Apple: iOS YouTube License Over, Google to Offer Its Own App with iOS 6
Posted 08/06/2012 at 12:02pm
| by J.R. Bookwalter
Seems as if the honeymoon between Apple and Google is truly over with iOS 6, as developers have discovered the YouTube app is now gone from the beta release updated on Monday.
The Verge is reporting that the YouTube app has gone missing from the latest iOS 6 Beta 4 release on Monday, and it's definitely not a bug or an accident. Apple has confirmed YouTube's departure as part of the iOS platform, but it sounds like the situation may be remedied by the time the sixth version of the mobile OS hits devices this fall.
"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," explains Apple in a brief statement to The Verge.
YouTube has been a fixture of the iOS platform since the original iPhone launched in 2007, where it was added to the lineup shortly prior to the handset going on sale.
It's unclear if Apple ditching the YouTube app is yet another spear thrown in the direction of Mountain View. The company has already made it clear that Google Maps will no longer be welcome in the built-in Maps app, and despite the YouTube license ending, it certainly seems that Apple could have renewed that agreement should they chose to do so.
We'll have to wait until iOS 6 officially rolls out to see how this shakes out -- and to see if YouTube will continue to exist on the Apple TV as well.
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