Apple Podcasts update makes it easier to find content in your favorite genres

Apple has updated its Podcasts app on iOS, iPadOS and macOS with features that make it easier to find content in your favorite genres. It now includes nine new subcategories: Mental Health, Relationships, Self-Improvement, Personal Journals, Entrepreneurship, Documentary, Parenting, Books and Language learning. Those come on top of existing subcategories like True Crime, Sports and others.

Apple has been focused on mental health over the past few years, and recently introduced the Journal app that lets you document how you're feeling. In addition, the company recently introduced a mood tracking feature as part of Health in iOS 17. The addition of the Mental Health subcategory in Podcasts, along with others like Relationships, Self-Improvement and Personal Journals, appears to be part of that.

Each subcategory has its own charts showing top shows and episodes in your particular market. "For example, a listener in the U.S. can browse the charts for Mental Health, which display the top 200 shows and top 200 episodes available in the U.S. based on a mix of listening, follows, and completion rate," Apple wrote in its Podcasts for Creators blog.

While you can't follow or subscribe to specific categories, the new features help with discovery. "The more granular categorization, which creators manage and can update at any time, certainly helps us create better editorial and algorithmic recommendations," an Apple spokesperson told Engadget.

As a point of comparison, Spotify has eight main podcast categories and no less than 54 subcategories. YouTube offers 14 main podcast categories and PocketCast 19, but neither offer subcategories. With the new additions, Apple appears to offer a good selection without overwhelming users.

The nine new subcategories, along with the 19 primary categories, have been updated with new artwork and recommendations as well. The latter includes New & Noteworthy shows, Shows of the Month, Feature Channels and Creators and global Highlights.

With the upcoming release of iOS 17, Apple is adding some new Podcasts features like a refreshed Now Play experience and Queue, episode art, search filters and more. Podcasts updates have been relatively sparse, though, with the last major one coming a year ago with new Podcasts Charts. Apple's major rival Spotify, which spent big on podcasts back in 2019, recently laid off 200 employees from that division.

Update 6/22/2023 at 1:54 AM ET: Updated with a comment from Apple.