Google Podcasts is officially shutting down today, April 2nd, 2024.
If you were a regular listener, you couldn’t fire up the app and tune into your favorite shows anymore. Google announced this news in September and has been notifying the news all over the Google Podcasts site and the app for a few days.
This move might seem puzzling, especially considering Google Search even had a built-in podcast player at one point.
Google Podcasts never quite found its footing. Even though it’s been around for eight years, it was only a real podcast app for about four of those.
It all started with the Google Search team wanting to make podcasts more straightforward to find.
In 2016, if you searched for a podcast on Google, you could play it in the search results! However, this only worked on Google’s website and the search app for Android phones.
Now, Google is moving all its podcast content over to YouTube Music. This means you can listen to music and podcasts in the same app. It’s like having one big library for all your audio entertainment.
Now, if you were a Google Podcasts user, you’ll need to find a new platform to get your podcast fix. Google recommends switching to YouTube Music, but plenty of other great podcast apps exist.
You shouldn’t feel pressured to choose immediately – you have some breathing room.
You can still export your subscriptions, a list of all the shows you follow, from Google Podcasts until July 2024. You can easily import them into your new favorite podcast app.