Not long after the iOS 6 beta was released, inquiring listeners wanted to know, what happened to podcasts? AllThingsD's Peter Kafka appears to have the answer: Apple is planning a standalone app for podcasts in iOS 6.

This follows a move by Apple to split video out of the iTunes app in iOS 5, as well as iTunes U gaining its own app. Also missing from iOS 6 appears to be the audiobooks area of the iTunes app, which makes me wonder if it's either getting its own app as well or will be folded into the iBooks app.