The Google Podcasts app has finally breathed its last in the US. Back in December, the company revealed that the Google Podcasts app will shut down after April 2 in the US, which is exactly what has happened.
As of April 4, many users have reported seeing a prompt within the Google Podcasts Android and iOS apps saying, "Google Podcasts is no longer available." Even though the same message appears on podcasts.google.com, the web app works fine as of now.
The message further urges Google Podcasts users to transfer their podcast subscriptions to YouTube Music, which is now the company"s only podcast solution. Google has notified users that Google Podcasts users have until July 30, 2024, to export their data to other services or port them to YouTube Music. After the said date, Google Podcasts data will no longer be available.
Google has followed what the metrics are showing, i.e., YouTube is the more popular space for podcasts than Google Podcasts. Besides, Google has been teasing the shutdown of Google Podcasts since September last year, and they are creating a centralized podcasting solution in the form of YouTube Music.
Google Podcasts has vanished from the US, while other countries will follow suit. However, there are no specific details regarding the shutdown of the app in other regions as of yet. Since there is no option to shift over to YouTube Music, users can utilize the Google Podcasts Export subscription feature to migrate to YouTube Music or download the OPML file.
Google launched the Podcasts app in 2018, and after six years, the app has entered the graveyard in the US. Ever since the announcement of the Google Podcasts shutdown, YouTube Music has gained several features, and it is loved by many, thanks to the simple and familiar UI. Besides, YouTube Music is available on a large number of devices, with a download count of over 500 million on the Google Play Store.