Apple’s walled garden is usually pretty all-encompassing, with many apps and services only working on Apple devices. For a long time that was true of the Podcasts app, but Apple has just taken the unusual step of opening it up to users of other platforms, granting access to all of the best podcasts and exclusives in the process.
But before you head over to the Google Play Store, it’s not Apple’s Podcasts app that is now available on your Windows PC or Android phone. Instead, you can now access the Podcasts service from any of the best web browsers simply by heading to the new Apple Podcasts page.
There, you’ll find the full Apple Podcasts library for you to browse through. Featured podcasts are highlighted at the top of the page, with various categories and shows listed as you scroll downwards.
Select a podcast and you’ll be taken to its dedicated page, where you can see all of its episodes, read their synopses or leave a review. Press the play button next to any episode – or the button that appears on the podcast’s cover art on the website’s homepage – and you’ll be able to listen to it in your browser, with a full set of playback controls at the top of the page.
Apple encourages you to create an account or sign in with your Apple Account so that you can “save your place, follow shows and see the latest episodes,” but you don’t need to do that to start listening in the first place.
Cracks in the walled garden
It’s unclear exactly what motivated Apple to make this change, but news website AppleInsider has quoted Apple as saying: “Users can now get the favorite features they love, including the ability to browse millions of shows across a variety of categories, access their Library and Top Charts, purchase premium podcast subscriptions and much more.”
AppleInsider says Apple argued that the new system – where a shared link will open in the Podcasts app for Apple users but on the web for everyone else – improves the process of sharing podcasts by making it simpler and more straightforward. As well as that, Apple said there are benefits for podcast creators, since shows are now “accessible to anyone with a web browser on any device, reaching a wider global audience".
Apple made its Maps app available on the web for the first time in July, and with Podcasts following in its footsteps, you might be wondering if any other Apple services are going to go web-based and become accessible even if you don’t have one of the company’s devices.
We can’t know for sure if anything else will follow, but it’s worth keeping an eye out in case a few more cracks appear in the company’s famous walled garden.
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