Apple's New Features for Podcasts and Audio Enhancements

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• Apple made a number of announcements at WWDC. Among those relevant for us in podcasting:
  • Apple Podcasts will add a new “enhance dialogue” feature in playback, just like independent apps like Overcast and Pocket Casts have had for some time. The description is “Amplify just the voices in an episode for clearer listening”.
  • Apple Podcasts will also offer more playback speeds - anything between 0.5x and 3x. More importantly, the app will let you save your preferred speed per show - again, a feature already present in other apps. Overcast’s Marco Arment jokingly reacted by saying “I’m screwed”; but it should be noted that Apple Podcasts still lacks silence-skipping, a key feature of Overcast.
  • The “Browse” button in Apple Podcasts has been renamed “New”. “Discover the best of what’s new and what’s popular in podcasting”.
  • The new themeable icons perhaps mean that Apple Podcasts won’t always be “the purple app”. (Probably will be by default, though).
  • In other audio-related news, newer versions of Apple’s AirPods will be upgraded to add “studio quality audio recording” - good for interviewees who insist on using AirPods to chat with you.
  • iPadOS 26 will include audio input controls allowing you to choose different microphones for each app.
  • If you’re listening to a podcast using AirPods while you’re in bed, the audio will pause when you fall asleep.
  • And finally, there’s an animated now-playing widget for the lock screen, and if we’re really lucky, it might work with podcasts in the future maybe.
• Exclusive: Former US Navy Seal Shawn Ryan is working with IRONCLAD on a new audio docuseries due for release later this year. The podcaster, who hosts the Shawn Ryan Show with Cumulus, beat Joe Rogan’s show to #1 for a time last year, and was also contacted by the person suspected of the Las Vegas Cybertruck explosion.
• Zeno Media has just been certified for the IAB Podcast Measurement Guidelines v2.2.

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