iOS 6: Standalone Podcast App Coming At Launch?

You didn't think they told us EVERYTHING on Monday, did you?

When Apple unveiled iOS 6 at Monday’s WWDC 2012 keynote they showed off some pretty cool new features. Thanks to Monday’s presentation we know that iOS 6 will be getting a brand new Maps app with 3D Flyover and turn-by-turn navigation, FaceTime over 3G, improvements to Siri, Facebook integration, and more. In fact, Apple promised 200 new features in iOS 6.

Of course, if you know much about Apple, you know that they’ve got more tricks up their sleeve than they revealed on Monday. After all, iOS 6 will be launching alongside the new iPhone this fall At least some of its features will be keyed to features that are exclusive to the new iPhone. Still others will be coming in later betas of iOS 6, or will be announced when the new iPhone is announced (probably in October).

Now it looks like one of those tricks up Apple’s sleeve might be a standalone app just for Podcasts. Citing “people familiar with Apple’s plans, AllThingsD is reporting that the final version of iOS 6 will be getting a separate app for podcasts, like unto the separate app for iTunes U that was introduced earlier this year.

All things considered, this isn’t a terribly surprising move on Apple’s part. They’ve made similar moves before. In addition to the iTunes U app, they also split the iPod app into separate Music and Movies apps with iOS 5 last year. Putting podcasts in their own app makes a certain amount of sense, especially given the relative difficulty of locating and downloading new episodes of a podcast when you want them.