Play Podcasts On Google Home (Step-By-Step Guide).

Podcast
Podcast

Without a doubt, the Google Home is one of the best speakers on the market next to the Echo Dot, many smart home owners use it to manage their connected devices via voice commands to change the indoor temperature, turn the room lights on or off, lock and unlock the door and so on.

But many people utilize this gadget for other purposes such as getting weather forecasts, listening to the latest news or audiobooks, and much more.

A lot of you are asking if you can use the Google or Nest Home speaker to listen to podcasts? the answer is yes and we’re going to show you the podcast apps that work with it and how to link them to your smart speaker.

Which podcast apps work with Google Home?

Of course, in order to listen to podcasts on your smart speaker, you need to subscribe to a platform or an app then link it to your Google Home and we’re going to show some podcast apps that work with your speaker and you can download from Android or IOS.

  • Google Podcasts: It was developed by Google and released in June 2018 and you can find it on Android and IOS.

    This app is 100% free to use and it offers podcasts from all categories such as technology, education, science, health, sport, and much more.

    You can listen to the podcasts offered by the app on your smartphone, computer, or your Google Home speaker, you can simply search your best podcast with a simple voice command.
  • Spotify: Another podcast hosting app that you can link to your smart speaker is Spotify, it has around 3.2 million podcasts in all areas like health or sports. You can get it for free with ads or pay $10 a month (without ads).

    You have the freedom to adjust the podcast speed, rewind or fast forward by 15 seconds, and set a sleep timer that helps you put a stop to the podcast playing at a specific time.
  • Audible: Audible is an Amazon-owned and well-known platform for audiobooks, but the app offers more than 100,000 free podcasts to its users.

    Just like Spotify, you can control the narration speed, set a sleep timer, and fast rewind or fast forward 30 seconds, you can also download your favorite podcasts and keep them in your library.

    Audible works great with Google Home, but personally what I like the most about this app over the others is that it has audiobooks in it, which is really great.
  • Podcast Addict: This is one of the powerful podcast apps on the Play Store it has more than 1.5 million podcasts covering many areas like culture, business, ecology, and much more. In addition, this platform has 20,000 audiobooks.

    Podcast Addict gives you the possibility to use customizable playlists that can be organized by topic or with custom filters, you can easily link this app to Google Home and other smart home speakers.
  • Stitcher: The last app we’re going to talk about is Stitcher, contrary to other platforms we talked about like Spotify, Audible, or Podcast Addict this one is focused only on podcasts and has over 260,000 one on many fields.

    The Stitcher app is easy to use and it recommends shows for you based on the categories you listen to, you also have the option to create your own playlist.

    You can set a sleep timer to adjust the narration speed and rewind and fast forward times between five seconds and two minutes. This app is free with ads or you pay $5 a month/$35 a year without ads.

Once you have chosen your podcast app, you need to link it to your Google Home to listen to them on your smart speaker, follow the next steps to do that:

  1. Go to the Google Home app.
  2. Tap account at the top right.
  3. Make sure that the account shown is the one linked to your speaker.
  4. Verify that the podcast app and the Home speaker are connected to the same Wifi.
  5. Go back to the home screen, Then select settings.
  6. Select Podcasts under “Services”.

If you’re using Google Podcasts, your account is automatically linked when you link your Google Account to your speaker.

For other podcast services, you’ll need to link your account:

  1. Tap a podcast service.
  2. Link account.
  3. Sign in or sign up for the service and follow the in-app steps.

To unlink an account, tap Unlink > Unlink account.

Important: Google Nest and Home devices currently support a single account per streaming service.

Listen to podcasts on Google Home via Bluetooth.

You can also use your Google Home as a Bluetooth speaker to listen to your podcasts, but the downside of this method is that you will not be able to manage the application with your voice, to do this follow the instructions below:

  1. Go to the Home app, then tap on the device icon on the right top corner.
  2. Press the three-dot menu on the home app to get into the settings menu.
  3. Select “Paired Bluetooth Devices”, then “Enable Pairing Mode” at the bottom.
  4. Enable Bluetooth on your smartphone and connect it to your Google speaker.
  5. Once paired, open your app and play your podcasts.
  6. Then the sound will be reflected on your Google speaker.

Many people are asking if they can play Apple podcasts on Google Home, you can’t do it on your Home app but it’s possible if you pair your IOS device with Google speaker as we show you in the steps cited above.

How to use your voice to control podcasts?

Here are some commands shown by Google that you can use to control your podcasts while listening to them from your smart speaker:

Note: Before ordering, be sure to say the wake word like saying “Ok Google” or “Hey Google”.

The action

What to say

Listen to a podcast.Listen to “podcast name” on Spotify.
Continue to listen to a podcast.Continue listening to “podcast name”.
Listen to a podcast by the latest episode.Listen to the latest episode of “name of the show.
Listen to the next or previous episode.“Next episode” or “Previous”.
Pause.Pause the podcast.
Resume.Continue playing.
Stop.Stop the podcast.
Change the playback speed.Play slower or faster.
Play twice as fast.
Play at half the speed.
which podcast is playing?What podcast is playing?
Discover new podcasts.Recommend a podcast.
Play a technology podcast.
Find podcasts about science.
Play previous or next podcast.Next.
Skip.
Next podcast.
Previous episode.

Conclusion.

Podcasts are a great way to learn about different topics, and listening to them on your smart speaker will make the experience better as you can control them with your voice.

Adam B