Apple will soon allow fans of popular podcasts to switch between audio and video versions of the same show without having to subscribe to a separate feed.
In an announcement on Monday, Apple said it will relaunch its Podcasts app with “enhanced” video features, a move that comes as more shows begin to offer video-based episodes in addition to their legacy audio-based episodes.
Apple will also allow producers to incorporate dynamically-placed ads within each episode, something that previously required the use of a third-party ad broker, network or distribution service. Apple will take a commission from dynamically-inserted ads within video-based podcasts, which will be charged to ad networks on a “standard, impression-based feed,” the company said.
The new video feature will be released via the Podcasts app in a new build of iOS 26, which is available to developers today through the iOS beta program and will be available to regular iPhone and iPad users in the coming weeks.
The decision to natively support video-based podcast episodes comes amid higher interest in such shows. Netflix recently inked a deal with iHeartMedia to serve as the exclusive distributor of video-based versions of its audio podcasts, and YouTube has touted itself as the biggest video-based podcast platform in North America.
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