podcasts

How to read auto-generated transcripts in Apple Podcasts

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Apple Podcasts transcripts
Every episode on Apple Podcasts now has a written transcript, ready for you to read.
Photo: Apple/Cult of Mac

It just became a lot easier to read along with a podcast, or pull an interesting quote out of one. The Apple Podcasts app now automatically generates transcripts for series and episodes.

Here’s how to find and read these transcripts in the iPhone Podcasts app.

Best and worst of 2023: The CultCast’s year-end wrap

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Best and worst of 2023: The CultCast episode 627 year-end wrap.
Let's go out with a bang, shall we?
Image: Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Since Apple and the rest of the civilized world is taking a holiday break, we’re spending the majority of the show on our final picks for the best and worst of 2023.

Also on The CultCast:

  • The U.S. ban on the import and sales of Apple Watch takes another weird twist.
  • Former Apple design chief Jony Ive lures another former colleague away from Cupertino. This time, the goal is to build AI hardware for OpenAI.
  • Amazon Prime Video’s plan to add commercials is a major bummer.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus named Apple podcast of 2023

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'Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus'
Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus was picked by Apple as the year's best podcast.
Photo: Apple

Apple honored Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus with the Apple Podcasts Award, given each year to honor a show that demonstrates quality and innovation in podcasting.

In the series, the actress and comedian interviews older women about their lives.

Pick new podcasts from Apple’s list of most popular ones

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Pick new podcasts from Apple's list of most popular ones
The Apple Podcasts app will show you to most popular offerings in your country.
Image: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

One of the best ways to discover new podcasts is by finding out what other people are listening to. Apple made that easy Tuesday by tabulating the most popular podcasts of 2023.

These hit podcasts are available in localized versions for listeners in nearly 100 countries and regions.

In search of the perfect podcast? Now it’s easier to find.

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Nine new subcategories of Podcasts with their own popularity charts help you narrow down the search.
Nine new subcategories of Podcasts with their own popularity charts help you narrow down the search.
Photo: Apple

If you feel lost in a sea of podcasts without a paddle, Apple offered some new rowing implements Tuesday. After all, navigating podcasts can feel as hopeless as floundering among streaming TV shows and movies.

The company said Apple Podcasts will elevate nine “new and noteworthy” subcategories for browsing, plus related popularity charts and the new Podcasts by Language browsing tool.

Here’s what we know about iOS 17 so far … [The CultCast]

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A new feature coming soon to iOS 17 sounds like it would be even better on an iPad.
A new feature coming soon to iOS 17 sounds like it would be even better on an iPad.
Image: Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: iOS 17 might turn your iPhone into a dashboard for your smart home. Plus, Apple’s new journaling app seems like it will arrive soon as well. With WWDC23 just weeks away, we don’t have long to wait.

Also on The CultCast:

  • Three Apple TV+ hits conquer the streaming charts.
  • Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie is a moving and surprisingly inspirational documentary about the actor’s life (and his heroic battle with Parkinson’s disease).
  • MoviePass is back from the dead — and one option actually sounds enticing!

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

Insiders are buzzing about Apple’s upcoming headset [The CultCast]

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CultCast 595: AI-generated image of Apple CEO Tim Cook wearing an AR/VR headset, along with the CultCast logo.
No, Apple's headset likely won't look like this AI-generated image.
Image: Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: Well-placed sources say Apple’s AR/VR headset blew them away. Even the guy who dreamed up the Oculus Rift says it’s great.

The more we hear about the device nobody seems to need, the more intrigued we become. And with WWDC23 just weeks away, we don’t have long to wait for answers to our questions. In the meantime, we can imagine the possibilities …

Also on The CultCast:

  • How Apple’s M3 chip will stack up against its predecessors.
  • Five hidden features in iMessage that you should try ASAP.
  • Erfon finally gives us an update on his beloved, but beleaguered, original HomePod.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

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New iPhone 15 leaks sound encouraging! [The CultCast]

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An image of iPhone 14, adorned with the phrases
The iPhone of the future is coming into focus ...
Photo: Apple/Modified by Cult of Mac

This week on Cult of Mac’s podcast: The latest iPhone 15 rumors provide a fuller picture of what to expect this year. Sounds like big changes are coming in iOS 17. But a last-minute reversal means a hardware feature we were counting on probably won’t happen.

Also on The CultCast:

  • Whatever you do, don’t get “juice jacked” this summer. We offer easy ways to avoid this menace.
  • How much would it take to get you to give up your iPhone forever?
  • The morons running General Motors ditched CarPlay. Get ready for sales to crash!
  • A new edition of What We’re Into dishes up pasta, podcasts and a sci-fi show.

Listen to this week’s episode of The CultCast in the Podcasts app or your favorite podcast app. (Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review if you like it!) Or watch the video live stream, embedded below.

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Apple names top podcasts of 2022

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Find out what everybody's listening to.
Find out what everybody's listening to.
Photo: Apple Podcasts

If you’re looking for a new podcast to addict yourself to, you’re in luck. Apple Podcasts unveiled the podcasts, episodes and channels its listeners paid the most attention to in 2022 (and in the case of subscriber shows and channels, paid the most money to, apparently).

Check out how Apple Podcasts sliced and diced its most popular content in the lists below. You might find a great new way to spend off-time during the holidays.

Joe Rogan interviews Steve Jobs in eerie, AI-generated podcast

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Joe Rogan interviews Steve Jobs in eerie AI-generated podcast
Steve Jobs (1955 – 2011) did not do a new interview with Joe Rogan. You can listen to it anyway.
Image: Hotpot

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs passed away more than 11 years ago, but that didn’t prevent him from giving a new interview with superstar podcaster Joe Rogan. In it, the co-creator of the Mac talks about the importance of Eastern mysticism, his thoughts on LSD, Google, innovation and more.

There’s just one tiny wrinkle: The entire podcast is generated by artificial intelligence. That includes Jobs’ and Rogan’s voices and their responses.

Apple Podcasts app gets new filtering options in iOS 15.4

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Apple Podcasts filtering in iOS 15.4
It's not easier to navigate long-running shows.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

Apple is making a number of nice design improvements to its Podcasts app in iOS 15.4. The biggest is the ability to filter podcast episodes by season.

That particular change undoubtedly will prove handy as users navigate their way through long-running shows. But it’s not the only new option for podcast filtering in Apple’s latest beta.

Apple celebrates the best and most popular podcasts of 2021

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Apple's best podcasts of 2021
A Slight Change of Plans is Apple's Best Show of the Year
Photo: Apple

Apple on Tuesday published its showcase of this year’s best and most popular podcasts in the United States. It also called 2021 a year for “shows that moved us in ways unlike ever before.”

A Slight Change of Plans with Maya Shankar has been named the Best Show of the Year, while Anything for Selena with Maria Garcia is Apple’s Newcomer of the Year.

Spotify could take on Apple’s premium podcast service … with a twist

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Spotify is adding 2x as many monthly subscribers as Apple Music
Spotify reportedly won't take a cut of creators' subscription revenue.
Photo: Spotify

Earlier this week, Apple opened up its Podcasts service to subscriptions, calling it a “global marketplace for listeners to discover premium subscriptions offered by their favorite creators.” Now, The Wall Street Journal reports that Spotify is set to jump in with a rival premium podcast feature.

However, unlike Apple, Spotify supposedly won’t take a cut of podcasters’ subscription revenues.

Premium Podcasts+ service could debut at Tuesday’s Apple event

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Apple Podcasts could get a premium tier.
Would you shell out for Podcasts+?
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple could debut a premium podcast service at Tuesday’s “Spring Loaded” event, according to Recode reporter Peter Kafka.

“Pretty sure Apple is prepping its own podcast plan – a paid subscription service – on Tuesday,” Kafka tweeted Sunday.

No additional details are known about the possible podcast initiative, which presumably would join paid subscription services Apple News+, Apple Music, Apple TV+ and Apple Fitness+. The possibility of a paid podcasting service from Apple was rumored earlier this year.

This app converts your entire reading list into listening material

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Elocance
With this app, you're basically converting any written content you want into a podcast.
Photo: Elocance

Between work and keeping up with the latest news, it can feel like there’s too much information to consume. Luckily, there’s a way to multitask and make the most out of the hours in your day — and tackle your reading list at the same time.

The Elocance Audio Reading App is highly rated, receiving 4.4 out of 5 stars on the App Store for its ability to convert all written content into audio that you can listen to while multitasking or on the go. And you can get a lifetime subscription on the cheap!

Real astronauts will splash-land on For All Mankind podcast

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‘For All Mankind: The Official Podcast’ debuted Friday on Apple Podcasts
For All Mankind: The Official Podcast is a mix of hard science and alternate history.
Photo: Apple TV+

Apple TV+ is launching a podcast dedicated to For All Mankind, the streaming service’s alternate-history show about the space race. The podcast will serve as a platform for real astronauts and scientists to discuss space travel with the series’ cast and creators.

The first episode of the podcast debuts Friday, the same day season two of the sci-fi series arrives.

Apple might give paid podcasts a whirl

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Apple Podcasts could get a premium tier.
Everything on Apple Podcasts now is free. That could change if the company creates Podcasts+.
Photo: Ed Hardy/Cult of Mac

Apple is reportedly considering a for-pay podcast subscription service. It would join other Apple services offering premium content, like Apple TV+ and News+.

The news sent shares of rival Spotify down over 7% on Friday.

We talk Apple’s incoming hardware drop plus insane M1 Mac mini performance on The CultCast

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CultCast 469
There's nothing small about Mac mini's performance!

This week on The CultCast: Get your wallets ready, Apple reportedly has a mysterious hardware release planned for December 8! We discuss. Plus: The M1 Mac mini is an unstoppable monster, and we’ve got more insane benchmarks to drool over. Seriously, do not waste your money on anything but an M1 Mac.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Apple recommends the best podcasts, books and audiobooks of 2020

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Apple names its best podcasts, books and audiobooks of 2020
These are some of Apple’s choices for best book or podcast of 2020.
Graphic: Cult of Mac

With the year winding down, Apple picked its favorite podcasts, books and audiobooks of 2020. The offerings “kept us entertained, made us think, provided a much-needed escape, or filled our hearts up,“ noted Apple.

All the recommendations are, of course, available through Apple Podcasts or Apple Books.

Apple snaps up startup that makes finding podcasts more like listening to radio

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iPhone FM radio chips
Why can't finding the right podcast be more like this?
Photo: Alan Levine/Flickr CC

Apple quietly snapped up podcasting app Scout FM, which tries to make podcasting sound more like tuning into radio stations, for an undisclosed amount earlier this year.

Scout FM worked by letting users choose particular topics, then automatically customizing a radio station-like podcasting listening experience for them. It was intended as a way to cut through the findability clutter of hundreds of thousands of available podcasts.

Why we’re skipping the new iMac and buying Apple stock, this week on The CultCast

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CultCast 436: This week we talk iPhone SE 2, HomePod and the AirPower charging mat, resurrected!
Which makes a better investment, iMac or AAPL?
Photo: @YSR50

This week on The CultCast: The brand-new iMac may look the same, but it’s so powerful that video editors are gleefully buying two or three at a time — we’ll tell you everything that’s new.

But look, forget buying the shiny new iMac, and put your money in Apple stock instead! I’m going all in on AAPL. Find out why I’m about to dump a huge cash stockpile into Apple stock, and the cash value of my current investments. We’re talking real numbers here, people.

Our thanks to Squarespace for supporting this episode. Easily create a beautiful website all by yourself, at Squarespace.com/cultcast. Use offer code CultCast at checkout to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain.

Delete downloaded podcasts to free up storage space on iPhone

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How to delete Podcasts from iPhone
Don't let Podcasts eat up all your storage.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

For most podcast listeners, there comes a time when you have way too many unplayed shows, taking up way too much space on your iPhone or iPad. Fortunately, this is a problem with an easy fix.

Take back precious storage space by deleting episodes you don’t need to have saved locally, and prevent the Podcasts app from hoarding content in the future. We’ll show you how.

Apple News Today is an Apple News+ promo disguised as a peppy news podcast [Review]

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Apple News Today review: A daily news podcast with zero partisan rage.
Apple News Today is a news podcast with zero partisan rage.
Photo: Lewis Wallace/Cult of Mac

Apple News Today, the breezy new podcast showcasing the day’s top news stories, sounds perfectly peppy and polished. Maybe too perfectly polished, in fact — you won’t find a single rough edge on this slickly produced daily news report, which Apple unleashed last week with iOS 13.6. You will endure no energized, partisan rants, either. These straight-down-the-middle reports won’t get your blood boiling while you make your morning coffee or tea. If you’re tired of partisanship, this is the antidote.

What you will find in the weekday audio show is steady promotion of the Apple News app, and of Apple News+, the company’s reportedly struggling subscription news service. This upbeat and earnest free daily news briefing basically functions as a Trojan horse for getting in the ears of potential Apple News+ subscribers.

How to sort podcast episodes so they play in the right order

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How to sort podcast episodes
You don't always want to hear the most recent episode first.
Image: Killian Bell/Cult of Mac

If you’re starting a new podcast that you want to listen to from the very beginning, you’ll need to change some settings to ensure that the Podcasts app doesn’t automatically play the latest episode first.

It’s a simple tweak that takes just a minute, and we’ll walk you through it in this step-by-step guide.