Next in the long, long line of apps to be shuttered by Google is its dedicated Podcasts app which will cease to function in April 2024, as announced back in September.
This means that Podcast app users will need to find a new home from which to access their favorite pods with Google naturally hoping that they will migrate to YouTube Music instead of a rival service such as Spotify or PocketCasts.
To make the task of moving over to YouTube Music a little easier, Google is rolling out a tool in the coming weeks to enable Podcast users to migrate their subscriptions.
With many podcast listeners enjoying the simply interface of Google's Podcasts app, the attempt to force them to switch to YouTube Music could backfire on the search giant due to YTM's increasingly cluttered interface.
Sometimes a dedicated app is all that is needed with all-in-one solutions often being a messy, disorganized experience with few of the features that the user actually wants. With that in mind, Google says it's been working hard on the YouTube Music integration of podcasts.
Google's Podcast Migration Tool Is Live
Updated December 19th: The Migration Tool that lets existing Google Podcast users export their subscriptions over to YouTube Music is now live in the US. Available for use on mobile or the web, the Migration Tool will download the subscriptions which can then be uploaded to YouTube Music. There are a few steps involved, as shown below.
How to switch from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music
- Open up the Google Podcasts app
- Tap on Export Subscriptions as the top of the screen
- Choose Export under the ‘Export to YouTube Music' tab
- Select Transfer on the YouTube Music app
- Then Go to Library to view your subscriptions once the transfer is complete. Bear in mind that the process may take some minutes to complete
Something else to keep in mind is that not all your subscriptions will be available on the YouTube Music app, but you should be able to add it to your playlist by using the show's RSS feed link. If you plan on migrating over to a different app such as PocketCasts then you'll need to download the OPML file or Google Takeout data.
The Podcasts app shuts its doors in March 2024 and users will be able to transfer their subscriptions through July.
Reasons why Google thinks you'll want to migrate to YouTube Music:
- Improved listening experience: Listeners can now continue listening to a podcast exactly where they left off, allowing them to seamlessly jump back into their podcast. In the coming months, we’ll enable the ability to mark a podcast as listened to so listeners can easily identify podcasts with which they’ve previously interacted.
- Discovery features: We’ve introduced podcast shelves on the YouTube Music homepage to make podcasts easily accessible to listeners and to increase engagement for creators.
- Auto Downloads: New episodes of the podcasts that listeners are subscribed to will automatically be downloaded and added to their library to consume offline.
- Add a podcast via RSS feed: Listeners can now add any podcast to their YouTube Music library with its RSS feed URL.
- Better integration support: We’ve made it easier to play podcasts in YouTube Music through Google Assistant in the car and on wearable devices.
With great alternatives such as Spotify and PocketCasts to be had, it's difficult to see quite why Google thinks that people will move their podcasts over to YouTube Music. We'll keep you updated on when Google makes the migration tool available to download but in the meantime, what are your thoughts on the topic?
