Apple has updated the Podcasts app on iOS, iPadOS, and macOS with features that make it easier to find content in your favorite genres. It now includes nine new subcategories: mental health, relationships, self-improvement, personal journals, entrepreneurship, documentaries, parenting, and books. , and learn the language. These come on top of existing subcategories like True Crime, Sports, and others.
And Apple has focused on mental health for the past few years, and recently introduced the Journal app that lets you document how you're feeling. Additionally, the company recently introduced mood tracking as part of Health in iOS 17, and adding a mental health subcategory in podcasts along with other categories like relationships, self-improvement, and personal journals seems to be part of that, according to the engadget report.
And each subcategory has its own charts that show the best deals and episodes in your market. “For example, a listener in the US can browse charts for mental health that show the top 200 shows and the top 200 episodes available in the US based on a combination of listening, following, and completion rate,” Apple wrote in its podcasts for its creators blog.
As a point of comparison, Spotify has eight main podcast categories and at least 54% subcategories. YouTube offers 14 main podcast categories and PocketCast 19, but neither offers subcategories. With the new additions, Apple seems to be offering a good selection without confusing users.
And the nine new subcategories, along with the 19 core categories, have been updated with new artwork and recommendations as well. The latter includes new and noteworthy shows, shows of the month, featured channels, content creators, and world highlights.
And with the upcoming release of iOS 17, Apple is adding some new Podcasts features like an updated Now Play experience, queue and episode art, search filters, and more. Podcast updates have been relatively sparse, although the last major update came a year ago with new podcast charts. Apple's main competitor Spotify, which spent big on podcasts in 2019, recently laid off 200 employees from that division.