Google is officially shutting down yet another service; this time it’s the Podcasts app. The company has officially announced that the Podcasts app will be shut down by the end of 2024 and is currently encouraging users to migrate their existing subscriptions to YouTube Music by April 2. Google is informing the users by sending an email with an option to export their subscriptions.
Google started to integrate podcast-related features within the YouTube Music app last year, and the company is now making a full-fledged transition to the same. This means users can now access music and podcasts within one app in markets like the US, which will soon be extended into other markets.
Google is transitioning Podcasts app users to YouTube Music (Express Photo)
The Google Podcasts app is still available on the App Store and Play Store, and existing users will have some time to migrate to the new app. However, they won’t be able to consume content after April 2nd.
The Google Podcasts app currently has over 500 million downloads on the Google Play Store. However, according to a report by Edison, 23 per cent of users prefer the YouTube Music app to consume podcasts, with only 4 per cent of users preferring the Podcasts app. With this transition, Google is also looking at streamlining all the music content consumption into a single platform.
Google has been adding more podcast-related features to the YouTube Music app, which includes the addition of an RSS feed. On top of that, the company will also allow users to download their OPML file, which allows users to migrate their show subscriptions to any supported app other than YouTube Music.
