Apple Podcast was the most popular podcast app for years. However, it has now fallen from number 1 to number 3. The share of weekly podcast listeners in the Apple app has fallen from 30% in July 2019 to just over 10% now.
In case you don't know, Apple has been in the podcast business basically since the beginning. The word “podcast” itself comes from “iPod broadcast.” The concept was invented in 2000 by MP3 player maker i2Go, which offered an online service for downloading audio stories and news. However, Apple took it mainstream with the iPod.
Now, the latest study shows that Apple is no longer king in the world of podcasting apps. The app has been overtaken by YouTube and Spotify. The study by Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights shows that YouTube is now the most popular platform for listening to podcasts in the US. 31% of survey respondents say they use YouTube and 21% use Spotify. Only 12% said they use Apple Podcasts.
However, Apple is still ahead if you count “downloads” instead of “listeners.”
I switched from Apple Podcasts to Spotify a few years ago, but now I listen to most of my podcasts on YouTube. I find that being able to watch a video alongside the podcast (when I'm walking around cleaning, for example) is a nice addition, as it lets me catch a glimpse of people chatting in between other things. I also find it easier to find new podcasts to listen to on YouTube.