Google has rolled out a homepage for its Podcasts app on the web with access to search, top shows and more.
Previously, Podcasts on the web didn’t have a proper homepage. Instead, users had to find different podcasts through Google Search. For example, searching for ‘SyrupCast’ would surface several episodes of the MobileSyrup podcast. Clicking through those would take you to the SyrupCast show page on Google’s Podcasts website.
Now, things aren’t so convoluted. Users can just head to ‘podcasts.google.com‘ and search for shows directly from the homepage. Additionally, the homepage lists ‘Top podcasts’ and ‘Trending podcasts,’ as well as popular shows in different categories like comedy or politics.
When using the search function, the top result displays a large card with the most recent episode of a show as well as a description of that podcast. Below that is a list of episodes and other related shows.
Finally, clicking play on an episode summons a bottom bar with play/pause controls, buttons to skip ahead or back 30 seconds and a playback speed adjustment. There’s also a scrub bar for jumping to a specific point in an episode.
Overall, the web experience seems fairly polished, although not as feature-rich as the native Android app. For example, the website doesn’t list your subscriptions.
That said, it’s still a welcome addition from Google. Being able to access and play podcasts while using my computer is great. Plus, it gives iOS users the option to use Google Podcasts since the search giant doesn’t make a version of its app for Apple devices.
You can access the Podcasts web app here.
Source: 9to5Google
