Apple is taking on YouTube and Spotify with a new video podcast experience launching in the 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 a horizontal version of the podcast and download videos to watch offline.
The move comes as video podcasting continues to gain popularity. Edison Research recently revealed that 51% of the U.S. population has consumed a video podcast, and that 37% consume video podcasts monthly.
The updated video podcast experience will allow Apple to better compete with the likes of YouTube, Spotify, and even Netflix, all of which have already embraced the format. YouTube announced last year that it has more than 1 billion monthly active viewers of 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 streaming giant has partnered with iHeartMedia and Spotify to bring video podcasts to its platform.
By bringing an enhanced video podcast viewing experience to its app, Apple is aiming to keep users from turning to rival platforms to watch their favorite shows.
“Twenty years ago, Apple helped take podcasting mainstream by adding podcasts to iTunes, and more than a decade ago, we introduced the dedicated Apple Podcasts app,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, in a press release. “Today marks a defining milestone in that journey. By bringing a category-leading video experience to Apple Podcasts, we’re putting creators in full control of their content and how they build their businesses, while making it easier than ever for audiences to listen to or watch podcasts.”
While the new video experience will officially launch in the spring, the update is available to test starting this week as part of betas for iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4.
