Google is killing Google Podcasts app

In a bid to create a centralized podcast experience, Google has announced that it’ll discontinue Google Podcasts and make YouTube Music the only destination for podcast episodes next year. The tech giant will increase its investment in the podcast experience on YouTube Music, which will be globally available before the end of this year.

If you’re using Google Podcasts, you will be able to move your existing subscriptions to YouTube Music using simple migration tools. You’ll also be able to add podcasts via RSS feeds to Google Music, just like Google Podcasts. If you want to play your podcasts on a different platform, you’ll have the option to download an OPML file of your show subscriptions and upload that to the player you want to listen to the podcast on.

If you’re a podcaster, you’ll get “robust analytics tools” and “RSS uploads”, and make podcasts available everywhere. Podcast experience in YouTube Music is already available in the USA, Canada, and Latin America. Podcast listeners in the USA can already “access downloads, background play in places like the car and on smart speakers as well as the ability to switch between audio and video podcasts”. All these capabilities will also be available to all YouTube Music Podcast users before the end of this year.

In the meantime, Google will test its migration tools to make the migration from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music simple and easy. The company has not shared a timeline for when the migration tools will be available for users. When they are ready, Google will make them available along with guidelines on how they work. Certainly, these tools will be available well before the end of this year.

What platform do you use to listen to podcasts? Let us know in the comments section.

Source: Google