You can now listen to your Apple Podcasts through an Echo speaker

Get access to 800,000 podcasts

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If you use theApplePodcasts app to listen to your podcasts, and your home is kitted out withAmazon Echo speakers, it’s now a lot easier to use the two in tandem.

How easy? Just ask Alexa to play one of the podcasts you’re subscribed to, and the audio starts playing. The only setup you need to do first is syncing your Apple ID inside the Alexa app for Android or iOS.

Set Apple Podcasts as the default podcast player (via Link/Manage New Services under Music & Podcasts in Settings in the Alexa app) and you don’t even need to say “Apple Podcasts” in your voice command.

Playback progress is synced across your Apple devices and your Echos using your Apple ID. For now, the feature is only available in the US, though we would hope it rolls out to more regions in the not-too-distant future.

Apple playing nicely

The new feature gives you access to the 800,000 or so podcasts in Apple’s directory, but wouldn’t be possible without some behind-the-scenes tweaks done by Apple andAmazonworking together.

It’s another sign of Apple opening up a few more entry points to its walled garden – we recently saw third-party smart TVsgetting access to AirPlay 2, and now podcasts are available through Amazon’s speakers.

Previously, only theApple HomePodhad this sort of direct access to the Apple Podcasts service. Apple obviously realizes that not every home has a HomePod or indeed an Apple TV for audio and video content.

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As forthe Amazon Echo range, it continues to expand and improve, with Alexa vying withGoogleAssistant to be the dominant digital assistant in the smart home space.

Via9to5Mac

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you’ll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.

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