Apple Podcasts is getting an improved video experience this spring

Apple is competing with YouTube and Spotify by launching a new video podcast experience in the spring. Users will be able to switch between watching and listening to shows in the Apple Podcasts app, which will start using the company’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) video technology. Users can also switch to a landscape version of the podcast and download videos to watch offline.

This move comes as video streaming continues to gain popularity. Edison Research recently revealed that 51% of the US population consumes video podcasts, and 37% consume video podcasts monthly.

The updated video podcast experience will allow Apple to better compete with the likes of YouTube, Spotify, and even Netflix, all of which have already embraced the format. YouTube announced last year that it had more than 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content. Spotify said last November that it had half a million audio streams, viewed by nearly 400 million users. As for Netflix, the streaming giant has partnered with iHeartMedia and Spotify to bring video podcasts to its platform.

By bringing an enhanced video podcast viewing experience to its app, Apple aims to prevent users from turning to competing platforms to watch their favorite shows.

“Twenty years ago, Apple helped make podcasting mainstream by adding podcasts to iTunes, and more than a decade ago, we introduced the dedicated Apple Podcasts app,” Eddie Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, said in a press release. “Today marks a major milestone on that journey. By bringing a class-leading video experience to Apple Podcasts, we are giving creators full control over their content and how they create their work, while making it easier than ever for audiences to listen to or watch podcasts.”

While the new video experience will officially launch in the spring, the update is available for testing starting this week as part of the iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and VisionOS 26.4 betas.