iOS 17.4 Made Apple Podcasts My Top Choice

Discover why the latest iOS 17.4 update might make you consider switching to Apple Podcasts. The incredible new transcript feature, improved episode management, and top-notch design, Apple Podcasts is stepping up its game.
⭐️ Shortcut to Import OPML Podcasts
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Shortcuts for Apple Podcasts
• 7 iPhone Shortcuts for...
Editing Podcasts on iPad mini
• Going All-In on iPad mini
Top Features of iOS 17.4
• iOS 17.4 is OUT - Big ...
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Chapters ➡
00:00 Introduction
00:40 Import Your Podcast Library
01:36 Apple Podcasts Library
03:11 Adding New Podcasts
04:34 Podcasts Stations
06:17 Show and Episode Design
08:02 Shortcuts for Podcasts
09:01 Managing Episode Queue
09:55 Apple Podcasts Subscriptions
11:18 Bookmark Episodes
11:58 Apple Podcasts Wishlist
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[@jeffhale1189]

Thanks for sharing. Apple Podcast has nice features. I’m presently using Overcast. Blessings on your day.

[@ympnowfsr]

I have Overcast gathering digital cruft in some corner of my iPhone, but I have been leaning heavily into Apple’s podcaster for years.

[@simonsinclair3784]

Great video Stephen. Apple Podcast has definitely come on a lot recently and I did use it until I started to use Castro again. The ability to click / unclick chapters is great but the best part about it is the queue / inbox design. It’s also been taken over recently and the developer who took over is really making the right noises in moving the app forward. He does admit also that there is a fair bit of work still to do on it.

[@beardfm]

I didn't know about the choosing specific chapters feature... 🤔 will have to give Castro another try!

[@nigelogarro8223]

Which one is better Overcasts or Pocket Casts?

[@bm63]

I use Downcast, I’ve tried a few and that’s my go to. I just find Apple Podcasts layout looks messy and just over complicated when all I want to do is listen to a podcast. I appreciate some want feature after feature but I only listen to 3 (was 4) podcasts : 9to5 Mac Happy Hour, Primary Technology, MKBHD and these 3 podcasts last me a weeks walk to work. If there’s a setting that can make it minimalist (I mean absolutely basic looking) then I’m in.

[@keithsupian6603]

Always such great videos Sir 🙏 - question; I’ve done this in the past and was wondering If you can confirm that it still works. During the listening of a podcast, I was just able to say- Hey Siri fast forward 2 minutes if I wanted to skip an advertisement. Ya know, as opposed to utilizing a shortcut. Thanks again for all your many informative videos.

[@beardfm]

Thanks for watching! And yes, that works with Siri when listening or even watching something on Apple TV.

[@bat1311]

Thank you for the Video. How, just how on earth, can you publish the transcription feature without being able to add timestamps (AirPods f.eg.)?! Who is reading the transcripts WHILE listening?¨¨'

[@Flakitonica]

I hear everyone talking about overcast and no one talks about how horrible the apps is design looks likes a 2015 app

[@JoeKnowsWorst]

Pocket Casts is the best!

[@Ykodi01234]

Overcast is the best, and you’re right, the design could be better, but if you use apple watch and want reliable sync between watch and iPhone, then overcast will give you the best solution

[@supereldian]

Overcast’s slow and dated design is tolerated haha

[@KevinTHoule]

You make some great points and good reasons to use the app, but I stopped using Apple Podcasts when they took away the icon badge. My OCD compels me to always want to know how many unplayed episodes I have. I'll stick with Pocket Casts as long as Apple Podcasts is missing that feature.

[@beardfm]

Interesting! I try to disable as many badges as possible across all apps 😅

[@thatnickjones]

Great overview! I tried to switch, but I'm just too tied to Smart Speed. 1x feels so slow after nearly 10 years of using Smart Speed in Overcast. And, sadly, 1.25x is too fast for almost all the shows I listen to. Hopefully Apple will add comparable feature one day

[@beardfm]

Smart Speed is a killer feature for sure!

[@Flakitonica]

I tried to use overcast many times but the design is horrible and for some reason if I don’t download if I want to stream I takes forever to play

[@BrajendraVikramSingh]

Nice video, but I’ll stick with pocket casts. Queue syncing is important to me.

[@beardfm]

Pocket Casts has that queue on lock for sure

[@markster136]

cant get the import to work

[@TonyCSmith]

Could you possibly do a podcast hosting service video for folks looking to find somewhere to host their podcasts?

[@beardfm]

I highly recommend Transistor! It’s where I host all my shows: transistor.fm/?via=beardfm

[@TonyCSmith]

Many thanks Stephen. I host a SF podcast since 2006 but never really dug into members, artwork etc. I use Acast at moment. Huge thank you @@beardfm

[@JimGriffin]

Looks like it has improved but I'm sticking with Pocket Casts.

[@beardfm]

Pocket Casts is still great for sure

[@S2580ss]

Great video as always. Overcasts audio options are non negotiable for me unfortunately.

[@beardfm]

And Overcast has amazing features, for sure!

[@gianlucapuccio3973]

Thanks for this video, great! I'm going back to Apple Podcasts as well, long time user of Pocket Casts, which is a great app. There's still one thing I hate in Apple Podcasts, it completely removes the episode I was listening to if I start a new episode. The scenario is I'm going out for a short walk and I prefer to listen to a 10 minutes episode of a comedy show and keep the episode I was listening putting it as next in the queue, this is exactly what Pocket Casts and Castro do, probably Overcast as well...

[@beardfm]

That is an unfortunate behavior, hoping they change that.

[@JamPackedJack]

Wow I was going to switch back from pocket casts ,but sounds like I won't! Is there any rough guidelines on this behavior? (time left in episode etc)

[@gianlucapuccio3973]

@@JamPackedJack Unfortunately not, the only good thing is that the episode which was playing goes in the Recently Played section on the Homepage. I think I’m going back to Pocket Casts, it’s still the best in my opinion

[@tinacreepr]

I currently use pocket casts and use the queue religiously. Does the Apple Podcasts queue work in the same way? Able to move eps around, mark as played/archive, auto add to queue, etc? Also, has the notifications for new eps improved on Apple Podcasts? They never used to show up for me. Thanks for the video! I love the way AP looks, but the functionality of PC is just too good.

[@beardfm]

Hey! Notifications are better, but the queue is still not on par with pocket casts. I love the add to top / bottom of list in pocket casts and it’s still way more consistent. If the queue is important to you, Pocket Casts is still the better choice

[@amrindersingh3949]

I like snipd because it got chapters not sure if podcast have chapters?

[@beardfm]

I show it in the video, yes it has chapters!

[@northernman22]

Thanks. Good info about one of Apple's crappier programs

[@beardfm]

You bet

[@AndersLorentsen]

Well.. This video just convinced me to definitely not change from Overcast . So thanks 😅

[@beardfm]

haha Overcast is a great app!

[@jk-2033]

Is there a way to “select all” and then copy on the transcript to copy to your AI of choice to summarize or ask questions about the contents?

[@toomi7398]

I just tested this, and no, even if you select a large piece of text it seems to only copy exactly 200 words + source information, copyright reasons I guess. Edit: After some more testing, yes you can in fact do this with a couple workarounds. Normally 'Copy'ing to clipboard on both the iOS & mac apps will only get you the 200 words afaik. But, on iOS you can choose to 'Translate' instead, and then just pick the same language (I checked that English US -> English US works) and it will copy out the whole text (after you manually select all the text by hand). And on Mac this seems to work with some Services options: I have the app Bear installed and 'Send to Bear' sent the whole text as a .txt file. 'Translate' option also works but seems to remove line breaks. So yeah, you can probably create some shortcut to take advantage of this.

[@beardfm]

Wow, great work figuring this out!

[@IvanferreroIt]

I was looking for something like this in order to ditch another App. I really loved Apple Podcast but I had to go away because of this feature. Now I know I can get back. Thank you to both of you for this thread.

[@cristobaltapiavidal4879]

You can adjust the behaviour of auto downloads all episodes in the settings  podcast in the settings of iPhone

[@beardfm]

That’s auto download but not mark all as played when following a new show

[@ashukuriwemushi8543]

someone Help!! Is there any way to make a shortcut that does this: 1. how to send WhatsApp pictures every day through shortcut apps

[@JooshTinedoll]

Quick question for you, how tf do I export my OPML from Apple Podcasts now?

[@beardfm]

You can use this Shortcut to do it! icloud.com/shortcuts/a44ed58733794312ae9ac21e0d686eab

[@JooshTinedoll]

@@beardfm That is definitely the way to do it! It just didn't get done what I was hoping for. From my limited knowledge, I need to export my subscribed podcasts (Noiser, Wondery) from AP to Overcast. That I can't figure out.

[@Lightfighter1]

Yes, all devices were updated - then all restarted again….I wonder if both the AirTag share issue and the HomeKit issue are somehow related to a newly introduced communication/bluetooth issue…hopefully the double point update later this week will correct the issues…

[@beardfm]

Strange, hope it resolved quickly!

[@Lightfighter1]

Thank you. A further update - the apparent HomeKit bug may be merely a coincidence of timing - it appears the cable company pushed out an update to their router firmware which dropped the 2.4ghz band from their router thereby detaching all HomeKit devices using that band. They are installing a newer model later today which hopefully will resolve the issue. The AirTag share issue remains - the shares work for a few hours then slowly all disappear from the FindMy items of the person they were shared with - they remain and work normally in the owner’s app and continue to show that they are shared.

[@JonHall005]

iCatcher! for me. The playlist options are exhaustive and I'd miss it, especially when Apple's 'up next' feature is so limited and fragile (too easy to accidentally clear). The interface is so much better too, I find Apple Podcasts to be confusing. That said, the transcript feature is so good that I just re-downloaded Apple Podcasts I'll be using it for the odd podcast episode.

[@beardfm]

It still has some up next queue and playlist improvements needed for sure. But jumping over for the occasional transcript is a great idea!

[@Lightfighter1]

2 problems since updating to 17.4 - all HomeKit devices have disconnected and unable to get them to reconnect. - my wife and I share 6-8 AirTags with each other - all of my wife’s have dropped off my list of items and vise-versa. We have tried dropping them and re-adding the share, removing and replacing batteries, resetting network on both iPhones, etc - one or two will reshare and then disappear again a few hours later.

[@beardfm]

Ooph, have you updated all HomePods and Apple TVs yet?

[@nabsiegel]

One thing that bothers me when I try to switch to Apple Podcasts is that there are certain shows (like Heavyweight) where I don't think you can view the episodes in chronological order. It moves a bunch of the episodes to the very bottom under "unknown season." I just like seeing everything in order.

[@beardfm]

That’s an unfortunate thing that happens if the podcast creator doesn’t have older episodes properly marked with seasons

[@rrrosecarbinela]

Transcripts work with English, Spanish, and French, but not Greek, Italian, or Portuguese. YMMV with other languages. I haven't fully followed the transcripts in Spanish or French to be sure they're actually good.

[@serena.lattanzi]

I always use Apple Podcasts. The only thing I don’t like is that it doesn’t give me notifications when a new episode comes. All settings are good and I tried everything. Sometimes I see a Lock Screen notification, but not always. The red badges I have never ever seen, not once. Is that normal behavior for Apple Podcasts?

[@beardfm]

That’s odd, I get notifications for new episodes. Make sure they’re enabled per show in Settings app > Podcasts

[@serena.lattanzi]

@@beardfm All settings are okay, but it doesn’t work. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Have you read my question that I sent you in the Privacy video?

[@Jakeb2392]

I’ll come over when Apple adds trim silence

[@beardfm]

That's a much requested feature for sure.

[@KrishnaMamunuru]

Below are features i cannot find in Apple Podcast app No trim silences Cannot setup skip first and skip last Cannot setup to add to up next No multi select in the playlist

[@beardfm]

All fair criticisms. Pocket Casts and Overcast are great for that.

[@JamieElgie]

Intrigued. Not having smart speed is a dealbreaker. Hope they fix that. And add ability to start at a particular time stamp in a podcast series.

[@bikrrr]

No smart speed/trim silence. Yes, you can increase speed to 2x, but it's a global player setting; no way to make it per show. No setting to "skip first" X number of seconds. As I mentioned in another reply, it's appealing, but I think I'll be sticking with Pocket Casts until more of those features are available.

[@beardfm]

Would love to be able to share a specific time stamp as well, like you can with Pocket Casts and Overcasts

[@mikekennon3492]

@beardfm what is the difference of continue playing and queue?

[@eYeBallNL]

I really miss a search option when adding podcasts to a station in Apple Podcasts. Such a basic, easy function which is missing... Scrolling down a list over 200+ podcast is really horrible. I am going to try some of the suggested alternatives from the comments!

[@beardfm]

The search in Pocket Casts is truly the best in this regard

[@bikrrr]

While transcripts make Apple Podcasts more enticing, it's still missing a few features that'll keep me on Pocket Casts: - Trim silence!! - Per show playback effects (speed, trim silence, volume boost) - More useful podcasts view (Library › Shows in Apple Podcasts) with smaller tiles and unfinished episode badges - Easier up next/queue management, especially multi-selecting episodes

[@beardfm]

I do miss the up-next queue mgmt in Pocket Casts, forgot to mention that one. And I'm glad Pocket Casts and Overcasts are still out there pushing all apps to get better!

[@bleeka325]

How much does trim silence shorten the episode? I’m looking for another app

[@bikrrr]

​@@bleeka325 That's hard to quantify and varies across podcasts, but my guesstimate is that time saved is only about one minute for every hour of podcast listening. But for me, it's less about saving time and more about steadying the audio stream. Listening to podcasts at 1.5x speed or higher WITHOUT trim silence makes them sound choppy, with fast speaking interspersed with what feels like, long pauses. So, turning on trim silence smooths the delivery, making it easier to follow. I'm a podcast addict and am completely happy with Pocket Casts' free tier, so there's no cost to giving it a try!

[@bleeka325]

@@bikrrr gotcha. My brain can’t keep up with more than 1x speed. I tried the trim silence and the host actually actually felt odd compared to how she normally sounds.

[@bikrrr]

​@@bleeka325 Pocket Casts has 3 levels of Trim Silence, so you can adjust and see which works best for you. Personally, I like the middle, "Medium" setting for most podcasts. "Mild" doesn't seem to do enough, and "Mad Max," can make utterances run into each other.

[@dnvyl]

One of the biggest issues with Apple Podcasts is that it only suggests podcasts from your country. I would like to primarily listen to English podcasts and discover more English podcasts. However, because Apple Podcasts only shows German podcasts in the browse section, it's really not that good to use to find new podcasts. There is an English section in the browse section, but it really is minimal

[@Ykodi01234]

Thanks but, did you know that Apple Podcasts on Watch, doesn’t sync your queue from iPhone, by design! It’s not a bug! Apple doesn’t support this must have feature in its own products. This makes this app not useful IMO because overcast and pocket casts apps do it.

[@beardfm]

The Pocket Casts Apple Watch is great, true

[@TomZach]

GREAT video! The only downside is when you want to use an Android device. Then you lose the sync :/

[@beardfm]

Thanks, and very true. I actually wish Apple would launch Apple Podcasts for Android (Apple Music is already there!)

[@Greg_the_Hutt]

Even as an iPhone user myself, I get so tired of how many workarounds you have to do with iOS. Why do they insist on making things so complicated? iOS can be so simplistic if they wanted it to be

[@beardfm]

Maybe try Pocket Casts on iPhone, it’s truly feature-packed

[@MrSuavena]

Downcast up to 3x speed and skip programmable to whatever

[@beardfm]

3X SPEED!! ☠️

[@bleeka325]

This app removing the option to make a manual queue is the reason I left a few years ago

[@beardfm]

I do wish I had more control over the queue.

[@singhrajul]

The search functionality is such a downside…..cant search episodes more than 3 months old in any particular podcast

[@beardfm]

I do miss the searching pocket casts as you can just search a single show

[@HardyOh]

I will ditch my lifetime pocketcasts sub for Apple Podcasts only if they have 3x speed available.

[@beardfm]

3X!! Yeah it only goes to 2x max, that's impressive though.

[@HardyOh]

@@beardfm Step one is to admit I have a problem. I watch KZbin podcast episodes at 3x, sometimes 3.5x. It helps with saving time to consume all the daily and weekly podcasts I actively listen to.

[@Ykodi01234]

@@HardyOhsometimes it’s too fast and you lose attention

[@choqao]

First