Say goodbye to iOS' standalone YouTube app

After five years of taking up space on iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad screens, the standalone YouTube app will be kicked out of Apple's upcoming iOS 6 operating system.

 

Tech site The Verge reported the YouTube app, a part of Apple Inc.'s original iPhone in 2007, is no longer among the default applications in iOS 6's latest beta.

 

It quoted Apple as saying in a statement that "its license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended."

 

But The Verge also said Apple confirmed YouTube will work its Safari browser, and that Google is making a new YouTube app to be available in the App Store.

 

While it said the reason for the app's ouster remains up for debate, the result may be "better" for consumers since the iOS YouTube app not been improved since 2007.

 

It also quoted Google as saying it is committed to offering a YouTube app on the iOS platform.

 

"We are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users," it quoted a YouTube spokesperson as saying.

 

A separate article on tech site Mashable noted YouTube is not the only Google service to be decoupled form iOS 6.

 

It said that at the Worldwide Developers' Conference last June, Apple announced that it was replacing Google Maps with an in-house mapping solution.

 

YouTube was also out of Apple’s “share sheets” included in OS X Mountain Lion. Instead, users can share videos directly to Vimeo. — TJD, GMA News