Apple Podcasts to Launch Enhanced Video Experience
Apple Podcasts is preparing to roll out an enhanced in-app video experience this spring, allowing users to switch seamlessly between watching and listening to shows. The move positions Apple to compete more directly with YouTube and Spotify in the growing video podcast market and utilizes Apple's HTTP Live Streaming technology.
- Apple first added podcast support to iTunes in June 2005, helping to bring the medium to the mainstream. The standalone Apple Podcasts app was later launched in 2012. - The new video features will be supported on iPhone, iPad, Apple Vision Pro, and the web, and are currently in beta testing for iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4. - This move comes as market research shows significant growth in video podcast consumption, with 37% of Americans aged 12 and over watching at least one video podcast monthly. YouTube has become the preferred platform for podcast streaming for 30% of users, slightly ahead of Spotify at 29%. - Competitor Spotify has also been heavily investing in video, reporting a 140% increase in the number of video podcasts in its top 50 U.S. podcasts in 2024 compared to 2023 and now hosts over 300,000 video podcast shows. - The enhanced video experience is powered by Apple's HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, which allows for adaptive bitrate streaming, adjusting video quality based on the user's network conditions. - For the first time, this update will enable creators to dynamically insert video ads into their podcasts, with Apple planning to charge ad networks an impression-based fee later in the year. - At launch, the new HLS video format will be supported by hosting partners Acast, ART19, Omny Studio, and SiriusXM (including AdsWizz and Simplecast). - Previously, creators who offered both audio and video versions of their shows had to maintain separate listings on the Apple Podcasts app.
