What's the story?
Google has officially announced that it will shut down the Google Podcasts app in the United States on April 2, 2024.
The tech giant is informing users about this upcoming change through in-app notifications and emails.
Despite reaching the milestone of 500 million downloads last year, only 4% of U.S. listeners use the platform.
The Google Podcasts app joins a list of other Google apps, hardware, and software that are being phased out.
Encourage users to switch to YouTube Music
Google recommends users migrate their existing podcast subscriptions to YouTube Music by April 2, 2024.
However, the deadline to complete this transition process has been extended to July 2024.
To facilitate this transition, Google has provided a step-by-step guide on how to move your subscriptions from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music.
Google cited increased engagement among podcast listeners on YouTube as the reason for the move.
Here's how to move your podcasts to YouTube Music
Follow the steps here to migrate your Google Podcasts subscriptions to YouTube Music.
Open the Google Podcasts app.
Tap Export Subscription at the top of the screen.
Select “Export” under the option labeled “Export to YouTube Music.”
Open the YouTube Music app and select Transfer. Tap Continue to continue.
Once the transfer is complete,[ライブラリに移動]Select to view your subscriptions.
Concerns about YouTube Music's podcast feature
Not all podcasts currently available on Google Podcasts are accessible on YouTube Music.
In these cases, users may see a “Content Unavailable” message next to their podcast subscription.
To address this, Google suggests using the show's RSS feed link to save the missing podcast to your library.
Additionally, some users may express concern that YouTube Music lacks podcast-specific search or sorting filters.
This app lacks the dedicated discovery and management features found in Google Podcasts.
Google Podcasts provides RSS feeds for other platforms
For those who want to enjoy podcasts on another platform besides YouTube Music, Google Podcasts lets you download RSS feeds of the shows you subscribe to.
These can be uploaded to another service that supports the OPML file format.
This flexibility is intended to cater to users who want to continue using a dedicated podcast app.
