Along with the launch of iOS 14.6 earlier this month, Apple was supposed to welcome subscriptions for podcasts.
But, it turns out there will be a bit of a delay before the feature actually goes live. As reported today by MacRumors, Apple has notified content creators that it is delaying the podcast subscription feature until sometime in June. The reason? Apple wants a good experience for everyone involved.
That’s according to the email Apple sent out to creators earlier today. Apple says it wants to make sure that creators and listeners are getting the “best experience.”
Here’s the email:
We’re writing to provide an update on the availability of Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels. We’ve been delighted by the response to last month’s announcement and it’s exciting to see the hundreds of new subscriptions and channels submitted from creators across the globe every day.
To ensure we are delivering the best experience for creators and listeners, Apple Podcasts Subscriptions and channels will now launch in June. We will communicate further updates on availability, and best practices to help you prepare your subscriptions and channels, through this newsletter.
Over the last few weeks, some creators have experienced delays in the availability of their content and access to Apple Podcasts Connect. We’ve addressed these disruptions and encourage creators experiencing any issues to contact us.
We’ve also heard from listeners and made adjustments based on their feedback with iOS 14.6, which was released on Monday. We will introduce additional enhancements to Library in the coming weeks.
Apple announced subscriptions for podcasts via the Apple Podcasts platform back at its Spring Loaded event. The company said that podcast creators will be able to offer access to exclusive content and much more, all behind a subscription paywall.
Technically speaking, iOS 14.6 brings support for podcast subscriptions to the end user and for podcast creators. However, the actual ability to subscribe to podcasts is not live within Apple Podcasts quite yet. Those buttons will go live sometime next month.