What you might want to know
- Google beforehand introduced that Podcasts would shut down “after April 2,” and the service began to shutter Thursday, April 4.
- Both the Android app and net consumer for Google Podcasts reveals a “Google Podcasts is not accessible” pop-up, however the web site can nonetheless play podcasts for the time being.
- YouTube Music will substitute Google Podcasts in the Google ecosystem, and customers have till July 30 to port their Podcasts knowledge to a different platform.
Another fan-favorite Google app is shutting down for good, as Google Podcasts is not accessible in the U.S. Google primed customers for the discontinuation of Podcasts for months, saying late final 12 months that the service can be closed “after April 2.” Now, as of Thursday, April 4, each the Podcasts app and net consumer are displaying messages that “Google Podcasts is not accessible.”
The Google Podcasts app for Android would not work anymore and solely gives customers the choice to export their podcasts or be taught extra about the shutdown in a help doc. Though the web site reveals the identical pop-up message, you possibly can shut the message and hold utilizing Google Podcasts on the net consumer for the time being. It’s solely a matter of time earlier than Google blocks entry to Podcasts altogether, and we would not rely on the web site working for for much longer.
Google sees YouTube Music, the music streaming service that added help for podcasts final 12 months, as the way forward for podcast distribution for the firm. YouTube Music is making an attempt to comply with the same mannequin to Spotify, which hosts podcasts in addition to its essential income supply — music streaming. The normal thought is that you just’re extra more likely to subscribe to one in every of these companies if you will get all you want in one place, together with music, podcasts, and even audiobooks.
The jury continues to be out on whether or not customers really favor this as a result of many have expressed their disappointment with the choice to kill off Google Podcasts. Having a number of media sorts in one place would possibly sound like a good suggestion, nevertheless it additionally makes navigating an app like YouTube Music tougher.
Google Podcast customers have the probability to export their knowledge to a different service up till July 30, 2024. We have a information on exporting Google Podcasts knowledge to YouTube Music, in addition to one explaining tips on how to migrate Google Podcasts knowledge to a third-party service. For what it is price, folks can take heed to podcasts on YouTube Music with out a subscription. However, the app continues to be much less optimized for podcast distribution than Google Podcast was, missing options like new episode notifications.
Google has an notorious repute for killing off services early and infrequently. After an almost six-year run, Google Podcasts is now part of that repute.