Introducing Favorite Categories in iOS 18

Categories are one of the most popular ways for listeners to find podcasts that map to their unique tastes. iOS 18.2 brings listeners a fresh approach to customize their listening experience in Apple Podcasts, find shows across dozens of categories, and receive more personalized show recommendations.

New Apple Podcasts listeners can pick their favorite categories on Home, quickly influencing show recommendations on Home, Categories in Library, and Search.

Categories in Library

Now, listeners can find categories in Library. Favorite categories are listed at the top, making it easy to find and play the latest episodes. Favorite categories are synced across devices and can be updated at any time.

On category pages, listeners can easily see the latest episodes from their followed shows in those categories in the From Your Shows row.

Managing Categories

Categories can be managed at any time via Manage Categories. Listeners can also fine-tune recommendations throughout the app by selecting Favorite or Suggest Less on show, category, or channel pages.

Personalized Categories in Search

Search now showcases more categories and subcategories, so it’s easy for listeners to explore more of the catalog. Categories in Search are personalized to each listener, so anyone can quickly get access to their favorite and most relevant categories while continuing to enjoy collections of shows curated by Apple Editors.

Podcast creators should make sure their primary category is accurate to ensure their show is correctly surfaced across show and category recommendations. Learn more about Apple Podcast categories.

Top Series Chart

Also new to Apple Podcasts this fall, the Top Series chart transformed the discovery of serialized podcasts. The Top Series chart helps listeners find their next marathon-worthy listen by presenting the most popular and trending serialized shows on Apple Podcasts. Learn more about Series on Apple Podcasts.

Chapters

When podcast creators provide chapters, listeners with iOS 18 can scrub the play progress bar to easily navigate to another chapter and skip to specific moments within an episode. Learn more about chapters.