Ever since Google launched podcasts in Google Play Music for people in the US, those of us in the rest of the world have been waiting for a way to listen to podcasts through Google. While it seems we won’t be seeing that in Google Play Music any time soon, we may be getting a standalone podcasts app.
9to5Google uncovered a string during a teardown of version 8.7 of the Google app which points to a prompt that will ask you to download the Google Podcasts app from the Play Store.
<string name=”install_google_podcasts”>Get the Google Podcasts app<string>
<string name=”install_google_podcasts_accept”>Get the app<string>
<string name=”install_google_podcasts_message”>Get the Google Podcasts app in the Play Store for quick access<string>
<string name=”install_google_podcasts_reject”>Not now<string>
Also found was the logo in the title image (the text we added), so that could soon be showing up in Google Play.
The string is likely to be a simple pointer to functionality already existing within the Google Assistant app, which again is limited in availability outside the US. The player in the US lets you find podcasts through Google Search with the latest episode shown, but an option to view older episodes offered.
It’s not clear if Google will be offering podcasts to everyone globally – there’s literally no reason we can think of why they don’t – or if this will simply be a more polished version of the web player for US users. No announcement has been made, but it’s looking almost ready to launch, so hopefully it won’t be much longer.
Google had had the podcast applet for some time, the most frustrating thing is it won’t let you cast to device, it’s so annoying.
I quite like the podcasts in Google Assistant. Calling a podcast on phone / tablet / Home and it continues where I left off is pretty cool. I haven’t previously found a decent podcast app that I could do that with.
Likewise. A little confused as I’ve been using it happily on my Pixel 2 but the article seems to imply it’s US only at the moment.
Also confused, same reason. The main Google app has a podcast player built in. Tbh can’t recall how I came across it, it’s not fantastic, but it’s material design, been there for months. I think I must have Google searched for a podcast and it found one the same way a Google Home device might and offered to play it for me. Thought it might be a PWA or Instant App at first as I didn’t remember installing anything, but no it’s definitely part of the main Google app. I’ve been giving feedback on bugs and feature requests through the… Read more »
It’s with some frustration that podcasts were never offered in Australia in Google Play Music, as they were in the United States. Though copyright law applies in some circumstances with music, it’s more likely partnerships/relationships which have prevented this. But yes, for the most part, podcasts should be universal. Noting, Spotify and Soundcloud both offer podcasts.
Well I always thought that was stupid mixing podcasts and music in the same service/app.
I guess its nice to see a Google podcast app, even if I don’t really feel like the ecosystem needed one I guess except as a way to get people who’d never try podcasts to maybe try them as they have a pre-installed app like Apple has.
I just hope Google does more for podcasts than a pre-installed app. My dream of course being some kind of machine based transcription and then allow podcasts to be searchable.