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Has Hell frozen over? Native podcast access to hit Android next week

It’s been six months since Google announced it was launching a podcast section within Google Play Music. Now, it seems the launch is finally imminent.

Judging by an internal NPR memo seen by AndroidPolice sources, the roll out will begin on Monday April 18.

“Google will launch podcasts on Android and other platforms next Monday, April 18, inside of Google Play Music, a streaming service similar to Apple Music,” the correspondence reads.

The Play Music app, which is baked into Google-based devices will give Android users native access to podcasts for the first time.

Right now, users have made do with third-party apps and RSS feeds in order to tune into their favourite shows.Meanwhile, Apple has long led the way in bringing podcasts to users through a native app, as well as the iTunes platform.

See also: Apple Music review

Back in October, Google opened up a portal for podcasters to begin uploading their shows before the services opened up to listeners.

The likes of HBO, HowStuffWorks, Nerdist, 5by5 and The Week In Tech were among those to sign up initially, however, the company has been mum on consumer launch details ever since.

One can only assume Google has built up a much larger arsenal of content in the interim. It seems we’ll find out for sure on Monday.

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