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Apple is taking on YouTube and Spotify with a new video podcast that launched last spring. Users will be able to switch between watching and listening to shows in the Apple Podcasts app, which will begin using the company’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) video technology. Users can also switch to the horizontal version of the podcast and download videos for offline viewing.
The move comes as video podcasting continues to gain popularity. Edison Research recently revealed that 51% of the US population has consumed a podcast, and that 37% consume video podcasts per month.
The updated podcast will allow Apple to better compete with the likes of YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix, all of which have already adopted the feature. YouTube announced last year that it has more 1 billion viewers per month about podcast content. Spotify said last November that it has half a million video podcasts, which nearly 400 million users have watched. As for Netflix, the download giant has agreed to it iHeartMedia and Spotify bringing video podcasts to its platform.
By bringing podcast content to its app, Apple aims to prevent users from turning to competing platforms to watch their favorite content.
“Twenty years ago, Apple helped take podcasting by adding podcasts to iTunes, and more than ten years ago, we launched a dedicated Apple Podcasts app,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Services, in a press release. “Today is an important step in that journey. By bringing video streaming to Apple Podcasts, we’re putting creators in control of both their content and the way they build their businesses, making it easier than ever for listeners to listen to or watch podcasts.”
Although the new video features will be officially launched in late spring, the update is available for testing starting this week as part of the beta version of iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4.
