Apple is upgrading its built-in Podcasts app with three changes starting with iOS 26.2. The upgrades include two new features and a major enhancement to an existing feature.
Chapters
First, Apple is automatically generating podcast episode chapters for the first time.
Apple already displayed and supported chapter markers within episodes. However, podcast producers have needed to manually create podcast chapter titles and timestamps.
According to Apple, Podcasts in iOS 26.2 lets you “easily navigate more episodes with automatically created chapters.”
We’ll have to give this feature some time to settle before determining when and how well it works.
Podcast Mentions
Second, Apple is improving how it handles podcast discovery through word-of-mouth.
Starting with iOS 26.2, Apple Podcasts will include the ability to “see and follow mentioned podcasts right from the player and transcript.”
This is especially handy for listeners who want to check out a referenced podcast show or episode without searching for a link. If the feature works as advertised, it will put the referenced podcast link right where you need it in the moment.
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