YouTube is being
reprogrammed for the iPhone and iPad amid the latest fallout from the
growing hostility between Google and Apple.
The changes are being
made because Google Inc and Apple Inc didn't renew a five-year licensing
agreement that established YouTube's video service as one of the
built-in applications in the operating system that runs the iPhone and
iPad.YouTube is being bumped from the menu of pre-installed apps on the next version of Apple's mobile operating system, or iOS, which could be released as early as Wednesday when the latest iPhone is expected to be unveiled.
Google is making a pre-emptive strike on Tuesday with the release of a revamped YouTube application. The app is designed to make it as easy as possible for the tens of millions of iPhone and iPad owners to continue watching clips from the world's most popular video site.
The new YouTube app will create more moneymaking opportunities for Google and video producers because it allows advertising to be shown with the clips. That's something Apple hasn't allowed on the pre-installed YouTube app.
The ban on ads prevented many music videos and other widely watched clips from being shown in the iOS app because some copyright owners don't allow their content to be shown if there is no way for them to be paid.
Removing the advertising limitations will mean users of the new iOS app can watch YouTube videos that already have been available on smartphones and tablet computers running on Google's Android software said, Francisco Varela, YouTube's global director of platform partnerships.
"We are offering a better user experience to iPhone users," Varela said of the new YouTube app. "We will now have content parity on all our mobile platforms."
Apple had no comment on Google's claims.
The new YouTube app is tailored for the iPhone, although it will work on the iPad, too. A retooled app specifically tailored for the iPad is supposed to be released in the next few months.
As has always been the case, YouTube's videos also can be watched through web browsers that work on iOS, including Apple's Safari and Google's Chrome.
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