For years, Apple’s Podcast app was by far the most popular way to listen to podcasts, but now the company has been knocked off the top spot and dropped to third place.
The proportion of weekly podcast listeners using Apple’s app has fallen from 30% in July 2019 to just over 10% today…
Apple made podcasts popular
Although Apple did not invent podcasting, it is so closely associated with it that the name itself is an abbreviation of “iPod Broadcasts.”
The concept was invented in 2000 by early MP3 player maker i2Go, which offered an online service for downloading audio stories and news. Author Tristan Louis came up with the idea of using RSS feeds as a distribution mechanism, and developer and RSS co-inventor Dave Winer implemented it.
But it was Apple that made podcasts a mass market phenomenon by supporting and promoting them on the iPod.
Apple Podcasts app now outdated
The Apple Podcasts app has been the market leader for many years, not only on iOS devices but across the entire industry.
However, Bloomberg reports that the app has lost its crown in recent years and has been overtaken by the YouTube and Spotify apps.
A study published last month by Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights shows that YouTube – a traditionally visual platform – is the most popular podcast listening platform in the US, with 31% of respondents saying they use it. This is followed by Spotify with 21% and Apple with 12%.
Apple seems to have an edge in one area: when podcasters count “downloads” instead of “listeners.” But even that lead seems to be fading. Since April, Spotify has overtaken Apple Podcasts in monthly downloads from podcasters who use the Buzzsprout hosting service.
A major reason for this is the growing popularity of video podcasts, which are not currently supported by the Apple app.
Personally, though, I’ve returned to podcasts thanks to Apple’s transcription feature from Overcast. Sometimes I want to listen to a podcast just for entertainment, but other times I really just want information and reading is much faster than listening. My colleague Ryan Christoffel made the switch for the same reason.
Photo: Israel Palacio/Unsplash
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