You can now listen to Google Podcasts on your desktop without the app

By Jon Martindale Published March 21, 2019

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If Google Podcasts is your favorite application for accessing all the talking heads that you love to listen to, you can now enjoy a basic version of it on your desktop via the web. A bare-bones version of the Google Podcasts app now functions in a standard web browser if a shared URL is tweaked slightly, suggesting Google may be planning to make Google Podcasts more accessible in the future.

Google Podcasts is an Android app that lets users search for, download, and stream just about any podcasts you can find online. It has subscriptions, the ability to tweak play speeds, synchronized listening across multiple devices, and recommendations. The web implementation of Google Podcast is much more basic, with only the standard player functions, including rewind and playback speed adjustments. As 9to5Google points out, though, this kind of streamlined experience is very reminiscent of the original Android app before its official launch, suggesting that this may be the start of an official Google Podcasts rollout on desktop.

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As it stands, the process of enjoying Google Podcasts without the app isn’t straightforward. You need to grab a share link from the Google Podcasts app, then alter it slightly. The method, originally discovered by Twitter user Omar Tosca, is to take a share URL, like this one and alter the former part of it to read http://podcasts.google.com instead, like this.

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The original link takes you to a page that recommends that Android app, while the modified link takes you to the cut-back podcasts page without the app trappings.

While this is a far cry from the full Google Podcasts experience, if you’re logged into your Google Account you’ll still be able to enjoy synchronization between the web app and the mobile application. Forgotten your password? Here’s how to change it.

If you’re a podcast and tech fan, don’t forget Digital Trends hosts several weekly podcasts, from our Trends with Benefits look at the latest tech in the world, to DT GamePlay, where we show you the hottest new PC games that are coming your way soon. You can find all the links you’ll need on the DT Podcasts page.

Alternatively, these are some of the best podcasts you can listen to right now.

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Evergreen writer

Jon Martindale is a freelance evergreen writer and occasional section coordinator, covering how to guides, best-of lists, and…

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