It was expected that Apple would take podcasts out of the iTunes app on the iPhone and iPad, and release a standalone app for podcasts in the latest version of their mobile operating system, iOS 6, which should be released this fall. Although Apple hasn't yet gutted podcasts from the iTunes app, they have given them a standalone app, straightforwardly called "Podcasts", ahead of the iOS 6 release. The new Podcasts app allows you to surf through their podcasts catalog, and stream or download podcast episodes. The long-awaited subscribe feature is also included, and it allows you to receive any new episodes of a podcast directly.
You can view podcasts that you have downloaded in a grid or list format, and tap on any to start playing it. Once you do start playing a podcast, you have a few options. In a video podcast, you can skip back 30 seconds, fast-forward or rewind, and play the video at different speeds. Audio podcasts offer some more features; you can skip forward 30 seconds, skip backward 10 seconds, play it slowly, normal, or fast, and even set a sleep timer.
Another feature introduced in the Podcasts app is called "Top Stations", and shows the top five podcasts in certain categories, which you can easily swipe through. You can also change between viewing audio and video podcasts.
The new Podcasts app can be downloaded for free from the iTunes App Store at this link, and runs on the iPhone or iPad, on any device running iOS 5.1.
