Google has built a podcast player in search on Android

Finally, Google will make listening to podcasts on Android convenient. The company is already testing the web version of the player and integrated the service with smart columns based on its Assistant.

How it works?

Users just open the search application or Google Assistant on the smartphone and drive the name of the desired podcast. In the issue will appear a list of the latest issues, and the playback of which opens a section of podcasts. Here you can subscribe, download an entry for offline listening (we do not have this option), view the whole list of episodes, or go to the main screen with popular podcasts. There is a convenient sorting by themes and built-in search.

The player is not the most functional, but it already knows how to remember the last place and allows you to adjust the playback speed. The database found programs in Russian and Ukrainian. Most of them are visible only from the web application, so you should start by searching for English-language podcasts.

While the developers introduced only the web interface. There is no full-fledged application on Google Play, but you can add a shortcut to the desktop. If you turn on application and search history (at the level of your Google account), your subscriptions and list will automatically sync with other Android devices on the user.

On smart columns, you only need to ask Google Assistant to play the podcast (the assistant himself should soon speak in Russian ).

Android for podcasts

Representatives of Google recognize that the average iPhone owner listens to podcasts more than ten times more than the Android user. And all because Apple in 2012 launched the Podcasts application. The Internet giant added the corresponding section to Google Play Music only in 2016, and then only for a couple of countries. The new project will help to increase the popularity of podcasts on Android and not only. For several years the team expects to double the number of listeners around the world.

In the future, Google plans to show podcasts in search results, if they discuss the same topic (thanks to the algorithms of speech recognition). And users can support their favorite authors financially - in some cases there is a "Donate" item to the right of the subscription button.

Do not forget to check out our selection of podcasts for this geek. In the online player Google they also have.

Sources: Pacific Content , TNW