The Apple Podcasts app has been around for a very long time. Notably, though, it has failed to keep up with the annual iOS updates. With every major OS release, Apple's negligence of this app becomes more apparent. This is especially obvious when you compare it to the company's Music app. The streaming service has a relatively solid application with a modern-looking player. The Podcasts app, on the other hand, sticks to an outdated player from years ago. Fortunately, the Cupertino tech giant seems to be focusing more on the Podcasts app lately. The company is preparing a number of significant additions that users will get to utilize on their iPhones, iPads, and Macs. These include new storage management tools, delegated delivery support, and annual subscription tweaks.

Apple announced today that it is bringing delegated delivery support to Podcasts next fall. This feature will allow creators to distribute their content -- both free and paid -- through participating third-party hosting providers. For the time being, Apple will support the following providers, with more to join this list in the future:

  • Acast
  • ART19
  • Blubrry
  • Buzzsprout
  • Libsyn
  • Omny Studio
  • RSS.com
Apple Podcasts storage management

Apart from delegated delivery support, Apple Podcasts will include new clean-up tools on iOS 15.5, iPadOS 15.5, and macOS 12.4. Users will be able to select the number of downloaded episodes that the app can store on a certain device. This would help keep storage consumption in check. The options will include downloading the latest 3, 5, or 10 episodes. Alternatively, users can opt into the time-based setting to download episodes released in the last 7, 14, or 30 days.

Apple Podcasts annual plans

In addition to the storage management tools, the aforementioned OS updates will tweak annual subscriptions in the Podcasts app. Creators will now get to display how much users would save (if applicable) by paying annually instead of monthly. The subscription prompt will also favor and default to the annual option rather than the monthly one.

Which app do you actively use to listen to podcasts, and why? Let us know in the comments section below.

Source: Apple

Via: TechCrunch