iOS 17: What’s new for Apple Podcasts

With iOS 17, Apple Podcasts features a refreshed Now Playing experience and Queue, episode art, search filters, and the ability to connect subscriptions to top apps from the App Store. These features and more are included in iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17.

A new Now Playing experience and Queue

Listeners will enjoy a refreshed Now Playing experience, which features a sleek, dynamic background that showcases a podcast’s art and provides enhanced controls for managing the Queue.

With iOS 17, listeners tap the Playing Next button to see the next episode. To add an episode to the Queue, tap the More menu (...), or press and hold on an episode, and then tap Add to Queue. Once an episode has been added, Playing Next will present a new Queue section, making it easy to reorder and clear episodes. When listeners play all episodes that have been added, Apple Podcasts will continue playing episodes in Up Next.

From Playing Next, listeners can also access chapters in episodes. Chapters now display the duration of each chapter and the remaining time for the current chapter.

Learn more about using chapters on Apple Podcasts

Episode art

Apple Podcasts will support episode artwork for all shows. Listeners can learn more about the subject of each episode with an original illustration, graphic, or photograph, which is displayed on the new Now Playing screen and Queue; the Lock Screen and Control Center; within Up Next in Listen Now; on show and episode pages; and through link previews in other apps, including Messages, Mail, and on social media platforms. Creators should keep these areas in mind when designing episode artwork for shows.

Creators will publish episode artwork via RSS using their hosting provider. Episode artwork is encouraged for creators submitting requests to be featured on Apple Podcasts. When episode artwork is not supplied, Apple Podcasts will continue to display show artwork. Apple Podcasts will also default to show artwork when multiple shows are presented together. To further enrich the listening experience, creators can continue to add chapter-specific artwork, which is displayed in real time as listeners progress through an episode.

Learn more about artwork requirements

Search filters

Listeners will be able to more easily find the podcasts they’re searching for with new filters for Top Results, Shows, Episodes, and Channels. Search results will also present more information, such as how much time is remaining in an episode that has been started or whether an episode has been saved to Library. Users can also double tap the Search tab to immediately bring the search bar into focus and begin typing.

Connect your subscriptions to top apps

This fall, listeners will be able to connect eligible subscriptions to top apps on the App Store with Apple Podcasts to access new shows and other benefits. This includes leading global news apps, such as Bloomberg, The Economist, L’Équipe, The Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and WELT; health and fitness apps, including Calm; kids and family apps, like Lingokids; and many more. Apple Podcasts will automatically recognize these App Store subscriptions and add the corresponding channel or show to a listener’s Library.

Developers interested in making their premium audio content available on Apple Podcasts can learn more.

Apple Music and Apple News will also launch brand new audio experiences on Apple Podcasts:

Apple Music Radio on Apple Podcasts: Subscribers to Apple Music or Apple One will be able to listen to the entire catalog of award-winning, commercial-free Apple Music radio shows, hosted by leading artists, DJs, and tastemakers. For the first time, listeners will also be able to follow each show to automatically download and be notified of new episodes as soon as they’re released. New episodes of Apple Music Radio shows will stream live on Apple Music and be released on demand on Apple Music and Apple Podcasts simultaneously.
Audio stories from Apple News+ on Apple Podcasts: Subscribers to Apple News+ or Apple One will be able to listen to professionally narrated audio stories from the world’s leading magazines and newspapers. New audio stories will be released in Apple News and on Apple Podcasts simultaneously.

Additional enhancements

Listeners will also benefit from a new design for episodes, shows, and channels that makes it easier to preview, play, and follow podcasts. These updates also include several bug fixes and performance improvements. For example, listeners can expect to see new episodes quickly after they are published along with faster and more consistent playback syncing between devices.

Availability

A developer beta of iOS 17, iPadOS 17, macOS 14, watchOS 10, and tvOS 17 is available to Apple Developer Program members. A public beta will be available to users next month. New software features will be available this fall as a free software update.