What is Apple Podcasts & How Do Podcasts Work

Podcasts have existed for quite a long time and you may have likely used them on your compatible devices. If you are unfamiliar with this term and you are not sure what it is, a podcast is an audio program that you can listen to on your devices. It is like the old-style radio channels but now available on your digital devices including your iPhone and iPad.

In order to listen to various podcasts on your devices, you are going to need certain apps that let you do it. Apple has recently come up with such an app that lets you do it and here we take a look at each and everything that you need to know about the Apple Podcasts app for your devices.

What is Apple Podcasts

Before you dig any deeper, let us first understand exactly what Apple Podcasts is. If you have read the recent news about iOS updates, you would know that Apple has announced an app called Podcasts for the iOS devices.

The Podcasts app for your iPhone and iPad allows you to listen to a number of podcasts right on your device. It uses your Internet connection to fetch, download, and play podcasts on your device.

The Podcasts app is actually the result of Apple breaking down the iTunes app into three parts namely Podcasts, TV, and Music. Since you will no longer have the iTunes app to listen to your audio files, you will have the Podcasts app to let you access your podcasts libraries. In a nutshell, Apple Podcasts is an app that allows you to access various podcasts on your iOS-based devices.

How Do Podcasts Work

Now that you know what Apple Podcasts is, you may be interested in learning how these podcasts actually work on your devices. Fortunately, podcasts are easy to understand and these are not the rocket-science type of things.

A podcast is actually an audio file, usually in the MP3 format, saved on a website. The creator of the podcast first records the audio of the podcast. When the audio is recorded, it is uploaded to the creator’s or any other website.

Your podcast app then connects your device to that podcast audio file located on the creator’s website. Once connected, the app starts playing the audio on your device and you get to hear the whole podcast. It would not be wrong to say that a podcast is actually a music track that you listen to using a special app on your device. So that is how podcasts work on the Internet.

How Much do Podcast Cost

Now that it is clear to you what a podcast is and how it works, you may want to know if there is a fee you need to pay to access various podcasts on your devices.

Fortunately, most podcasts do not cost anything and you can download and listen to them for free on your devices. One search on Google will yield a number of these free podcasts for you to listen to on your compatible devices. Some of the podcasts offer certain parts under a fee, though. While the basic one will be free to use, the other part of the podcast will require you to pay a set amount of fee to access.

Then the third-type of podcasts you have are completely premium podcasts. You are going to need either a subscription to these podcasts or you need to pay a fee per podcast to access them on your devices. Since the creators spend a huge amount of their time and money to create podcasts, sometimes they do not offer them for free to the users.

Also Read: Common Apple Podcasts Problems and Solutions > 

How to Listen to Podcast

If you have figured out what free podcasts are or if you are willing to shell out a few bucks to enjoy some of the podcasts, let us learn how to listen to various podcasts on your compatible devices.

As mentioned earlier, in order to access podcasts on your devices, you are going to need an application that lets you access them. Both Apple App Store and Google Play Store have hundreds of these apps to help you access your favorite podcasts on your devices.

So basically what you need to do is get an app from the app store, find the podcast you want to listen to in the app, and start listening to it on your device. It is as easy as that.

For the premium podcasts, though, you may have to add your credit card details to the app to buy a subscription. Once you have subscribed to a podcast, it will appear in your list and you will be able to listen to it by tapping on it on your device. That is how you listen to a podcast on your device.

How to Use Apple Podcasts

As mentioned above, Apple Podcasts is actually an application that lets you access various podcasts on your devices. Once you have got this app up and running on your iPhone or iPad, you are all set to start listening to your favorite podcasts.

Using the app is extremely easy as it comes with an easy to use interface and does not have any options that may confuse you. Here is how you go about using the app on your iPhone or iPad.

Step 1. Launch the Podcasts app from the springboard of your iOS-based device.

Step 2. When the app launches, tap on the Search option at the bottom to search for podcasts. You need to do it because you will not have any default podcasts when you first launch the app on your device.

Step 3. When the search option opens, search for the podcast you would like to listen to. It could be a podcast name or even the genre of the podcast. When you find it, tap on it to open it.

Step 4. Tap on the Subscribe button to subscribe to the selected podcast.

Step 5. Now if you want to stream the podcast on your device, simply tap on any of the episodes in the list and it will start playing. You can download the episodes for offline use by tapping on the download icon next to the episode names.

You may plug-in your earphones or AirPods and start listening to your favorite podcasts while you are on the go. That is how you use Apple Podcasts on your devices. And if you are wondering if Apple podcasts are free, most of these will be free and those that require payment will have the fee mentioned in them.

The Bottom Line

Podcasts are a great way to kill your boredom and to learn something new while you are on the go. Apple Podcasts provides you with excellent service to listen to and download your favorite podcasts on your iPhone and iPad. The above guide should teach you everything you need to know about Apple Podcasts.