Lil Katz / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Apple is set to bring one-tap switching between audio and video in the Podcasts app.
- The button placement is identical to YouTube Music.
- The feature unifies audio and video streams for podcasts, which were previously available only separately.
Apple just rolled out the iOS 26.4 beta 1 for enthusiasts yesterday. If you’re an Apple user, you might want to prepare for some exciting new upgrades, such as the Music app’s redesign with AI playlist creation as well as end-to-end encryption for RCS messages (currently only when communicating with other iPhone users). In addition, Apple’s Podcast app is getting a major upgrade, which appears to borrow a page from YouTube Music‘s playbook.
Apple is expanding support for videos in the Podcasts app. While the app has always supported videos, creators could only upload audio and video versions of the same podcast to different feeds. That would also mean users would have to switch between audio and video versions and manually scrub to a specific timestamp. This is being addressed in the latest iOS beta, which will enable a seamless transition between audio and video feeds and consolidate them into a single stream rather than two. Interestingly, Apple’s Music app misses out on the feature currently and instead lists audio and video tracks separately.
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The upgrade is so significant that Apple even dedicated an entire blog post to explaining the framework and its benefits. In the post, Apple notes that the improved version of the Podcasts app will utilize the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) standard to power the easy transition between audio and video.
With this change, episodes that feature videos will automatically load with video enabled, but users can switch to audio-only playback by tapping the “Turn video off” button above the play/pause controls. If you aren’t too deep into the Apple ecosystem, you would know YouTube Music already offers the toggle between audio and video at the exact spot. Hopefully, switching between audio and video won’t disrupt the cadence or affect synchronization with the transcript or auto-generated chapters.
In addition, users can view the video in full-screen mode when switching to landscape mode. Additionally, previous videos will migrate to the integrated HLS feed from the previous RSS-based video feed. For creators, that probably means using a third-party hosting provider and then linking it to the Podcast Connect account, as noted in the updated support page.
Apple also notes that the feature is currently soft-launching for a handful of creators, but we expect more creators to gain access when the stable version of iOS 26.4 rolls out. The update should also allow creators will also be able to insert “dynamic” video ads, including host-read placements.
At the moment, the feature is buggy as YouTuber Stephen Robles notes in their latest video. Transcripts and chapters are glitchy, which goes on to show Apple has work to do before broader release.
In addition to the big Podcasts upgrade, Apple was previously also expected to bring the overhauled Siri with iOS 26.4, which is set to roll out in Spring 2026. It’s unclear whether those timelines for Siri and Apple Intelligence features still stand, especially after Apple decided to use Google’s foundation models to power them. We’ll probably know closer to launch.
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