Transcripts for Apple Podcasts is now available — read your favorite shows as you listen in iOS 17.4

(Image credit: Apple)

iOS 17.4 is now available, and the latest iPhone software brings some incredible improvements to the Podcasts app. For Podcast listeners, you can read your favorite shows as you listen with a full-text display for each episode, "making podcasts more accessible and immersive than ever before."

The new innovative feature makes Podcasts more accessible than ever before while also giving users a new way to experience their favorite podcasts. Transcripts allow users to read the full text of an episode, search the episode for a specific word or phrase, and navigate the podcast by tapping on text. You can follow along just like the lyrics feature in Apple Music, allowing you to stay concentrated on the episode like never before.

“Introducing transcripts on Apple Podcasts builds on Apple’s commitment to making products and services for everyone,” said Sarah Herrlinger, Apple’s senior director, Global Accessibility Policy & Initiatives. “We are thrilled to make transcripts widely available for all, adding an additional layer of accessibility to the Podcasts experience.”

An immersive podcast experience

Transcripts on Apple Podcasts is a game-changer for those who regularly consume podcasts. The feature enhances a user's podcast experience by "helping them catch every word from their favorite hosts, learn a new language, and more easily find facts they heard on an episode. Users will be able to access an episode’s transcript from the bottom-left corner on the Now Playing screen."

The feature has been built with accessibility at its core with fonts and color contrasts designed to make long-form text easier to scan and read.

Transcripts for Apple Podcasts are available now by downloading iOS 17.4. The new software release makes the best iPhones even better with other new features like access to third-party app stores for EU citizens.

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John-Anthony Disotto is the How To Editor of iMore, ensuring you can get the most from your Apple products and helping fix things when your technology isn’t behaving itself. Living in Scotland, where he worked for Apple as a technician focused on iOS and iPhone repairs at the Genius Bar, John-Anthony has used the Apple ecosystem for over a decade and prides himself in his ability to complete his Apple Watch activity rings. John-Anthony has previously worked in editorial for collectable TCG websites and graduated from The University of Strathclyde where he won the Scottish Student Journalism Award for Website of the Year as Editor-in-Chief of his university paper. He is also an avid film geek, having previously written film reviews and received the Edinburgh International Film Festival Student Critics award in 2019. John-Anthony also loves to tinker with other non-Apple technology and enjoys playing around with game emulation and Linux on his Steam Deck.

In his spare time, John-Anthony can be found watching any sport under the sun from football to darts, taking the term “Lego house” far too literally as he runs out of space to display any more plastic bricks, or chilling on the couch with his French Bulldog, Kermit.