Unlike watchOS 10, which has a completely new interface, iOS 17 has kept the same design language as previous versions of iOS. But even without major changes, Apple has slightly refreshed the interface of an important native app: Podcasts. With the update, the app gets a new Now Playing screen, plus more search filters and a better Up Next experience.
What’s new with Apple Podcasts app in iOS 17
The new Apple Podcasts design in iOS 17 and iPadOS 17 is not exactly new. In fact, while Apple had updated the Now Playing screen of the Apple Music app last year with iOS 16, Apple Podcasts remained with its old, flat interface.
But with iOS 17, Apple is bringing the same interface that already exists in Apple Music to Apple Podcasts, which makes the app feel more modern and fresh. Now instead of a white or gray background, the Now Playing screen shows a blurry version of the podcast cover art. The volume and playback progress slides also follow the same style found in the Music app.
Top comment by John Wagner
I've had an issue with battery drain that I've narrowed down to PodCast when cellular data for it is on. I listen to the same 5 or 6 podcasts every AM taking my dogs for a walk which is roughly 65 minutes. Even with those podcasts downloaded, if I leave cellular data on for it my phone gets warm and I end the walk with about 70% battery life. If I have it turned off I usually end with about 92% battery life. It started around 16.2. Seems to be triggered when an new/updated podcast is available (like the CNN one that sometimes drops an updated version during the walk) that even though the podcast is very small (a few meg looking at the cellular data usage) it gets caught in a loop of some sort and just chews through battery. Hopefully that is fixed.
The chapter list for podcasts now looks a lot nicer, showing exactly how much time is left until the next chapter and the length of each one. And when the episode has images for each chapter, it gets featured at the top of the Now Playing screen with the podcast artwork displayed in a smaller size right below followed by the title.
The Listen Now tab has also been updated. The changes are quite subtle, but now each podcast is shown on a card with the same color background as the podcast cover art. At the same time, users can now filter search results by Top Results, Shows, Episodes, and Channels. These changes are also available with iPadOS 17 and macOS Sonoma.
More about the update
iOS 17 comes with new features, including more options for customizing the Lock Screen, improved iMessage and FaceTime, StandBy mode, interactive widgets, and NameDrop.
The first beta of iOS 17 is now available to developers. Apple says a public beta will be available this summer, while the official release is expected this fall. More details on how to install the beta update can be found on the Apple Developer website.
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