HOW TO PLAY PODCASTS ON GOOGLE HOME
Google Home smart speakers are great for easily cuing up your favorite songs through Google Play Music, Spotify, or other supported apps.
Unfortunately, Google Home is a little fussier when it comes to podcasts. But not to worry! In this post, we’ll walk you through everything you need to know about how to play podcasts on Google Home.
It’s not overly complicated, but you’ll want to know what’s available, what’s not, and how to get the most out of your smart speaker.
Let’s dive in!
Play podcasts on Google Home: Google Podcasts
The good news is that you can play podcasts on Google Home.
The bad news is you’ll have virtually no versatility, as Google Home doesn’t recognize third-party podcast apps like Spotify, TuneIn, or Apple Podcasts.
That said, Google does have its own dedicated podcast app for Android. In theory, you should be able to start a podcast while you’re on the go, and then when you get home, say something like, “Hey, Google, resume This American Life.” That feature’s pretty buggy though, so you’ll likely have to start the episode anew and skip forward.
Anytime you start a podcast using Assistant voice commands, your Google Home will assume you want it from Google Podcasts. Not that your preference would matter anyway. As we said, that’s all Google Home is compatible with.
So, it’s about as simple as that to play podcasts on Google Home using simple voice commands.
Examples of voice commands you might use include the following:
- “Hey, Google, play Bad With Money.”
- “Hey, Google, play episode 120 of Reply All.”
- “Hey, Google, pause.”
- “Hey, Google, skip ahead three minutes.”
- “Hey, Google, next episode.”
- “Hey, Google, previous episode.”
Keep in mind that if you don’t specify an episode, Google Home will assume your looking for the latest one.
Play podcasts on Google Home: Casting
Another option — a much more versatile option — is casting.
The major drawback here is that you’ll miss out on the convenience of using voice commands to manage your podcasts. If you’re used to a specific podcast platform though, it’ll allow you stick with what you know.
Most Android phones will have a cast button baked in, though you can also download apps, like Podcast Addict, that make it easy. If you’re an Apple user, you don’t have a ton of options, but Pocket Casts for iOS is a solid choice.
When you play podcasts on your phone, you can hit the cast icon and select your Google Home speaker to cast to.
You’ll be able to control volume using phone commands, but everything else will happen in-phone.
Another advantage to this is that you won’t have to rely on Google Podcasts to sync when you switch from your phone to your Google Home. You can rest assured that when you leave the house, you can resume your podcast from wherever you were.
Play podcasts on Google Home: Wrap up
We can only hope that Google will get its act together to make it easier to play podcasts on Google Home.
For now, the methods above are what we have to work with. It’s certainly not the end of the world, as you can listen to your favorite podcasts without too much effort.
Then again, smart speakers should be about convenience, and syncing your Google Home to your favorite podcast app would be convenient.
It’s a pretty reasonable ask.
Have you run into any problems trying to play podcasts on Google Home? Are you sold on Google Podcasts and wondering what all the complaining is about? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.