Illustration: Alex Castro / The Verge
Google Podcasts is going away. Starting next year, Google will focus on offering podcast access within YouTube Music instead.
This change doesn’t come as a complete surprise. In April, Google launched the ability for users in the US to listen to podcasts in YouTube Music without a paid membership. It also lets users listen to podcasts offline and in the background while also switching between the audio and video versions on YouTube Music. As part of its podcasts push, YouTube also announced it will make podcasts available within YouTube Music globally before the end of 2023.
First launched on Android in 2018, Google Podcasts offered a way for users to listen to a library of podcasts for free while also receiving personalized…