Every Apple iOS device from the original iPhone to the latest iPad has shipped with a YouTube app pre-installed. But with the launch of iOS 6 this year, Apple is killing that app.
Now Google is stepping up to fill in the gap, by offering an official app. It’s available as a free download from the App Store.
The app provides a central location to search for YouTube videos and channels, view your favorites, subscribe to new channels, or read comments. You can also view your own uploads and history.
For the most part, the new iOS app looks a lot like the latest YouTube apps for Android, with a few tweaks to run more smoothly on an iPhone, iPod touch or iPad. For instance, there’s no back button on an iOS device, so Google added some back arrows.
Apple’s decision to kill the preloaded YouTube app makes sense. You don’t need an app to watch YouTube videos now that Google has optimized the YouTube website for mobile devices and allows HTML5 video streams. And Apple and Google aren’t exactly the best of friends these days.
But from Google’s standpoint, this could also be a good thing. Google can now push out updates to its YouTube app whenever the company wants. And the new app supports advertisements, which opens the door to content that wasn’t previously available on iOS. That includes thousands of music videos.
via YouTube Blog
