First, Apple dropped Google Maps from iOS 6 in favour of its own app. Apple today also confirmed that the upcoming version of its mobile operating system will also ship without a YouTube app. In a statement to The Verge, Apple explained that its YouTube license ran out and was not extended:
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.
As the statement indicates, iOS users will still be able to access YouTube via the web and eventually through a new YouTube application to be available through the App Store.
It’s not clear from Apple’s statement whether it decided to not renew the license. It would be highly unlikely that Google would have decided not to allow Apple to renew it, suggesting that Apple simply decided to let the license lapse. Aside from saving itself licensing costs, the move also allows it to further distance itself from Google.
Read more: The Verge