Google Sends Final Warnings About Podcasts Closure

Google is emailing users of Google Podcasts about the imminent closure of the service this coming Tuesday.

“We’re writing to remind you that after April 2, 2024, you will no longer be able to listen to podcasts in Google Podcasts,” a recent email I received notes. “You still have through July 29th, 2024, to migrate your podcast show subscriptions to YouTube Music, or to download a file of your show subscriptions so that you can upload to an app that supports their import.”

Google launched Google Podcasts as a standalone service in mid-2018, though the initial implementation—it integrated into Google Search results on the web—was a bit rough, with no support for offline downloads. But Google improved the service a lot: Downloads arrived in May 2019 and Google released an iPhone app in early 2020, among other improvements. Then, Google revealed in early 2023 that it would add podcasts to YouTube Music, echoing Spotify’s strategy. And the inevitable news of Google Podcasts’s demise arrived that September.

Google has offered a tool for migrating your shows from Google Podcasts to YouTube Music since December 2023. But those who prefer a standalone podcast app, as I do, are perhaps better served by Pocket Casts or similar. Google’s tool supports exporting your shows into an OPML file that Pocket Casts and other podcast apps can import.

Ah well. I really liked the minimalist Google Podcasts interface and would have used this service full-time if it had only worked with Sonos. (I suspect it was a victim of the two companies’ ongoing legal battles.) I wish there were more apps like that.