Google Launches Podcasts App for Android

Google Released  Its Own Podcasts App    

Google has finally released its own Google Podcasts app, providing users a dedicated place to enjoy their shows, find personalized recommendations, and soon take advantage of upcoming accessibility features. It’s also one of the few Android-only apps made by the company, which traditionally releases cross-platform apps to satiate users of Google’s services on iOS. Google Podcasts is a new way for Android users to discover and listen to the world’s podcasts. You can subscribe to any show for free and download episodes for offline listening. All your listening is automatically synced across devices so that you can pause on one device and resume on another with the Google Assistant. The new Google Podcasts app more deeply integrates podcasts into Android and Google products as a whole. Google Podcasts features Google Assistant support, so you can resume listening to your podcast on your Google Home when you arrive at your abode, with more podcast support spreading to other Google products in the future.

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In the early days of Android, Google launched a podcast app called Listen. However, it quickly fell into disrepair and was killed off in 2012. For most of the intervening time, Google pretended podcasts didn't exist. Then, it added podcasts to Play Music and Google Assistant over the last year. Google was still missing a straightforward podcast app, though. That changes today with the launch of Google Podcasts, a new Android app that plugs into your existing Google-power subscriptions. It doesn't have as many features as power user apps like Pocket Casts, but it's easy to start using. There's no login or setup needed because it's connected to your Google account, and the app is actually just an "activator" for the podcasts framework that already lives in your Google app. Your active subscriptions are right up top when you open the Google Podcasts app. Below that, you get a contextual section called "For you" with new episodes, downloads, and in-progress episodes. Everything below that consists of recommendations based on your profile data. Playback controls appear at the bottom of the app. You can scrub through an episode, use the skip forward/back buttons, and even adjust the playback speed. This is a common technique to chew through more audio in a shorter amount of time. You can download episodes for offline listening, but there's no option to automatically download them. Since this is connected to the Google app and Assistant, your listening automatically syncs across devices. You can start listening to an episode on your phone, then tell Assistant on your Google Home to pick up where you left off.  Since this is connected to the Google app and Assistant, your listening automatically syncs across devices. You can start listening to an episode on your phone, then tell Assistant on your Google Home to pick up where you left off.

Google says there are more than two million podcasts listed in the app at launch, and more will appear over time. However, you can't manually add a podcast to the app via a feed URL like you can in regular podcast managers. Again, this app is easy but not the most full-featured option. Google has big plans for the app, and is hoping to use its expertise in artificial intelligence and machine learning to better cater to listeners requiring additional assistance.  The Google Podcasts creator program, announced today, is designed to promote diversity in podcasting. “That’s why we’re also partnering with the podcast industry on a program to increase the diversity of voices and remove barriers to podcasting,” Reneau-Wedeen said. “The program will be guided by an advisory board from around the world, with the primary goal of enabling skills development and experimentation from underrepresented voices, as well as cultivating ideas and processes that can scale throughout the industry.” Enrolling in the Google Podcasts creator program means filling out a form and waiting a few weeks. Google is promising more details later this summer.  

Google has already expressed an interest in expanding the world of podcasts, but it seems that it’s not just going to stop at launching a stand-alone app. Google wants to use its influence to increase the number of podcasters in the world, and has specifically shown an interest in increasing the number of female and colored podcast hosts. To that end, Google has set up an independent advisory board that aims to promote the production of podcasts outside of the usual areas of the U.S. What does that mean in real terms? Google doesn’t seem to be sure, but it seems that it’s more likely to be increased promotion, rather than direct financial contributions to individual podcasters.

  

Author : Jestin Jacob PK

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