Google Podcasts is gone — and so is my faith in Google

pelespirit@sh.itjust.works to Technology@lemmy.ml – 81 points – Google Podcasts is gone — and so is my faith in Google
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The Podcasts app is just the latest product to go through a process I’ve come to call The Google Cycle. It always goes the same way: the company launches a new service with grandiose language about how this fits its mission of organizing and making accessible the world’s information, quickly updates it with a couple of neat features, immediately seems to forget it exists, eventually launches a competitor out of some other part of the company, obviously begins to deprecate it and shift focus to the new competitor, and then, years later, finally shuts it down for real. The Google Graveyard is full of apps like Reader, Duo, Inbox, Allo, Wallet, and countless others that have been through The Google Cycle, and it feels just as bad every time.

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google has a habit of killing things randomly how are you surprised?

My understanding is that this is because of the way they operate internally. They reward new initiatives but not maintaining old initiatives, so employees are heavily incentivized to sunset old apps in favor of new apps that are functional replacements, and this cycle is the result.

I think you mean less functional replacements

Why do people use these crap apps when podcasting is the only media which, from it's inception, is entirely liberated? You can get a FLOSS app and access pretty much everything. Anything you can't access doesn't deserve your attention.

I always think the same thing. Stop using fucking Spotify for your podcasts people ffs

I've been using this app and have really liked it. Please tell me that I chose well and it doesn't have hidden problems: https://antennapod.org/

Been using AntennaPod for years now. No complaints from my end.

Antennapod definitely is the GOAT. Been using it for years, it only got better. I hate the whole "podcast app" thing and like to just simply subscribe to RSS feeds and automatically download my podcasts and Antennapod does that for me. It's so out of the way.

Cant search for individual podcast episodes, otherwise pretty good and my podcast app of choice.

Pocket casts is the other one i'd suggest.

Podverse a DISTANT third. But it has one feature I like and thats sorting episodes by listens.

Edit: my other issue with antennapod is being unable to listen to an episode of a podcast without subscribing. You have to subscribe. Even to open the podcast page you have to subscribe.

Edit: my other issue with antennapod is being unable to listen to an episode of a podcast without subscribing. You have to subscribe. Even to open the podcast page you have to subscribe.

You can and it's called Previewing, just under the episode info when looking through the podcast catalogue or search results

It is the best one available, but unfortunately lacks some basic features like autodownloading enqueued episode (you can either auto download everything or nothing at all)

As long as Google keeps making Pixel phones that support the installation of GrapheneOS, I'll still be using at least one Google product. Ironically, to specifically get away from the rest of Google.

Wish there was another platform for graphene. Can’t stand the lackluster modem reception on the pixels. But yes!

You could try postmarketOS

Interesting, looks like their phone support is a bit limited, but something to keep an eye on.

I first started not trusting them when they killed off Reader. Then when they announced the end of the free google workspaces (Apps), I was done. I moved my email/drive over to a paid account on 365. I finally have Immich running to replace Photos finally, it runs great and it's getting backed up to backblaze.

Damn I forgot about Reader 😞 I kept my late-00s "Legacy" Google Apps account until the end of last year, when their discounted rate (after fully removing free) was about to go up.

Just checked out backblaze and it all sounds too good to be true. Is there a catch?

I’m using their B2 platform for backup using Duplicacy. I think my last bill was for $1.57.

I've been using Backblaze since 2017 when CrashPlan shut down. Have not run into a catch yet, except of course the possibility of it going the way of CrashPlan one day.

I lost faith in Google when they began integrating ads into search results.

The cute little text ads on the right side, separate from the search results were acceptable.

Am I right that android/iOS apps require much more maintenance than PC programs? I can load up a copy of WinZip from 2000 and it would work fine, but anything that hasn't been updated in a few years might be hidden on the app store for not working with my version.
I think that's the bigger issue. Developers can't leave stuff up and just let it sit, because you need to maintain a developer acct to have anything listed, and os updates break things

andoid and ios basically have the flaw of having a centralized location for downloads, and is subject to those rules because its centralized and the majority use it.

cant treat it that way on computers as much because how people install programs on computers are completely different than on mobile (more likely downloading it through web, or a different client on the web to download something, linux users are usually more technically inclined to hop distros or add their own download repositories if they didnt want to download software in their main native storefront)

My understanding was that they were delisted because of potential incompatibilities relating to updated software

then should it not just be delisted on oses that it doesnt work on?

On macOS it also blocks old apps on the app store. On Linux and Windows you can usually run old apps, but they might not support the latest standards.

When did they kill Wallet? I continue to use it every day. Just added another membership yesterday, in fact.

Google launched "Google Wallet" in 2011. Killed it in 2015 for "Android Pay". Android Pay was killed for Google Pay. Then Google Pay was deprecated for the version of Google Wallet that you currently use.

This almost reads like satire

Could be a series of villain criminal superhero vampire romance stories.

Hangouts could have been what WA is these days.

Msn Messenger could have been that, if they bothered to make even a Java app for that instead of having that stupid Java app that used an SMS bridge that was super expensive to the end user

This is the best summary I could come up with:

It always goes the same way: the company launches a new service with grandiose language about how this fits its mission of organizing and making accessible the world’s information, quickly updates it with a couple of neat features, immediately seems to forget it exists, eventually launches a competitor out of some other part of the company, obviously begins to deprecate it and shift focus to the new competitor, and then, years later, finally shuts it down for real.

Google could have owned that whole experience, helping turn a bunch of casual scrollers into listening obsessives — and maybe figured out how to monetize it for everyone.

But that would involve the kind of cross-platform, coordinated work that you can’t really expect from the company behind Google’s Many Competing Messaging Apps and Convoluted Reminders Systems.

There are plenty of creators out there who would happily work in a YouTube-like advertising revenue system for audio, but Google never bothered to build one.

It’s one thing to sunset a bad or unpopular app, but Google is killing a good and well-liked one because it’s easier to show you its existing ad inventory somewhere else.

Google has muddled its way through a dozen messaging apps; built several competing VR and AR platforms; killed a bunch of well-liked brands trying to make the smart home happen; and so many more.

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