Apple Podcasts is getting an enhanced video experience this spring

Apple is taking on YouTube and Spotify with a new video podcast experience set to launch this spring. Users will be able to switch between watching and listening to shows inside the Apple Podcasts app, which will begin using Apple’s HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) video technology. Viewers can switch to horizontal mode and download videos for offline viewing.

The move comes as video podcasting continues to grow in popularity. Edison Research recently reported that 51% of the U.S. population has watched a video podcast, and 7% watch video podcasts every month. 

The updated experience is designed to help Apple compete more directly with YouTube, Spotify, and even Netflix, all of which have already leaned into video podcasts. YouTube said last year that it has more than 1 billion monthly active viewers of podcast content. Spotify said last November that it hosts half a million video podcasts, which nearly 400 million users have watched. Netflix, meanwhile, has partnered with iHeartMedia and Spotify to bring video podcasts to its streaming service.

By improving video podcast viewing in Apple Podcasts, Apple is aiming to keep users from going elsewhere to watch the shows they follow.

“Twenty years ago, Apple helped take podcasting mainstream by adding podcasts to iTunes, and more than a decade ago, we introduced the dedicated Apple Podcasts app,” Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Services, said in a press release. “Today marks a defining milestone in that journey. By bringing a category-leading video experience to Apple Podcasts, we’re putting creators in full control of their content and how they build their businesses, while making it easier than ever for audiences to listen to or watch podcasts.”

Although the new video experience is officially slated for a spring launch, Apple said the update will be available to test starting this week through betas for iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, and visionOS 26.4.