Removal of Built-In YouTube App From iPhone Was Google's Decision

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Posted June 30, 2017 at 6:58pm by iClarified

Hunter Walk, former YouTube product lead, reveals that the removal of the built-in YouTube app with the launch of iOS 6 was Google's decision, not Apple's.

In a series of Tweets, Walk gives us some history on the agreement between the two companies and why Google decided to end Apple's license. The decision was a controversial one even within the YouTube team. At the time, many users believed it was Apple's call.

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Apple approached YouTube abt being default app on 1st iPhone. Making it happen ensured the "YouTube of mobile" was YouTube itself....

...YouTube was still operating pretty independently frm GOOG at that time, & our BD team did great job managing Apple & Google interests...

...was actually API deal w some add'l language around functionality, bec Apple built the app itself. They wanted that control...

...i hated the shitty old TV icon they chose but i guess no way they were gonna put the YT logo :) ... Apple didn't like "UGC video"...

...but knew they needed reasons for the masses to buy a smartphone, & likely their 1st data plan. YouTube was mass market....

...besides default footprint on iPhone, placement made all other carriers approach us & want 2b "YouTube enabled" vs us giving them $$$...

...we wanted consumers to ask "does this phone support YouTube" when they were purchasing their 1st smartphone. Carriers marketed us...

...2012 iOS6, time for YouTube to take back control of our app, which was still Apple-created. Made gutsy move to not renew agreement...

...great YouTube/Google mobile teams (eng, product, marketing, BD, etc) all worked together. Risky to be removed from all iOS6 devices!...

....millions & millions of phones - YouTube app disappeared!!! But consumers reinstalled from App Store, promos from other Google apps....

...was one of most interesting & consequential series of product decisions during my time at YouTube. Not w/o controversy internally /fin
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Removal of Built-In YouTube App From iPhone Was Google's Decision

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Sterling - July 2, 2017 at 4:26pm

As a fan of vintage stuff, the original YouTube TV icon was my all-time favorite iPhone icon.

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Kato+ - July 2, 2017 at 3:14am

Glad not to Have to delete u tube app I don't need or want

The one - July 1, 2017 at 3:22pm

Agree with OP.

John Harris Walker Jr - June 30, 2017 at 7:18pm

Best decision ever! Apple has this great problem of taking a whole year to upgrade its apps. iMessage for example takes a year to have anything new, while WhatsApp has something new every two weeks or so, google photos the same and many other apps. Its ok for apple to have a new ios every year but technology is too fast to take a year to uprade its apps.