By Jonny Evans
The Apple [AAPL] decision to dump native YouTube support from iOS 6 is utterly inevitable as the company continues to punish Google [GOOG] for what Cupertino’s executives see as that firm’s duplicity regarding Android and the iPhone.
‘Special’ friends no more
There’s no doubt the relationship between the two companies has changed. Friends no more it seems unlikely anything more than a partial detente can ever emerge between the two.
The latest twist in the transmission sees Apple’s most recent iOS 6 beta abandoning the dedicated YouTube app. “Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended,” Apple said in a statement to The Verge.
“Customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store.” The app will remain within iOS 5 and earlier and Google says it will introduce its own apps for Maps and YouTube. It’s also possible Google and not Apple terminated this deal.
One thing is clear. Apple CEO Steve Jobs’ determination to go “thermonuclear” in his campaign against the former ally hasn’t evaporated with his passing.
Hit the button
The abandonment of native YouTube support is just the latest in a sequence of steps, which also include numerous patent lawsuits against Android partners worldwide:
