Google Play announced in October of 2015 that they would be bringing podcasts to their Google Play Music platform, but didn’t give a specified date. By the time I found this out, I was getting ready to put the show up on iTunes. I was able to join Google Play’s formative catalog of podcasts, which excited me to no end; that meant that when Play’s podcast functionality went live that people using Android phones (and tablets, I guess) would have instant access to the show. This would effectively multiply our listenership as there are some people who probably would listen, but don’t own iPhones or want to use iTunes.
But Google has done basically nothing to let anyone know when they could expect podcast functionality, and for me, starting this show up from nothing, the fact of not knowing when more people could hear our show has been driving me out of my skull. Four months (and change) is a long time to wait with absolutely no sign of something that will potentially grow one’s audience in a big way.
I’ve been googling the matter periodically. Turns out, something happened last month when I didn’t have my ear to the ground. TechCrunch reported on 3 February 2016 that Google Play’s podcast functionality seemed imminent. Apparently, Grantland’s editor-in-chief Bill Simmons tweeted (and subsequently deleted) that Podcasts were meant to arrive at the end of last month. Obviously, that didn’t happen, but according to a newer article from MobiPicker, it seems that the APK is now available for a version of Play Music which features the podcast tools. That could mean that Android users are right around the corner from a release update that will install this across up-to-date devices. And that would be awesome.
Stay tuned.
Candid Podcast Network 