Apple has had a strong week of announcements. With the arrival of the European Union Digital Markets Law, many things about its ecosystem will have to change. However, the company continues to improve its integrated applications. One of them, Podcasts, will receive a very interesting update with the arrival of iOS 17.4.
In this sense, the app to listen to Apple Podcasts will integrate the automatic transcription of content without the creators having to do anything. Apple has confirmed that transcripts will be generated automatically by the app itself. This way, they will appear in the podcasts in English, French, German and Spanish once playback begins. This function, although currently limited to those languages, will be available in more than 170 countries.
It is an interesting foray into content generation using AI, similar to other system functions that are gradually arriving with the different updates. However, this is not a major change in the advanced features that Apple offers in its system. Functionality that, by the way, It is expected to be greatly improved throughout iOS with the arrival of iOS 18the first system in which Apple would embrace AI in a deeper way.
Podcast transcriptions are automatic, but can be edited
In addition, this new Podcast feature would work in a similar way to song lyrics in terms of added value for the user: With it it will be much easier to find and jump to the point of a specific podcast. Likewise, specific words and phrases can be searched in the transcripts, and will include a reading form that will highlight the exact text that is currently playing.
Another interesting point to keep in mind, especially for creators, is that although the system generates transcripts automatically, podcasters can upload their own transcripts. They may also can download and edit Apple’s automatic transcription and upload it again in case it has any errors or you want to add something specific.
The Podcast Transcriptions feature will arrive for all users in March, presumably with iOS 17.4, and with it as well many of the features will be included sideloading with a view to the entry into force of European regulations.