Sometimes couples stay together after the magic wears off. Â That's not happening to Google and Apple, though. The Silicon Valley giants are splitting the blanket and this time it's YouTube that's being left at the curb.
Apple is stripping YouTube from iOS 6, which means users of iPhones and other devices won't have the default ability to watch YouTube videos.
Nobody is saying exactly what happened, although Apple is portraying it as a simple case of its license to use YouTube expiring.Â
"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," Apple said in a statement.Â
YouTube issued a similarly vague statement: "We are working with Apple to ensure we have the best possible YouTube experience for iOS users."
Odd couple
It all seems a bit odd. Â Building a new app to run YouTube is not a big deal and there will undoubtedly be any number of them out there momentarily.Â
It's not as though YouTube was something new. It has been included by default since the very first iPhone and, in fact, Google had to rewrite the YouTube platform when Apple banished Flash, which formerly powered YouTube and lots of other video content.
It's just the latest sign that things aren't all peaches and cream in the Google-Apple family. Not long ago, Apple declared it would rip Google Maps out of its systems and replace it with an in-house version.Â
All of this is fine, of course. No one really cares what goes on behind closed doors but it does mean that consumers are likely to be at least mildly inconvenienced as two big powerful companies embark on their latest power trip.
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