Apple’s podcast service is now available via browser, in addition to the app. The move marks a significant evolution in the history of the service, which has existed via iTunes since 2005 and as a standalone application since 2012.
The web version of Apple Podcasts is available across all browsers in 175 countries, although those accessing via Safari will still be taken to the Podcasts app. In a statement to members of its podcast creator community, Apple said that shows ‘will look and function the same way no matter where your audience listens — whether on MacOS, iOS, iPadOS or any web browser.’
Changing media landscape
Apple’s decision to take its podcast service onto the browser reflects a wider state of change in digital communications right now. In recent years, the podcast format has grown rapidly in popularity, eclipsing previous areas of growth like video and music streaming. Now, as recently reported by Bloomberg, Apple’s own podcast offering has itself been overtaken by YouTube and Spotify, and so by expanding its catalogue out onto the open web, it is likely that the company is seeking to attract more non-iPhone users.
Across the internet at large, it’s fair to say that we are seeing a slight resurgence in the popularity of frictionless browsing, as content creators and advertisers at large start to feel the limitations of walled gardens. New innovations in AI have turbocharged the curation of information from across the web, and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg recently highlighted the need for more open-source AI.
All of this too, comes as Google abandons its plans to ditch third-party cookies, indicating that the company still sees value in tracking user behaviour across the open web.
Apple in the News, the News in the Apple
And of course, Apple itself is not quite on the media breadline just yet, as it continues to make strides in other content areas.
In the latest briefing by Wessenden Marketing, which looks at the business of content across newspaper, magazine, retail and digital distribution, Managing Director Jim Bilton says that ‘the real market shapers’ in online news distribution are currently Apple and Amazon, ‘who are quietly growing their presence and who, in the process, are setting new rules for how content is distributed – particularly for magazines.’
All of this makes for interesting times in media tech today, as some of its key players look to approach digital content differently in the post-lockdown world. For those looking to leverage these platforms to get their messaging out to the wider world of course, a more joined-up – and open – web can only be a good thing.