Apple Podcasts app no longer #1, has dropped to #3

For years, Apple’s Podcasts app was by far the most popular way to listen to them, but the company has now been knocked off the top slot, falling to number three.

The percentage of weekly podcast listeners who use Apple’s app has fallen from 30% in July 2019 to a little over 10% today …

Apple popularised podcasts

Apple didn’t invent podcasting, but is so closely associated with it that the name itself is a shortening of “iPod broadcasts.”

The concept was effectively invented in the year 2000 by early mp3 player manufacturer i2Go, which offered an online service to download audio stories and news. Author Tristan Louis came up with the idea of using RSS feeds as a distribution mechanism, and developer and RSS co-creator Dave Winer implemented it.

But it was Apple that turned podcasts into a mass-market phenomenon by supporting and promoting them on the iPod.

Apple Podcasts app now overtaken

For a great many years, the Apple Podcasts app has been the market leader, not just on iOS devices but across the entire industry.

However, Bloomberg reports that the app has lost its crown in recent years, being overtaken by YouTube and Spotify apps.

A study published last month, from Cumulus Media and Signal Hill Insights, shows YouTube — a traditionally visual platform — as the most popular podcast listening platform in the US, with 31% of respondents saying they use it. It’s followed by Spotify at 21% and Apple at 12%.

The one place Apple seems to maintain a lead is when podcasters count “downloads” instead of “listeners.” But even that headway appears to be fading. Beginning in April, Spotify surpassed Apple Podcasts in monthly downloads for podcasters using the hosting service Buzzsprout.

One key reason for this has been the growing popularity of video podcasts, which Apple’s app doesn’t currently support.

Personally, though, I returned to Podcasts from Overcast thanks to Apple’s transcripts feature. There are times when I want to enjoy listening to a podcast for the entertainment, but other times when I really just want the information, and reading is way faster than listening. My colleague Ryan Christoffel made the switch for the same reason.

Photo: Israel Palacio/Unsplash