Podcast Wednesday: Google Podcasts

Just recently, I tried a few podcast apps and settled on Podcast Addict as my new regular app. Now, Google has complicated matters by releasing a new podcast app integrated with Google Assistant. I've been testing it for much of the day, and I have thoughts. This is Podcast Wednesday.

In my post last month, I called Podcast on Google Play Music a great starter option, like a tricycle for podcasts. Unsurprisingly, the new Podcasts app is very similar. Let's dive in a bit.

The Missing

There is no way to mark an entire podcast feed as listened to.
There is no drag and drop playlist sorting.
There is no way to import your existing list of podcasts.
To reiterate: You have to manually add an opml file.
The only way to add a podcast is via search.
There is no widget
No web UI, unlike in Play Music.
Nope, it doesn't sync with Play Music.

The bonus

Clean, reactive UI.
Google assistant.
Recommendations.

Google assistant is the show, here. You can tell it to play a specific episode, to stop and resume playback. Basically, you can do everything with voice. Which is great, and works great. I love it. And smart recs are a thing everyone tries to do, but I trust google to do a good job more than most.

But I have over 90 podcasts, and this app, as currently constructed, is not built for me. If you're looking for a first podcast app, I think it'll probably be great for you. I won't be switching.