Apple launches its in-app subscriptions and channels worldwide this morning a month after its planned release.
Subscriptions unlock features like early access to new episodes, exclusives, additional bonus content, and ad-free listening. Customers can now also pay for channels that content creators can use to group similarly themed shows, a series of shows, etc.
Apple announced that there are thousands of subscription channels that are already made available with more channels to be added in the coming weeks.
Purchasing a subscription to a show automatically follows the show and updates the page with a Subscriber Edition label. This will let you have access to all the premium content on the page.
Subscribing to a show and channels also opens up a new tab in the Listen Now tab which provides easy access to all the content on that page. It also lets you discover new shows through Search and share channels through Messages and Mail.
Subscriptions to notable audio media brands like Luminary, Wondery, and Lemonade Media along with news channels like CNN and The Washington Post are now available on Apple Podcasts. Information is thin on which of your favorite Kiwi Podcasts will be available and when.
Pricing on subscriptions is set by each content creator starting at US$0.49 (NZ$0.69) per month and Apple will take a 30 percent cut out of it for the first two years then drop it to 15 percent. This was announced at Apple’s Spring Loaded Event earlier this year.
A customer can listen to a subscribed podcast across all Apple devices like the iPhone, Apple TV, HomePods, iPad, Mac, and the Apple Watch.
