Google’s in-house app for downloading and listening to podcasts is now available for iPhones and other iOS devices. The Google Podcasts app can now be downloaded on iPhones all over the world via the App Store. It is a free app with no in-app purchases.

Google’s Podcasts app was first launched for Android devices, and then it was made available for computers via a web app. Now, the internet search giant has made it available for everyone who uses an iPhone. Apart from browsing through podcasts, downloading them, and listening to them, the app also syncs the progress across all the platforms and devices.

The app is pretty straightforward and easy to use. It has three tabs at the bottom: Home, Explore, and Activity. The Home app is where you’ll find your favorite podcasts, recommendations based on your listening history, and popular podcasts. The Explore tab is where you can search for podcasts and see the trending ones across various genres. It looks quite similar to the Google search results page. The Activity tab shows a user’s downloads, listening history, and queued podcast episodes.

Google has also rolled out an updated version of the Podcasts app for Android smartphones and tablets via the Play Store. The new version of the app features a three-tab interface, similar to what’s available on the iOS version of the app. It also brings a feature that downloads newly released episodes automatically. It also notifies whenever a new episode of a subscribed podcast is available. These features were offered by rival apps for years now.

Our Take

Google is pretty late to the podcast market. Its app competes not only with Apple’s own Podcasts app, but also with Breaker, Castro, Overcast, PocketCasts, Spotify, and others. While Spotify is acquiring other podcasting apps for a wide range of exclusive items, Google is banking on its weekly recommendation algorithm to attract users.

Which podcast app do you use on your iPhone? My personal favorites are PocketCasts and Spotify.