Apple to Remove YouTube App From iPhone and iPad
4:45 p.m. | Updated Adding background and details, response from Google.
The rift between Apple and Google just got a little wider. On Monday, Apple released a test version of its coming iOS 6 operating system, which powers iPads and iPhones, and developers promptly noticed that the YouTube app was missing from its lineup of built-in apps.
The change was noteworthy because Apple has included the YouTube app with iOS since it released the original iPhone in 2007. Its disappearance seemed to chill any remnants of the warmth that once existed between Apple and Google, which owns YouTube.
Apple said in a statement that “our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended.” It added that owners of its devices would be able to use their Web browsers to view YouTube videos, and that Google was working on a new YouTube app that would be available through the Apple App Store.
In response, YouTube issued a statement: “We are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users.”
The extent of Google’s disappointment in Apple’s move was unclear. The change was first reported by The Verge, a technology blog.
Google has never had much control over the YouTube app for iOS, because Apple built the app using technology that YouTube makes available to software developers. That meant that YouTube could not update the app without Apple’s help — or, perhaps more critically, run advertisements on videos that played through the app.
As a result, the app was neglected as YouTube spent its time and money adding features to its mobile Web site and Android app.
The iOS app also no longer plays the important role it did in 2007, when YouTube videos were not easily accessible to iPhone users because they were in the Flash video format, which did not work on Apple’s smartphone. Since then, YouTube has begun using video formats that do not require a special app for iPhone users.
It is not entirely surprising that Apple would allow its deal with Google over the YouTube app to lapse. The two companies — once so close that Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, served on Apple’s board — have suffered one of the more prominent falling-outs in Silicon Valley.
Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s former chief, was infuriated by Google’s push into the mobile market with its Android operating system. Apple is tangling with Samsung, Google’s biggest Android phone partner, over patents in a court case that many see as a proxy war against Google. Apple has also stopped using Google Maps to power the mapping service in the new iOS software.
Apple’s move will not threaten YouTube’s status as the premier video site on the Internet. The iPhone app probably has contributed many of the half a billion mobile playbacks of YouTube videos that users watch each day. But as Apple noted, there will be other ways to watch YouTube videos.The rift between Apple and Google just got a little wider. On Monday, Apple released a test version of its coming iOS 6 operating system, which powers iPads and iPhones, and developers promptly noticed that the YouTube app was missing from its lineup of built-in apps.
The change was noteworthy because Apple has included the YouTube app with iOS since it released the original iPhone in 2007. Its disappearance seemed to chill any remnants of the warmth that once existed between Apple and Google, which owns YouTube.
Apple said in a statement that “our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended.” It added that owners of its devices would be able to use their Web browsers to view YouTube videos, and that Google was working on a new YouTube app that would be available through the Apple App Store.
In response, YouTube issued a statement: “We are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users.”
The extent of Google’s disappointment in Apple’s move was unclear. The change was first reported by The Verge, a technology blog.
Google has never had much control over the YouTube app for iOS, because Apple built the app using technology that YouTube makes available to software developers. That meant that YouTube could not update the app without Apple’s help — or, perhaps more critically, run advertisements on videos that played through the app.
As a result, the app was neglected as YouTube spent its time and money adding features to its mobile Web site and Android app.
The iOS app also no longer plays the important role it did in 2007, when YouTube videos were not easily accessible to iPhone users because they were in the Flash video format, which did not work on Apple’s smartphone. Since then, YouTube has begun using video formats that do not require a special app for iPhone users.
It is not entirely surprising that Apple would allow its deal with Google over the YouTube app to lapse. The two companies — once so close that Eric E. Schmidt, Google’s executive chairman, served on Apple’s board — have suffered one of the more prominent falling-outs in Silicon Valley.
Steven P. Jobs, Apple’s former chief, was infuriated by Google’s push into the mobile market with its Android operating system. Apple is tangling with Samsung, Google’s biggest Android phone partner, over patents in a court case that many see as a proxy war against Google. Apple has also stopped using Google Maps to power the mapping service in the new iOS software.
Read the article online here: Apple to Remove YouTube App From iPhone and iPad - NYTimes.com
