Today's a big day for Google Podcasts because not only is the app getting an updated look, it's also expanding to iOS.
A new Google Podcasts update is bringing a new design focused on three tabs: Home, Explore, and Activity. Home is where you'll get quick access to your subscribed shows with a feed of new episodes, and selecting a show will present topics or people that are covered in it and let you easily access Google Search to learn more about them.
The Explore tab includes "For you", which offer show and episode recommendations for you based on your interests. You can also browse popular podcats by category.
Finally, the Activity tab will show your listening history, your queue, and downloads. You can now enable automatic downloading and/or push notifications for when new episodes of your subscribed shows are released.
Also of note is that Google is adding support for subscriptions to Google Podcasts on the web.
The new Google Podcasts is now available on iOS and is rolling out on Android this week.
With this update, Google appears to be getting more serious about podcasts. The new design will help you quickly see and play new episodes of your subscribed shows when you launch the app, and features like automatic downloading and push notifications for new episodes are features that are already available on other podcasting apps, so it's good that they're in Google Podcasts now, too.
An iOS version of the Google Podcasts app might seem strange when there are several podcasting apps already available on that platform, including Apple Podcasts built-in. Some folks use both iOS and Android, and so having Google Podcasts available on both platforms would be useful since it can sync your position across devices.