Google Assistant can remember podcast progress across devices, Google talks about its podcast strategy

Podcasts are a great way to keep up with topics you care about, but it can be hard to keep up with a bunch of them. There are dozens of apps out there, but one of the most convenient has been the one built into Google Assistant. Now, that podcast manager is finally getting an upgrade that allows it to remember your progress.

For quite some time, Google has provided a podcast player that works directly through the Assistant. Simply asking to play the latest episode of your favorite podcast brings up that stream. Over time, that tool has been upgraded, most recently with a new interface that lets users manage subscriptions and more.

Now, in a recent interview with Pacific Content (via The Verge), Google is revealing its plans, and some new features, for its podcast manager.

First and foremost, Google revealed in this interview that it has fixed a pretty big pain point of listening to podcasts through the Assistant. Soon, users will be able to start a podcast on one device, to later resume it from where they left off on another. This feature was odd to leave out from the beginning, but it’s good to see that it’s finally arriving.

Further, Google detailed its current plans for podcasts, first talking about the new podcast UI mentioned earlier. This new UI was built because Google saw “a surprising number of people return through search day in and day out.” You can already add a shortcut to this UI to your homescreen to get the feel of an application, but this could even be even easier to access, as Google agrees that a “more straightforward access point” would make sense in the future.

The interview further went on to talk about Android’s relation with podcasts, acknowledging the stats that show more people listen to podcasts on iOS devices. Google feels that a large part of this is “probably” because iPhones have a podcast app built-in. With this new initiative, Google is hoping to create something “where it’s just as easy to get started,” with the experience being the best possible for discovery and listening.

Google apparently has more to reveal about its strategy in podcasting, as more parts of this series with Pacific Content are set to arrive throughout the week.

If you’re on the hunt for Google-related podcasts, also be sure to check out our weekly podcast Alphabet Scoop, and our daily podcast, 9to5Google Daily!

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