It feels like the time when Google Reader was discontinued in 2013. While other podcast apps may have more features, Google Podcasts had everything I needed – a clean UI, it readily shows the recent episodes from my subscriptions – which for me, is the most important one.

Come June 23, 2024, Google Podcasts will cease to function and on July 29, 2024, users would no longer be able to migrate or export their subscriptions. I have already imported my subscriptions into YouTube Music to see how it fares as a podcast app. Somehow, something feels not right or maybe it’s because I’ve never really used YouTube Music before and had been forced to, because it’s going to replace Google Podcasts.

With Google’s promise that it will ‘increase investment in the podcast experience in YouTube Music’, I’ll give it a try. Although, I’m keeping the door open for other podcast apps out there.