts in multiple ways. He announced this during his final WWDC event in June that new original programming would be coming to Apple Music and Apple News Plus. It also planned to revitalize the platform by adopting a more modern, colorful look. Everything that has been plagued by the past few months is now here and there is much to discuss.
1. App redesign
The Apple Podcasts redesign has actually been around since June, when it was first released in beta. Not much has changed since then, as Apple has apparently decided to stick pretty close to the original look. As mentioned earlier, things are more colorful. The Now Playing screen now shows a “blurred version of the podcast cover,” according to 9To5Mac. Both volume and playback progress adopt the same style as in the Music app.
Chapter lists indicate “how much time is left until” the next episode. Search results can be filtered by ‘Top Results, Shows, Episodes and Channels’, if you’re looking for something specific.
2. Content expansion
From September 26, people who subscribe to Apple Music, Apple News Plus, Calm or Lingokids will have access to more than “60 original podcasts”. This includes, but is not limited to, news feeds, radio programs, educational courses, guided meditations, and spoken articles. The latter will be available through the Apple News Plus Narrated show.
At the time of writing this article, there are 16 episodes on Narrated with stories from GQ to The New Yorker. It doesn’t seem like every article written by a publication will have a narrator; only a select few.
We should mention that episodes of original programming will be released every week throughout the fall. Presumably, things will slow down in the winter
3. Affiliated subscriptions
Next month, the tech giant will roll out a new API (Application Programming Interface) for third-party companies, giving them the ability to integrate their content app with Apple Podcasts. This way, people can listen to their favorite shows without having to install another app. Everything comes together under one roof.
Users must first link their subscription to Apple Podcasts. When they’re done, they can browse a broadcast’s library on a variety of devices, including their iPhone or Apple Watch.
Only some publications will support the connection at first. Well-known names include the Wall Street Journal, Mamamia and The Economist. It’s unknown if anyone else will support the API, but the door is open to developers.
This update is currently being rolled out to all users. Of course, your iPhone must be running iOS 17. To connect your subscriptions to Apple Podcasts, you’ll also need iPadOS 17 or macOS Sonoma, which just came out today.