Google Podcasts will go to its grave in 2024 as the search giant shifts its focus to making YouTube Music a one-stop store for users' podcasts. This week, Google released its promised transition tool, allowing users to export all their favorite shows to a separate app.

Google describes the migration tool in a support document first found by 9to5Google: "When you open the Google Podcasts app, you will see a "Export subscriptions" button at the top of the screen, along with a planned A pop-up and banner should appear at the top of the screen with an "Export subscriptions" button, as well as a reminder of the planned shutdown. The company also provided a more precise date for when Google Podcasts will no longer function on Android, iOS, and the web in the US: April 2, 2024.

To export podcast subscriptions directly to YouTube Music, first make sure YouTube Music is installed and updated; in the Google Podcasts app, select "Export Subscriptions" and then "YouTube Music" and tap "Export" under "Export to Music.

This will open the YouTube Music app and ask you to confirm your account email address. Tap "Transfer," read the disclosure, and tap "Continue" to begin the export process, which Google says may take a few minutes until the data is fully transferred. After that, the number of programs transferred is recorded and can be viewed under Library > Podcasts.

Not a fan of YouTube Music? You can export your podcast subscriptions to other apps by downloading the data in OPML file format. in the Google Podcasts app, go to "Export Subscriptions" > "To Another App Go to "Export" > "Download". You can upload that file to other services, but the exact steps to do so vary from app to app.

Google Podcasts users in the US have until July 2024 to migrate.

Unfortunately, YouTube Music is more of a bare bones replacement than a true Google Podcasts replacement, at least as it stands. Earlier this month, the YouTube Music team announced that it would add "the ability to mark podcasts listened to so listeners can easily identify podcasts they have previously interacted with."

The feature, a staple of podcast apps, will be rolled out "in the coming months."

YouTube Music also does not support notifications that alert users when new podcast episodes drop. Hopefully Google will include these and other common sense features in YouTube Music by April. Otherwise, many podcast listeners will be frustrated.