Take control of your podcasts

Discover iOS 9’s revised app for managing and listening to free shows

Apple’s tuned up its Podcasts app to make it even easier to listen to your favourite shows

There’s a wealth of free audio and video content to listen to in Apple‘s podcast catalogue. To help you to manage it, iOS 9 includes a revised version of Apple’s Podcasts app with an interface that’s more consistent with the Music app introduced late in iOS 8’s life.

The On The Go station, or playlist, from the old version of Podcasts is gone, but it’s replaced by the ability for you to queue up podcasts and turn them into a continuous stream. You’ll notice right away that My Stations is no longer present in the bottom bar, but that doesn’t mean that stations, which enable you to queue up unplayed episodes just from specific podcasts, are no longer available – they’re simply presented in a different place in the app.

Furthermore, the Now Playing screen has been redesigned so that podcast’s artwork reaches the top of the screen, and all the important controls are within reach of your thumb in the lower part of the screen. Dedicated podcast listeners might still flock to the likes of Instacast, Downcast, or Overcast, iOS 9’s built-in Podcasts app is a nicer experience for more casual listening. Adam Smith