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War? YouTube app disappears from iOS 6 beta 4 as Apple breaks Google ties
- jpxxx 14y agoI'd be happy to see the native Google Youtube app allow me to copy a video URL. It is extraordinarily difficult to make such a simple thing happen on iOS right now.
- Empro 14y agoI don't think this has anything to do with Apple killing Google Maps. In that case, Apple could build an alternative relatively easily (acquisition and so on). In this case, noone has an alternative to YouTube. If this is Apple sticking it to Google again, I'll be very surprised. Edit: Apple has issued a statement (http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/6/3223775/apple-youtube-ios6 http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/6/3223775/apple-youtube-ios6) "Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store."
- Terretta 14y agoYouTube mobile site works better. Many videos won't play in the app (publisher hasn't authorized this video for mobile viewing) that will play in the mobile site. And pretty much all videos play if you select the "Desktop" link at the foot of the mobile site. So, as commenters on that article said, use Parental Restrictions to forbid YouTube app and enjoy it in Safari directly.
- ctdonath 14y agoGoogle may very well want more control over its YouTube app, including the ability to update it at will (normal AppStore processing aside), and Apple may be pleased to relinquish responsibility. The YouTube app seemed necessary to jumpstarting iOS interest in users way back when ... which is way back when now, and the need for bundling is past. Not war. Maturity.
- ahi 14y agoI got my first iOS device only 2 months ago and didn't really get why there was a YouTube app. Seemed like a generic corporate tie up.
- masklinn 14y ago> [I] didn't really get why there was a YouTube app Because back in 2007 there was no such thin as "HTML5 video", and youtube was already the most popular video site by a pretty long shot. So they built that one in via a dedicated application.
- nickm12 14y agoBack in 2007 there wasn't even an App Store. There would have been no way to watch YouTube videos on the iPhone at all without it.
- shinratdr 14y agoHardly, it's just that in 2007 YouTube and online video were basically synonymous. You didn't really have one without the other.
- objclxt 14y agoApple gave a statement to The Verge, which basically says their licence from Google expired: "our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended". I know Google are hiring iOS software engineers for YouTube right now in London, so I'm sure there will be some official native offering appearing in the future.
- zbowling 14y agoI don't care about the YouTube app as long as embedded flash youtube videos are still redirected to the embedded plugin. In Mountain Lion, there is now a share button that goes to Vimeo but there is no YouTube option. This equals the playing field a little for other video companies.
- cicloid 14y agoProbably the best move for all parties involved. The Youtube mobile site has better and more complete functionality. But that was completely missing on the native app. Unless you didn't use suscriptions, check comments, etc. The native app, worked perfectly.
- ahsteele 14y agoI wonder if this is going to muck up the ability to post a video to YouTube natively from the OS. Meaning that rather than posting from the photo / video viewer you will now have to open the YouTube app to post.
- jonknee 14y agoAbout time, I have always stashed that in an unused folder. It's a nearly useless app that can't be deleted, so it's in the unused folder along with Stocks, Compass, iTunes, and Game Center. Having the browser jump to the app just because you click on a link was very annoying, doubly so when the mobile site was just as functional. Worst case the perfectly usable website will be there, but Google's YouTube app will likely be a lot better and have the ability to be updated.
- zxoq 14y agoI actually use it a lot for watching subscriptions. However, it's in bad need of an update (it's ugly as sin). So I won't complain if Google releases a version on the App Store instead.
- jonknee 14y agoSubscriptions work fine in the very nice mobile version of YouTube. Since switching to Chrome for iOS I have really enjoyed being able to use YouTube's website instead of getting forwarded to Apple's YouTube App.
- alexpenny 14y agoI like compass
- wtracy 14y agoIt's now possible to play YouTube videos without Flash, so the dedicated app is no longer a necessity to watch YouTube videos on iOS. With that in mind, calling this "war" seems a bit over the top.
- smackfu 14y agoHopefully they don't delete it from Apple TV too.
- ctdonath 14y agoHopefully they WILL allow third-party Apple TV apps, and Google will provide a superior YouTube app.
- smackfu 14y agoYeah, to be honest, I'm not a super fan of the AppleTV Youtube app. The only way to find good content is to use subscriptions and those are hidden away on your account menu, and you need to select each one to find out if there are any new videos.
- addlepate 14y agoOn the iPad at least, I prefer using the desktop version of youtube.com. It works better than the app, and more videos seem to be available due to inane restrictions on "mobile" video viewing in the app and mobile web site.
- sitharus 14y agoI also do this on iPhone. It's just nicer, the app hasn't been updated for ages.
- rrreese 14y agoInteresting. As I understand it Google, realising the increased importance of mobile, developed Android to ensure that phone manufacturers would not be able to lock Google's services out, or provide and encourage alternative services. By making their own platform they can push their services to the forefront. But in doing so they antagonized Apple with whom they had a good relationship, and now find their services being replaced or dropped (first maps and now YouTube, and iOS 6 and Mountain Lion not including Google sharing options). Given that Google makes four times as much money from iOS then it does Android [1] I wonder if this was a good plan? If Apple replaced Google search with Bing as the default, it would have to hurt a lot. On the other hand if Apple did all this anyway but Google didn't have Android up its sleeve it would be in a much worse situation then it is now. [1] http://gizmodo.com/5897457/google-makes-four-times-more-money-from-ios-than-android http://gizmodo.com/5897457/google-makes-four-times-more-mone...
- kkowalczyk 14y agoYou know what's worse for Google than "antagonizing" Apple? Being at complete mercy of Apple. Google has Android, which has a bigger market share than iOS. If Apple kicks out all Google's services from iOS, Google still has Android. If Google didn't have Android and Apple kicked them out of iOS, they would have nothing. This is a long term game for both players. Google's strategic plan is to advance Android. Apple's strategic plan is to advance iOS and don't be dependent of Google, which is why they are kicking out Google's maps and invest in their own solution, even though I'm certain it's way more costly for them to do it compared to licensing Google's service. Both Google and Apple act perfectly reasonably given their long-term strategy.
- Tyrannosaurs 14y agoApple have always been very clear that they don't like being beholden to anyone when it comes to core products. Google ran the risk of finding themselves in precisely that position with the advent of mobile devices. As much as I'd rather Apple and Google - two of the most exciting companies out there - were getting on, I don't think anything Google is doing is that different to what Apple would do were the situation reversed.
- nostromo 14y agoGood riddance, the YouTube app was terrible. (And that's from someone who regularly watches YouTube videos.) Because of its insistance that I watch YouTube not in the browser but inside the app, it's the only default app I forcefully removed by turning it off in parental controls.
- rogerchucker 14y agoDid Apple somehow manage deliberately to restrict Youtube search results of songs to live performances in its Youtube app? I rarely get the music videos as first search results. If Google can get around that in its iOS youtube app, then I'll be a happy man...
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- zht 14y agoVEVO videos are not available on mobile (except through the VEVO app)
- CrazedGeek 14y agoOn Android, they do show up in the official YouTube app.
- shinratdr 14y agoThey show up in regular searches via MobileSafari too, GP's assertion is completely incorrect. Vevo videos, unless artificially restricted by their owners, play just fine in MobileSafari.
- duaneb 14y agoI'm sure Google will enable advertisements or DRM or whatever to get full content on their iOS app.
- Macha 14y agoWhy? They haven't done it for their Android app, which is far more in their interest.
- shinratdr 14y ago
- mmahemoff 14y agoThat weird TV icon says it all about YouTube app. Its makers parted ways and it was left unloved.
- mmackh 14y agoThis is unfortunate news, since the Youtube app was the last place to consume my content without ads filling up the videos or even annotations popping up every few seconds to click to a different video. Youtube on the web is a whole different experience, and with Google trying to monazite this mobile market, I can't see Google's own app being a better experience.
- rkudeshi 14y agoThis is actually a really GOOD development. It means the current app, which was made by Apple for iOS 1 and barely updated, can now be replaced by a Google-made YouTube app available in the App Store. The new app will presumably also support all of YouTube's new features since 2007, notably videos with ads (i.e. music videos). Remember, the only reason the app was ever built-in is because the App Store didn't exist on the first iPhone. Separating it into the App Store will also make it easier to update regularly (see Apple's own iBooks app). I wrote more about this in my wish list for iOS 6: http://raviudeshi.com/2012/06/ios-6 http://raviudeshi.com/2012/06/ios-6
- Tyrannosaurs 14y agoThe other reason it was built in was at the time YouTube videos were all flash and it was too big a site for Apple to ignore.
- shinratdr 14y agoThat was the reason Apple offered it in the first place, it's not the reason it was built in and updated with the OS.
- Macha 14y agoYouTube for Android doesn't support at least some videos with ads (vevo and what not), because the content owners specifically block it on mobile (maybe so they can push their own apps?), so don't get your hopes up too high.
- notJim 14y agoYeah, this seems quite common with music videos.
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- conradev 14y agoAs a sidenote, there is a Rickroll in the latest iOS 6 beta release notes when discussing the YouTube changes.
- erichocean 14y agoIf they want to really twist the knife, include the Vimeo app by default.
- ChuckMcM 14y agonext up mail. If you read the text it was "our license was up." Basically in the first iPhone Apple licensed a bunch of apps from Google to create the iPhone ecosystem, Maps, Mail, Search, video, and one other which I've forgotten. That was when they were friends, now they hate each other, so Apple has been building its own replacements. And I'm sure when the license renewal came up Apple took a harder stance. Youtube and the mail client are pretty much the last things to go. That was part of the reason I was surprised Apple didn't pick up Sparrow. When Google got it I said "aha" this will be the Mail tool from Google that you can get in the App store when Apple dumps them off the phone.
- brianwhitman 14y agoI really don't think Google built Apple's Mail.app client. Do you have any link or information about this?
- themckman 14y agoI find it hard to believe that Google had/has anything to do with the Mail app in iOS. It seems awfully tied to Mail.app on the desktop which certainly has nothing to do with Google. I'm open to evidence suggesting otherwise.
- RandallBrown 14y agoConsidering Mail supports plenty of other mail services that doesn't make any sense to me at all.
- jbverschoor 14y agohttp://www.hyperswitching.com/post/28849912133/on-why-apple-removed-youtube http://www.hyperswitching.com/post/28849912133/on-why-apple-... my posting about this :-)
- noduerme 14y agoHehe. No Flash, no YouTube... sounds boring. Good to see the predictable fanboy response around here, just like when they declared war on Adobe.
- Steko 14y agoSince we're all piling on the current YT app here's my all time favorite: your video ended, let's immediately cut to summary screen; oh you want to watch it again? It's still in memory but let me start buffering it again and randomly hang or crash. Back in the EDGE days, ehrmagahd/rageface/first world problems!1
- paul9290 14y agoAnyone else annoyed by this and their new iMap application? Their iMap app does not translate well on the web like the previous Google Map app did. When I am on a website that has a map link, it no longer opens up the built in map app nor maps direction from my current location. Since Google Maps is used across the web, when I click on a link it now takes me to Google Maps in the browser. But, that doesn't automatically map directions for me nor do turn by turn navigation. This change and a few others in iOS6 have degraded my iPhone user experience.
- guelo 14y agoPeople here that are saying this isn't war are being silly. Apple's Google hatred is now being kicked into high-gear. The battle is in multiple fronts including court rooms world-wide as well as removing as much Google as they can from iOS and Mountain Lion. The main thing I don't understand is why is Google not fighting back completely. Why would they make a YouTube app that makes the iOS platform more attractive? Why not block iOS devices from accesing Youtube altogether, as well as Gmail and even Search? Apple is dead set on trying to kill Android but Google isn't trying to kill iOS, it's weird.
- praxulus 14y agoGoogle doesn't want to kill iOS, they just want people using the web, and smartphones are a great way to get more people there. Android's purpose to get lots of people using smartphones, whether it's by using an android device, or by putting price pressure on iPhone.
- guelo 14y agoThe future of consumer computing is all mobile. Everyone realizes this. The companies that control the mobile platforms will be the biggest richest companies in the world over the next ten to twenty years. To think Google is only in the fight for its search revenues is to believe that Google is not thinking strategically long-term. In any case, if Apple ends up monopolizing the mobile platform there won't be any search revenue for Google.
- ZeroGravitas 14y agoWith their 20% global marketshare vs 60% for Android, I think there's little chance of that happening, particularly if you take account of which markets have large potential future growth. There's no real reason for Google to play hardball if they can get money out of Apple customers today (just like Microsoft sold Office for Mac and for many years, possibly still today, made more profit on an average Mac sale than Apple).