Waze has offered integration with some popular music apps such as Spotify and Pandora, and now that’s extending to a podcast player. Starting today, Castbox is officially integrating with Waze on Android.
Using the Waze Audio Kit, this new integration works natively in the Waze app on Android devices. The audio player within the navigation app gives users full control over their music, or in this case their favorite podcasts. Those who have both Waze and Castbox installed on their Android device can control podcasts without leaving the standard navigation screen.
Notably, Castbox is one of the first partners to use this feature since Spotify, Pandora, and iHeartRadio and others added support last year.
Castbox (https://castbox.fm), an award-winning podcast platform, today announced its integration with Waze, the community-based navigation app owned by Google. The new integration gives drivers an easy way to listen to their favorite podcasts on Castbox while navigating to their destination with the Waze app.
Castbox for Android is available now on the Google Play Store.
Castbox Announces Podcast Integration With Navigation App Waze
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — JUNE 19, 2019 — Castbox (https://castbox.fm), an award-winning podcast platform, today announced its integration with Waze, the community-based navigation app owned by Google. The new integration gives drivers an easy way to listen to their favorite podcasts on Castbox while navigating to their destination with the Waze app.
According to the 2019 Infinite Dial report, 26 percent of Americans listen to podcasts in the car. As podcasting becomes a natural extension of consumers’ daily driving habits, Castbox is providing a safer, more intuitive way for listeners to consume spoken audio content during their drive.
“The beauty of podcasts is that listeners can engage in other activities while fully immersing themselves in the content they love, which makes it the perfect medium for daily commutes and long drives,” said Renee Wang, founder and CEO of Castbox. “Our integration with Waze lets us keep our listeners continuously engaged in their favorite shows while ensuring a safer, more enjoyable journey.”
Users that have both apps installed on their smartphones can connect Waze to Castbox by tapping the audio icon in the Waze app and selecting Castbox from the list of supported apps. Once connected, users can access playback controls to pause, skip, or restart podcast episodes without ever leaving the navigation screen. From the Castbox app, listeners can receive turn-by-turn traffic directions while accessing all of the app’s features and podcast libraries. Switching between the two apps takes only a tap.
The new feature was built using the Waze Audio Kit, a developer toolset that allows approved partners like Castbox to fully integrate their apps with the Waze Audio Player. By making it effortless to play Castbox on Waze and run Waze on Castbox, Castbox is giving listeners a continuous podcasting experience before, during, and after their driving commutes.
“Our partnership with Castbox expands on our mission to strengthen the Waze ecosystem by integrating with apps and services that complement and enhance the driver experience,” said Adam Fried, Head of Global Partnerships at Waze. “We’re pleased to be working with Castbox to give our users more ways to enjoy their favorite audio content while they’re on the road.”
The integration with Waze is the latest in a wave of new features from Castbox aimed at bolstering the app’s capabilities and delivering a more robust podcasting experience for power users. The integration follows closely after the launch of Community, an in-app social feed and forum that gives podcasters a community to discuss their favorite shows, join trending conversations, and discover popular new content through crowdsourced recommendations.
More on Waze:
FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
Comments