YouTube Music now allows users to auto-download podcast episodes

After the news that Google – notorious for its ax-wielding obsession (think of the now shut down YouTube Originals, Google Stadia, YouTube Go, and more) – is going to put Google Podcasts to sleep, they’ve packed YouTube Music with a fancy new feature.

As you’ve probably already heard, YouTube Music is the app that will succeed Google Podcasts in the coming months, with the latter to be completely discontinued in 2024. Users are now reporting they’re seeing an auto-download option for podcasts in version 6.21 of YouTube Music (both for Android and iOS).

Users from selected countries have been granted access to podcast shows and episodes on YouTube Music since the beginning of 2023, and the US is one of them. So, how to enable auto-downloads? 9to5Google has the know-how and they explain the steps in a straightforward way:

After you open the YouTube Music app, tap the Podcasts filter that’s found at the home screen top. Visit a show page and tap the new settings gear icon to “Save/d to library.” This slides up the “Turn on auto-downloads” button. If selected, this will immediately download the most recent episode of that channel to your device for offline listening.

As of the moment, one key feature from Google Podcasts is still missing on the new host app – YouTube Music is not offering auto-removal settings. In Google Podcasts, there’s the “Remove completed episodes” option that lets users set an increment: after 24 hours, 7 days, 30 days, and 90 days.

Auto-downloads work on a per-show (and per-device) scheme so you have to enable them one by one, while Google Podcasts offers a dedicated Auto Downloading page to quickly toggle on/off downloads. Of course, there’s more than enough time for Google to pack those features in YouTube Music via a feature update if they choose to. The keyword here is “if”…