Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Apple Podcast Subscriber Count Has Grown Over 300% Since June 2021

So weird that they are crowing about the podcast subscription rate when the Podcasts app is such an embarrassing mess. Unresponsive UI, slow asynchronous updates, bizarro overly precious interface elements that aren’t consistent with iOS in general, inability to show which podcasts have new episodes in your list of subscriptions, on and on. It’s pretty much a daily aggravation if you listen to more than one or two podcasts on it. Makes me think it was built by the AppleCar team.

Every update the podcasts app gets worse.
 
  • Love
Reactions: ApplesAreSweet&Sour
PsykX said:
I don't really get why the world is so excited with Podcasts. They're usually way too long. Cut straight to the point.
Click to expand...
Generally speaking people like learning things. But there’s all sorts of podcast not just educational ones. If you have any type of commute I find them invaluable.
 
boss.king said:
People know that no one is making them use Apple Podcasts, right? Someone tell them that Overcast is free.
Click to expand...
But can you subscribe to these paid Apple Podcasts in Overcast? not that I’m planning this, but I wonder if all content is available over there.
 
Podcasts success is an illustration of how old radio is becoming bad, the same way Netflix/AppleTV success is an illustration how regular TV has become un-watchable because of adds and poor content.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: decypher44
Overcast for audio, but I do watch some video podcasts, so I just use Apple’s podcast player for those.

WISH: TVOS podcasts would allow for speed options though, I have to Airplay just to get the 2.0x & 1.5x options 🤔
 
I suspect that the pandemic had a major impact on many services, including podcast platforms. I would occasionally listen to them beforehand, but the isolation and need to spend more time outdoors to keep up my fitness meant I completely invested in them. One of the best moves I ever made - I probably listen to them more than my music now!
 
Podcasts has quickly become my least favourite apps altogether. Maybe also my least favourite service/product Apple has ever put out.

It worked fairly well for a good number of years although it was never anything noteworthy in terms of features and usability. And then everything went downhill 2-3 years ago(?) and nothing is ever getting fixed.

What's exceptionally disheartening is seeing how Apple has been putting lots of effort into making the whole payment/subscription thing work while not caring to fix some of its most basic features for playback, saving, downloading, sorting episodes, resuming playback of episodes/series, etc.

I don't see who in their right mind would sign up to pay for ad-free content on an app that's as broken as Podcasts.

I would not listen to podcasts anymore if I hadn't discovered the new version of Overcast.
 
AppleTO said:
I forgot podcast subscriptions exist.
Click to expand...
It bears remembering that the users here, as a general rule of thumb, are not representative of Apple's user base as a whole.

If we polled the members here, I am pretty sure the majority would be on some third party podcast app like Castro or Overcast and the people still using the stock podcast app would be in the minority. Yet, the reality is that the majority of Apple's user base favours the default podcast app (because it gets the job done), and I am pretty sure this represents an excellent opportunity for creators to market subscriptions to.
 
PsykX said:
I don't really get why the world is so excited with Podcasts. They're usually way too long. Cut straight to the point.
Click to expand...
Although I listen to a lot of podcasts, I actually agree with you on this.

Regardless of the subject matter, a huge chunk of all podcasts are structured like your typical vapid TV documentary and follow the same kind of formulaic narrative just adapted for audio.

There's too much focus on the emotion/drama that the story/subject matter evokes instead of going deep into the details. The big ideas or climax(es) of the story/subject are usually drawn out in perpetuity instead of just finishing the whole thing up in 10-15 minutes.

It's not content created by passionate individuals but mass produced garbage made by large media companies with the sole purposed of holding your attention as long as possible to get you to endure as many ad-breaks as possible.

That's why I stay away from the obviously scripted stuff and lean more towards "talking podcasts" that are either discussions/interviews or a small group of people, or a single person, explaining a topic/story etc.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Tech for Kings, decypher44, txscott and 2 others
Unless I’m not seeing it, but why doesn’t the Apple podcast app allow you to view the oldest episode first?

If I’m just starting to listen to a new podcast with 400 episodes, it’s. Pain to scroll down to the bottom every time.
 
hagar said:
But can you subscribe to these paid Apple Podcasts in Overcast? not that I’m planning this, but I wonder if all content is available over there.
Click to expand...
I genuinely have no idea. I don’t even know what the paid Apple podcasts are to be able to try either.
 
Well the app sucks for video content, at least for me. Want to skip a section? In most cases it causes the audio and video to go out of sync.
 
And this is just people subscribing to their own podcasts and their spouses. Podcasts have also grown 300%. Finally need to start mine.
 
erikkfi said:
300% from what base?
Click to expand...

This is the same kind of thing Microsoft has said quarter after quarter for like a decade now, and never did say what the base was even once. I’m surprised companies still use this line, people have caught on by now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back