What’s happened? In addition to rolling out the stable iOS 26.1 update, Apple recently released the first beta of iOS 26.2, which introduces three key upgrades for the Podcasts app.
- The latest iOS 26 beta update adds auto-generated chapters, allowing users to easily navigate between podcast segments without relying on creators to timestamp them manually.
- It also introduces a new “Podcast Mentions” feature that will allow users to “see and follow mentioned podcasts right from the player and transcript.”
- Lastly, Apple says a new “From This Episode” section in the app will surface links and resources mentioned in a podcast, eliminating the need to dig through the show notes.
Why is this important? These updates should enhance usability and offer users an improved podcast listening experience.
- The automatically generated chapters will help listeners skip to the content they want to listen to, while also saving creators time and effort.
- The Podcast Mentions feature will simplify discovery by letting users follow mentioned shows quickly.
- Meanwhile, the From This Episode section will ensure users don’t miss links shared by the hosts.
Why should I care? If you use Apple’s Podcasts app, these handy changes could elevate your overall experience.
- With these features, you will be able to get to relevant podcast segments faster, discover new shows through mentions, and easily access related links.
- The update will bring Apple Podcasts’ feature set closer to Spotify, which already offers auto-generated podcast chapters and a dedicated section where creators can add links to other content.
- If you use Spotify or another third-party app for podcasts, the upgrades will make Apple’s app worth a second look.
What’s next? iOS 26.2 is currently in beta, so these Apple Podcasts updates aren’t live for most users just yet. The build is only available to registered developers for now, but Apple is expected to release a public beta in the coming days. Once it’s available, you can enroll your device in Apple’s beta software program to try these features ahead of the stable release, which will likely arrive sometime in December.
