With iOS 17, Apple has revised several elements of its stock apps, including the Podcasts app. The update brings some notable changes to the functionality and design of the app, detailed below.
The biggest change is the sleek new design of the Now Playing screen, where the full podcast show page art (or episode chapter image) now takes up the entire screen.
The playback controls on the bottom half of the screen have also changed. The playback speed button has been moved from the bottom left corner of the screen and placed next to the rewind button.
Podcasts app for iOS 16 (left) and iOS 17
The sleep timer button has also been moved from the bottom right corner next to the fast forward button, making the main control bank more compact with five buttons side by side, as well as rewind, play and fast forward. Forward. Some buttons also now have a nice new glow when activated.
The queue interface has also changed. I used to swipe up to see if there was anything in the (Next Playing) list, but now there’s a dedicated queue button at the bottom next to the AirPlay icon.
Podcasts app for iOS 16 (left) and iOS 17
Pressing it brings up a whole new screen, showing the queued episodes as a list. You can swipe to remove episodes from your queue or clear your list. If there are no episodes next, it will show that there are none in the queue.
The Up Next carousel at the top of the Listen Now screen has a redesigned card that adds color to match the podcast art, a new three-dot options menu icon, and a It has a new compact playback indicator that shows if The podcast, but not over yet, and the length of the episodes.
Podcasts app for iOS 16 (left) and iOS 17
The same indicator is also on the Next screen, replacing the Play Next and Play Last options with Add to Queue.
Podcasts app for iOS 16 (left) and iOS 17
On iOS 16, when you complete an episode in the podcast episode list, it simply says “played” under the episode summary. In iOS 17 this was replaced with a play icon and episode length. A checkmark will also appear next to the date above the episode title to indicate that it has been watched.