Google is pulling the plug on Podcasts app subsequent week, right here’s what you are able to do earlier than it shuts down

Google is about to discontinue its Podcasts app and repair, and is encouraging customers to switch their subscriptions to YouTube Music by April 2, 2024. From this date, customers based mostly within the United STates will now not have the ability to stream podcasts from the Google Podcasts app, however they’ll have till July to export their subscriptions.

The Google Podcasts app, which has been put in over 500 million occasions on Android gadgets globally, offered a easy interface for locating, following, and listening to podcasts. Nonetheless, as a part of Google’s plan to centralise its audio providers underneath YouTube, the corporate introduced in September 2023 that it might begin winding down the Podcasts app in early 2024.

Google is at present sending in-app notifications to US customers, informing them of the April 2 deadline and recommending they export their subscriptions to YouTube Music. The corporate has stated that migrating podcasts to YouTube aligns with consumer behaviour and preferences, as knowledge signifies larger engagement of podcast listeners on YouTube in comparison with the Podcasts app.

Whereas YouTube Music offers primary podcast listening performance, some Google Podcasts customers discover it missing in options in comparison with the devoted app. YouTube Music could also be seen as too bloated for customers preferring a streamlined podcast listening expertise because it lacks podcast-specific search and sorting filters, in addition to the devoted discovery and administration options present in Google Podcasts.

Google Podcasts permits customers preferring an alternate platform to obtain the RSS feeds for his or her subscribed exhibits and add them to a different service that helps the OPML file format. This feature offers flexibility for individuals who want to proceed utilizing a devoted podcast app.

Though the April 2 deadline solely applies to US customers, Google plans to discontinue the Podcasts app and repair worldwide all through 2024. As the corporate strikes ahead with this transition, customers globally might want to adapt to the brand new podcasting panorama inside the Google ecosystem.

The transfer to consolidate podcasting efforts underneath YouTube might assist Google grow to be a much bigger participant within the house, notably as curiosity in video podcasts continues to develop. This step is just like the corporate’s technique in 2020, when it moved music listeners from Google Play Music to YouTube Music forward of the shutdown.