Apple Podcasts is introducing new features to enhance the podcast experience for both creators and listeners. The platform will now automatically generate chapters for English-language shows and enable creators to embed links at specific timestamps within their episodes.
The new timed links feature allows creators to include links to various Apple services, such as Apple Music, Apple News, and Apple TV, directly within their podcast episodes. These links will be displayed in a banner on the Now Playing screen, as well as in the transcript and episode details page, making the content more interactive and informative for listeners.
Creators will have the flexibility to opt-out of both the automatic chapters and timed links features, ensuring they maintain full control over the presentation of their content. The automatically generated chapters will be clearly marked, distinguishing them from manually added chapters.
These advancements in podcast accessibility and user experience are in line with similar features introduced by Spotify, indicating a broader industry trend towards improving the podcast listening experience across platforms.
The new features are scheduled to debut in iOS 26.2, which is currently undergoing developer beta testing, promising a more immersive and interactive podcasting experience for both creators and listeners.
Source: The Verge