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Apple today announced several new features for the Podcasts app, including control over downloaded episodes, annual subscriptions, partnerships with hosting platforms, and more.
iOS 15.5, iPadOS 15.5, and macOS 12.4 offer new tools to easily remove accumulated downloads and free up storage space. In the Settings app on iOS and iPadOS under Podcasts, users can choose how many recent episodes of shows to download to a device, either by number of episodes or within a time frame, such as the last week. reported now TechCrunch. Users will still be able to download all new episodes, but with the new feature to turn off downloads, the Podcasts app will only work via streaming. This will be configurable at the show level to allow for individual settings for different podcasts. The updates also bring features to browse shows by season and filter episodes by status, and give podcast creators the ability to offer annual subscriptions for premium podcasts alongside monthly subscriptions, with annual subscriptions becoming the default.
iOS 15.5 and Co. offer new features in Apple Podcasts
Annual subscriptions may also show users cost savings. The Apple Podcasts Delegated Delivery System allows creators to distribute both free and premium podcast episodes directly to Apple Podcasts through third-party providers. Apple Podcasts program membership is not required to publish free episodes. Acast, ART19, Blubrry, Buzzsprout, Libsyn, Omny Studio, and RSS.com will be supported at launch this fall. Additional hosting providers will be added over time, and more details about the new distribution system will be announced closer to launch. For more information, visit the Apple Podcasts for Creators page. Control over downloaded episodes and annual podcast subscriptions will be available in iOS 15.5, iPadOS 15.5, and macOS 12.4, while Delegated Delivery with supported podcast hosting providers will roll out this fall. (Photo by Unsplash / Austin Distel)
