How to Get Started With the New Podcasts App From Google
Android: There are a lot of people out there who don’t need the bells and whistles when an easy-to-understand and well-designed app is fine. Here’s my impression of Google’s new Podcasts app, which was teased for a while and finally became available for download yesterday.
Google Podcasts quickly and convincingly cover all the basics. It’s nowhere near as fully featured as a podcast app like Pocket Casts , but it’s a great option if you don’t want to deal with a lot of customization or are just getting started in the magical world of podcasting. Plus, it’s free; you can’t go wrong with the free one.
Getting Started with Google Podcasts
After downloading the app, you will see that Google gives you several podcasts to choose from if you don’t already know what you want to listen to. You will see podcasts organized by artificial categories such as “popular” and “popular” podcasts, as well as noteworthy podcasts on a variety of topics – news and politics, society and culture, sports and leisure, etc. Swipe left and right on podcast names and icons and click on whatever you think you might want to listen to.
When you do, you will be taken to a simple screen where you will see the podcast name, author and logo, as well as a short description, if applicable. You will see all the episodes that can be streamed (by clicking on the small play icon for each one). Click on the episode itself to read its description and, if you wish, download it for offline listening. I found that some podcasts (actually all NPR podcasts) even have a small donation button that will redirect you to the organization’s website if you want to donate at any time.
When you subscribe to a podcast, it will appear at the top of the Google Podcasts app in the future, and a new section in the app will inform you about new episodes from everything you subscribed to. You can also quickly see which podcasts you are currently listening to and which podcasts you have downloaded for later listening.
That’s all?
Google Podcasts has a small settings screen hidden under a three-dot icon in the upper right corner, but all it allows you to do is tell the app how long it should hold on to your downloaded podcasts (the ones you finished and those you still working).
The app player has the usual forward and backward buttons, but you cannot adjust their 30- and 10-second intervals (respectively). At the very least, you can change the playback speed of the podcast, and it appears that the closed captioning feature is in development.
There is no way to automatically download podcasts you subscribe to, which is an odd oversight considering how useful (and economical) this feature can be. You cannot rate podcasts or create a playlist from podcasts (or single episodes) that you want to go through a marathon.
However, you get over two million podcasts to choose from – an impressive number – as well as personalized recommendations as soon as you start subscribing and listening to podcasts using the app. I’m sure Google will add more podcast-related features to this app in the future. And don’t let its rarity get in the way of checking out this app, especially its interesting Google Assistant integration. A message on your phone, tablet or smart speaker that it’s time for Ira Glass will save you a little time.
Do you have an iOS or Android app that you really like? Tell me about it: [email protected] .