YouTube Music Fails Podcasts

I tried. I really did. But using YouTube Music for podcasts pales in comparison to a dedicated app like PocketCasts. I wanted it to work, but YouTube Music is not called YouTube Casts for a reason.

I’m trialing a YouTube Premium subscription; it includes YouTube Music Premium. There are good things I like: background playback and downloads for example. Plus there’s the fact that neither Spotify nor Apple Music has a Xenoblade Chronicles X OST playlist (at least they lack any good ones I can find).

To help me find more value in a YouTube Premium sub, I was hoping that YouTube Music could also become my podcast player. The sad reality, though, is that the best I can say about it is, podcasts exist there, yet not all of them.

While YouTube Music is passable for playing back some podcasts, it’s a very lackluster app for managing them. The UI feels cluttered or messy. Podcasts are mixed with playlists and songs and videos. I’m still struggling to understand how to use it to focus on podcasts, which I think hints at the problem. It’s simply not meant for them.

That said, it’s interesting to see video versions of many of the podcasts that I’ve exclusively listened to via audio for years. And I really like the Audio/Video toggle buttons to choose a preference. Yet I find most podcasts are best without video. In fact, I often find videos on YouTube (not YouTube Music) and just listen to them without watching.

Another problem I faced is the YouTube Music app doesn’t work well on the Cover Display of my Moto Razr. The main “home” bar to swipe the app away is near the playback time slider. I often inadvertently slide the playback position forward or backward instead of swiping the app away. In contrast, the PocketCasts app works far better on the Razr’s small exterior display.

I had also tried listening to podcasts in Spotify. It’s similar to YouTube Music in that I find it hard to use a music app for podcasts. Yes, they’re both audio. But you treat them differently — this applies to audiobooks too. Music, Podcasts, and Audiobooks are short, medium, and long-form listening, and each are organized differently.

So I’m back to enjoying PocketCasts. Its UI is clean, organized, and the app has all the features I like. I use it on my Android phone of course, but I also used it sometimes on my iPhone despite preferring Apple Podcasts there. PocketCasts is just really good — I might even subscribe to unlock other features.

I tried to give YouTube Music a fair shot at being my podcasts player. But it was too lacking in focus and was missing some podcasts. I’d say it’s worth a trial run if you’re considering the app for Music or have a YouTube Premium sub. On that note, I think I’ll keep the YouTube sub just for ad-free videos and background playback.