Google Podcasts website is now available on desktop (sort of)

Google officially launched its Podcasts app for Android back in June 2018, but desktop users were left in the lurch at the time. Fortunately, it looks like Google has silently enabled a desktop website of sorts, although it’s clearly a work-in-progress version.

The Google Podcasts app allows users to share a web link to a particular podcast or episode, but opening this link on desktop usually shows the podcast’s cover art and a prompt to download the Android app. Now, 9to5Google reports that changing the shared link from google.com/podcasts to podcasts.google.com reveals a rudimentary web-based player.

The website definitely lacks features though, as you can’t search for other podcasts, browse podcast charts, or manage your existing subscriptions. Additionally, visiting the podcasts.google.com website simply takes you to the “about” page.

In other words, you’ll need to send shared URLs from the app to yourself if you want to listen to a specific podcast on the website. Otherwise, the web-player lets users skip ahead or rewind, and you have the ability to adjust playback speed.

Still, the web-player is a noteworthy step, as it allows users to sync progress across desktop, Android, and Google Home. Now, about bringing search and subscription functionality to the website…

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