Earlier this week, Apple rolled out a new feature to improve podcast discovery on Apple Podcasts by adding nine subcategories to the Search tab across devices. It aims to make it easier for listeners to navigate the myriad of popular genres and topics.
According to Apple’s blog post, the nine subcategories are mental health, relationships, self-improvement, personal journals, entrepreneurship, documentary, parenting, books, and language learning. Each subcategory comes with its charts, which display the Top Shows and Top Episodes, based on the listener’s region.
Furthermore, the existing 19 categories and the new nine subcategories have been given a new look with refreshing artwork and recommendations. These include Apple Podcasts Essentials, which are all-time favourite podcasts for each category curated by Apple’s global editorial teams as well as the easy-to-navigate rows for charts and additional subcategories, according to the post.
Some categories such as Comedy, Society and Culture, Sports, and True Crime, will regularly show New and Noteworthy shows, standout Shows of the Month, Featured Channels and Creators, and Global Highlights from across the world. Creators can also request for their show to be featured in the relevant category or subcategory.
Apple Podcasts also has the option to search by language, making it easier for listeners to find podcasts in their native language. This feature supports over 20 languages, including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean. However, Podcasts by Language is currently available only for those in the UK, US, Canada and Australia.
Earlier this year, Apple Podcast introduced new updates to make it easier for listeners to browse all their podcast channels in one place on iPhone, iPad, and Mac. For instance, if someone is following a show that is part of a channel, the channel will appear in a new section of the Library, according to a blog post in March. Moreover, the channels that listeners subscribe to show up at the top, followed by channels for free shows that they follow.
Apple also added Up Next queue wherein new episodes from shows that listeners follow help them decide what to play next. It also includes episodes listeners have saved to their Library and those that they play from shows they do not follow.
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