Apple Podcasts will soon offer transcripts for your favorite shows

When the majority of podcast-listening iPhone owners go to listen to a new episode of their favorite show, they do it via the Apple Podcasts app. So any changes to that app are a huge deal for the podcasting industry which makes the news that podcast transcriptions are coming to the app particularly notable.

Apple will add podcast transcriptions to the iPhone's Podcasts app with the release of iOS 17.4, a software update that is currently in beta form and is being tested around the world. That initial beta already includes the functionality and Apple has updated its podcaster-oriented support website with information about the feature.

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The new feature is enabled automatically for all podcasts which means that podcasters will not need to do anything on their end to make their episodes available in text form. However, Apple will offer a way for podcasters to opt out of transcription availability should they choose to and Apple has detailed how to do that on the same webpage.

With transcriptions enabled, podcast fans will be able to read the full text of an episode as well as search the episode for a specific word or phrase. When they tap that phrase they will be able to jump to that point of the episode, making this a great way for people to research specific subjects within an episode, for example. Apple also notes that the transcript will highlight words as they are read in the audio version of the podcast.

Apple also noted that there will be a short delay between a podcast episode becoming available and the transcript also doing the same, although no confirmation on exact timescales was offered.

Apple hasn't confirmed when the iOS 17.4 software update will be released, but it is expected o happen within the next few weeks.