Apple Revamps Video Podcasts as Industry Shifts Toward Visuals

Apple is revamping its video offering in Apple Podcasts as part of a broader industry shift toward visuals in the once audio-only medium.

The company is making it easier for audiences to shift between viewing a video podcast and listening to the audio as part of its iOS 26.4 developer beta, according to a statement Monday. While Apple Podcasts has long supported video programming through RSS feeds, that method hasn’t caught on in the same way that platforms like Spotify, YouTube and Netflix have managed to deliver.

Apple is partnering with hosting platforms, including Amazon’s Art19 and SiriusXM’s Simplecast and AdsWizz, to ensure podcasters can deliver their video episodes to the app. Video podcasts will be supported on the Vision Pro, iPad and iPhones, as well as Apple Podcasts on the web this spring.

The company will charge ad networks later this year to deliver ads over video based on the number of impressions they receive.

While Apple popularized the podcast format, which was named with a nod to iPods, the company has generally focused mostly on audio programming. But the industry has since shifted toward video — YouTube is the No. 1 podcast consumption platform in the US, according to Edison Research, while Spotify and Netflix have also moved aggressively to incorporate visuals.