Spotify rolls out new podcast-related features and improvements

Every major music streaming service is doubling down on podcasts, a sign that more and more people are finding podcasts entertaining and worth listening to on a regular basis.

Over the weekend, Spotify announced a couple of Podcast-related features that are expected to make the experience more enjoyable. These features are already rolling out to Free and Premium users globally, although it will probably take a few days for everyone to get them.

First and foremost, Spotify is adding auto-generated and time-synced transcripts to podcasts. It will allow users to read along with an episode, thus making the transcripts more visually and textually accessible.

While listening to a podcast on Spotify, users can now scroll down the Now Playing View to find the transcript, then tap the card to follow along on full screen as you listen to the episode.

Not every podcast episode will have transcripts available at launch, but Spotify says that it will roll out transcripts to millions of episodes in the coming weeks. Also, the US-based company promised to further add improvements to the feature, including ways to add media to transcripts.

In addition to auto-generated and time-synced transcripts, Spotify announced that mobile users all over the world can now find the full list of Podcast Chapters by scrolling down the Now Playing View. It will make it easier to choose what to listen to since this will provide them with more info about every episode.

Finally, the Podcast Show pages have been updated with a new “About” tab where Spotify users can find descriptions, images, and episode recommendations from creators. On top of that, Spotify users will get recommendations for other shows in the “More Like This” tab.