Alexa Devices Can Now Play Apple and Spotify Podcasts

Apple Podcasts and Spotify podcasts are two major podcast platforms currently dominating the podcast streaming industry. If you use either of their services and have an Alexa enabled device, we have good news for you. Now you can ask Alexa to play a podcast from your Apple Podcast or Spotify Podcast. To Play Podcasts from Apple Podcasts, you have to ask “Alexa, play (podcast name) on Apple Podcasts.” Similarly, you can summon Alexa to play your Podcasts from Spotify by saying, “Alexa, play (podcast name) on Spotify.” Alternatively, you can set Apple Podcasts as default podcast players from the Alexa app to play podcasts; so that every time you ask Alexa to play any show/podcast, it will first search on Apple Podcasts.

You also have the option to link your Apple ID to the Alexa through its app so that you can resume playing your podcast from where you left off. After linking Apple ID, you can say “Alexa, resume playing (podcast name) on Apple Podcasts,” and Alexa will start from where you left last time.

With the integration of Apple Podcasts and Alexa, Apple is hoping to take some of the market shares from Spotify. While Apple Podcasts is the 2nd popular podcasting platform, Spotify leads the market with a huge difference. One of the main reasons why Spotify is dominating the podcast streaming market is its multi-platform compatibility. Spotify is available on almost all kinds of platforms including, Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, gaming consoles, and more. At the same time, Apple Podcasts is a separate app that was until last month was only available for Apple devices i.e., iPhone, Mac, and iPad. For non-Apple users, well, the web interface is the only option. Maybe this is the reason why Apple finally decided to open Podcasts for Alexa device users. Earlier, Apple HomePod was the only smart speaker that could play Apple Podcasts, but now that Alexa is also supporting Apple Podcasts, it can be hoped that more people use Apple Podcasts instead of Spotify.

It seems Apple has finally realized that they need to open up their services to other platforms if they want to increase the user base. We have seen this trend in the past with Apple Music being available for Android and Apple TV on the third party smart TVs. Do you think it is a great move by Apple? Opening their Apple-exclusive services to other device users? I personally think it is a great business strategy. What do you think? Please share your thoughts on this matter in the comment section. While you at it, consider sharing this post on your social media wall.