Google is shutting down its Podcasts app within the U.S. in a matter of days. The firm has begun warning the app’s customers they might want to migrate their subscriptions to YouTube Music by April 2 to comply with and stream their favourite reveals going ahead. Users who don’t make the transfer instantly will nonetheless have further time emigrate, however will now not have the ability to stream from the Podcasts app straight after this date.
The Google Podcasts app, put in over 500 million occasions on Android units globally, for over half a decade has supplied a easy and streamlined interface for locating, following and listening to podcasts, in addition to instruments so as to add podcasts by RSS feed. Unfortunately for followers of the app, the tech big mentioned final September it might start to wind down the Podcasts app in early 2024 as a part of its broader plan to centralize its audio companies beneath YouTube.
In 2020, YouTube Music supplied an identical transition technique to transfer music listeners away from Google Play Music forward of its shutdown that very same 12 months. However, the Google Podcasts app continued to be maintained for years as a result of YouTube Music wasn’t able to assist podcasts till extra just lately. By the tip of 2023, YouTube Music was capable of assist podcasts globally, and, by February, they’d the flexibility to add their RSS feeds, too.
The transfer to shift podcasting over to YouTube might assist Google change into a much bigger participant within the area, not solely by combining its efforts and sharpening its focus, but in addition as a result of curiosity in video podcasts — which had been already fashionable on YouTube — is on the rise. This week, for instance, Spotify solid a cope with Universal Music Group (UMG) to deliver video podcasts to U.S. customers of its streaming app after earlier in March announcing exams of video podcasts in 11 different markets world wide.
Bleeping Computer was the primary to note the shutdown date for Google Podcasts within the U.S., and a assist web page on Google’s web site confirms that customers within the U.S. will solely have the ability to use the Podcasts app by the tip of March 2024. For those that miss the in-app pop-ups, Google will provide customers further time to save lots of their subscriptions by permitting them to make use of the app’s export function by July 2024.
Google didn’t instantly return a request for remark, however after publication did reply to say that whereas it was nonetheless “tracking towards” the April 2 timeline for the U.S., it has not shared a timeline for the remainder of the world but.
From its earlier statements, although, the plan is to discontinue Google Podcasts globally in 2024.
Updated, 3/29/24, 5:00 PM ET with Google remark.