from Hacker News

Google Podcasts is going away

by jasim on 9/26/23, 7:33 PM with 65 comments

  • by crtasm on 9/26/23, 9:11 PM

    Dupe: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37659482 (7 hours ago, 144 comments)

  • by zuhsetaqi on 9/26/23, 8:42 PM

  • by g42gregory on 9/26/23, 7:46 PM

    Basically, it looks like you can not rely on Google products. They could be discontinued at any time in the future. It makes me a lot less interested to try new products from Google at this point.

  • by not2b on 9/26/23, 9:14 PM

    Sickening. Podcasts are a simple RSS-based mechanism that points to sound files. The whole point of them is that you can find them "wherever you get your podcasts", no feudal lord has a monopoly over them, no company controls the distribution (despite efforts by Spotify, Audible and others to incorrectly use the word "podcast" for some of their exclusive content). YouTube Music isn't an appropriate substitute, just a way of injecting additional ads and sucking more data in.

  • by hedora on 9/26/23, 8:03 PM

    I was pretty happy with AntennaPod until I gave up on Android.

    It's open source, and compares favorably to Apple Podcasts. It's difficult to discover unless you look on F-Droid. Presumably the paid / adware options have bigger marketing budgets.

    (Using Overcast on iOS these days.)

  • by nikolay on 9/26/23, 8:06 PM

    That's why I don't pay attention to any new Google products, which always come out to be a wasteful investment.

  • by jc_sec on 9/26/23, 8:56 PM

    They burned me bad with Google Music...never again.. Google is a joke, this reminds me I need to find a GMail alternative.

  • by jayknight on 9/26/23, 9:02 PM

    The corresponding announcement about improving the podcast experience on Youtube Music: https://blog.youtube/news-and-events/podcast-destination-on-...

    So they are going the way of Spotify and combining music and podcasts into the same place.

  • by lukasschwab on 9/26/23, 9:12 PM

    Okay... here's an attempt at optimism.

    In one respect this consolidation makes more sense than the Play Music → YouTube Music switch: many podcasts cross-post episodes as YouTube videos and audio-only feeds. If YouTube collates those feeds and lets users select between modes while maintaining a unified "already watched/listened" list... hey, that reflects how podcasts distribute/monetize in practice.

    The YouTube Music app was a dismal replacement for Google Music, and never regained features for managing one's own library of uploads. Of course, that's not a problem for podcasts; episodes are already syndicated.

    All that said, this still bodes poorly.

  • by mbStavola on 9/26/23, 9:06 PM

    I think this is it, I'm just going to start the de-googling process. I'm sick of having to change apps because this company can't agree on a direction.

  • by cbdumas on 9/26/23, 8:41 PM

    This one hurts. Simple interface, does exactly one thing well. I use it every day, never had an issue with it.

  • by watermelon0 on 9/26/23, 8:41 PM

    I like Google Podcasts the most because it's a simple app, offering only podcasts, with mobile & web interfaces, and progress sync between them.

    I mostly use Spotify for my music needs, so I will probably migrate there, but the last time I tried, experience was not so great for listening podcasts.

  • by wand3r on 9/26/23, 10:00 PM

    This is the 2nd time this week that I am posting about Google doing something like this. After totally destroying developer trust they are also rapidly eroding consumer trust.

    Can someone from Google (or anyone) steelman how killing off so many product like this is smart?

    I don't see any broad refocus in the company and their core products suck more now than ever. Even if they are more profitable I don't think thats because they redeployed talent and focus there.

    Did they cut headcount too much to maintain this stuff?

    Am I really misunderstanding how much a service like this costs to operate, even for Google?

    I really am curious what the anti-cynical take is. I know what the cynics say, I am one. What am I missing where Sundar or management (smart people) look at these cases and do this?

  • by ilikeitdark on 9/26/23, 8:32 PM

    Sometimes it seems that Google is trying to get me to hate it more than Microsoft.

  • by ttfkam on 9/26/23, 9:06 PM

    1. New product!

    2. Why can't we get more traction?

    3. Refuse to see pattern that folks won't adopt a service they expect to disappear.

    4. Kill product!

    5. Goto 1

    La plus ça change, la plus même chose.

  • by NoZebra120vClip on 9/26/23, 7:42 PM

    It was too good to last.

    I almost never used it, but I admired the simple interface and the lightweight controls. That giant sucking sound you hear is YouTube hoovering up all that is true and good in the world, and shitting it out on Cory Doctorow's self-driveway.

    Okay this is a tangent, but I've got a rate-limited comment budget.

    YouTube has ruined my life. I can pretend I'm amused and cool with my Google accounts and how nicely they treat me, but YouTube is a giant social media black hole that rips out my heart and shows it to me before putting it back in again.

    My final teevee broke, over 8 years ago, and I was relieved to be rid of that monstrosity we know as OTA broadcast. I swore I'd never watch teevee again, and I was prepared to be mentally healthy. YouTube destroyed every last ounce of fortitude I had.

    I used to have a nice UBO setup and blocked all YT ads. Of course I eventually just had to let'em all roll. So I watch less toxic influencers and more nonconsensual trash scams. I share YT links with my non-Google friends. I post YT links at work. I post YT all over HN. Everyone is sick of my videos, especially me.

    There oughtta be a 12-step group.

  • by thedougd on 9/26/23, 8:22 PM

    Glad I moved over to Amazon Music to listen to a few without commercials.

    When I switched from Android to iPhone I was infuriated that Bluetooth track controls for Google Podcasts didn’t map correctly. Pressing skip on my car steering wheel would jump to the next podcast instead of advancing a few seconds.

  • by matthewfelgate on 9/27/23, 7:39 AM

    This situation is disheartening because it's a fantastic product that I utilize daily. It even had a handy feature to skip silence. Does anyone know of any Android alternatives with that feature?

    Google, I implore you not to kill Gmail, Search, Chrome, or Google Drive/Docs.

  • by devuo on 9/26/23, 9:25 PM

    I opened YouTube music app, for which I pay premium and tried to find the podcasts I listen to. I wasn't able to find any filter for podcasts and neither did search yield the podcasts I listen to via Google Podcasts. FFS Google.

  • by StevenNunez on 9/26/23, 9:10 PM

    I'm getting burned by this. Arg.

    Is there a podcast app that has something like sponsorblock?

  • by iterateAutomate on 9/26/23, 8:39 PM

    Aw shucks, just started using this because my apple podcasts app (ios) kept stalling indefinitely.

    anyone know of any other apps that they recommend?

  • by panick21_ on 9/26/23, 8:14 PM

    Was nice to occasionally look at a podcast episode, listen to a few and see if I want to subscribe. But I think we will subscribe.

  • by Spellman on 9/26/23, 9:21 PM

    OK. So, who has a good recommendation for something that:

    * Variable playback speed

    * Cross-device sync

    * Subscribe to a podcast stream

    * Selectively Queue episodes

  • by ChrisArchitect on 9/26/23, 9:29 PM

    [dupe]

  • by stringtoint on 9/26/23, 9:48 PM

    Oh no, I actually liked Google Podcasts for its simplicity. First Google Music, now Podcasts - hope they don't kill this Play Store thingy next /s