Today, Apple revealed that its Podcasts app for the iPhone, iPad, Mac, and CarPlay would receive many new capabilities in iOS 16.4, iPadOS 16.4, and macOS 13.3. The updated software was made available in beta today and will be made generally accessible in the spring.
A list of podcast channels on the iPhone, iPad, and Mac will be accessible from a new Channels option in the Podcasts app. A creator or company can list all their podcasts on a channel so listeners can find them.
Second, episodes that listeners have saved to their Library and episodes they have played from shows they do not follow will now be included in the Up Next queue:
The episode will continue to appear in Up Next until the listener finishes it, marks it as played, or removes it, for instance, when a listener plays an episode of a show before choosing to continue. The Up Next queue will display newly released episodes of followed series at the top, followed by recently saved episodes and older episodes that have already been saved. Up Next begins with the most recent episodes of recently watched programs. Moreover, episodes with a “bonus” will appear in Up Next.
Customers will soon have access to more management options for Up Next. For instance, someone can grab a piece of artwork from a show and take it out of the queue.
Thirdly, viewers will be able to see the number of unplayed episodes at the top of each program page and identify “early access” subscriber episodes made accessible to them as part of their Apple Podcasts subscriptions.
Fourth, Podcasts app enhancements for CarPlay are included in iOS 16.4, including access to the Up Next and Recently Played queues from the Listen Now in CarPlay screen. Moreover, there are now editorially chosen podcast recommendations under the Browse tab.
The blog article “What’s new for Apple Podcasts,” published on Apple’s website, provides more information and describes additional improvements.
