IOS 18.2 Enhances Apple’s Podcasts App, Yet My Main Grievance Remains Unaddressed

Apple’s Podcasts app has acquired noteworthy enhancements not too long ago, together with a standout transcripts characteristic—and there are extra updates on the best way with iOS 18.2. Nonetheless, amidst these developments, a basic difficulty inside the app stays unresolved.

Two new options in iOS 18.2 improve podcast discovery

Let’s start with the optimistic features.

iOS 18.2 brings two important upgrades to Apple Podcasts that improve how customers uncover podcasts.

1. Customers can now choose their favourite podcast classes, which ought to result in extra tailor-made podcast strategies inside the app.
2. The Search characteristic has been customized, showcasing classes and curated collections that align extra carefully with particular person listening preferences.

Each updates are commendable additions to the app and work nicely in unison.

As an illustration, when you’ve chosen your most popular podcast classes, these alternatives can be featured extra prominently within the Search part.

Whereas I admire the enhancements to the Podcasts app, I nonetheless discover that the important expertise feels incomplete.

I’m referring to the Up Subsequent characteristic situated within the residence part.

Apple Podcasts’ important characteristic appears insufficient

For these unfamiliar with Apple Podcasts, the Up Subsequent part features equally to options present in different Apple media apps.

• In Music, it’s labeled as High Picks for You.
• In TV, it’s often called Proceed Watching, displaying reveals and flicks that you just’ve been viewing or have saved for later.
• In Books, it’s referred to as Proceed, which incorporates all of the books you’re at the moment studying.

In every of those apps, this characteristic is situated on the high of the Dwelling tab, making it essentially the most outstanding space of the default tab.

Apple Podcasts positions Up Subsequent as the first means for customers to hearken to podcasts from their subscribed reveals.

Primarily, until you’re continuously trying to find and discovering new content material, most of your expertise inside the app will revolve round Up Subsequent.

This characteristic is meant to function a central hub for podcast playback.

Nonetheless, since Apple launched Up Subsequent a number of years in the past, it has exhibited quite a few flaws that compromise its usability.

5 causes Up Subsequent requires enchancment

Right here’s a short overview of 5 considerations that render Up Subsequent ineffective for me:

• Data Density: You possibly can view just one and a half podcasts at a time, making it difficult to understand your listening choices at a look.
• Sluggish Swiping: Compounding this difficulty, you can not swiftly swipe by way of Up Subsequent—it enforces a staggered swipe that hampers your capability to browse podcasts shortly.
• Hidden Episodes: If a number of unplayed episodes exist for a present, Up Subsequent received’t point out this. It reveals solely the newest episode with none clue about what number of others may be pending.
• Cluttered Feed: Most of my listening entails reveals I observe. Nonetheless, once I try a brand new present’s episode, it typically will get added to my Up Subsequent feed, cluttering it. Apple ought to acknowledge that if I needed to proceed with future episodes, I’d have subscribed to that present.
• Including to Up Subsequent: Moreover, once I hearken to a standalone episode (from a present I’m not subscribed to), it’s surprisingly tough so as to add it to Up Subsequent. Whereas Podcasts provides choices to play the episode subsequent or reserve it, neither constantly provides it to Up Subsequent, resulting in a bent to miss the episode. I’ve observed enhancements currently when saving episodes, so hopefully, Apple has applied a repair.

Conclusion

I’ve used Apple Podcasts for a few years, so I’m conscious of varied methods to navigate round many of those points. However that’s inappropriate.

Up Subsequent is designed to be a central hub for customers’ podcast expertise, but it’s at the moment failing to meet that function successfully.

What are your ideas on the modifications launched in iOS 18.2 for Podcasts? How do you are feeling about Up Subsequent? Share your insights within the feedback.

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