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YouTube App Returns for Windows Phone (Update: Google Blocks It Again!)

By Ng Chong Seng - on 16 Aug 2013, 9:55am

YouTube App Returns for Windows Phone

 Microsoft's YouTube app for Windows Phone has returned to the Windows Phone Store...for two days. (Image source: Microsoft.)

Update: Here we go again. Looks like Microsoft's new YouTube app didn't have Google's blessings after all. The company at Mountain View has blocked it yet again. According to Engadget, Google actually wants Microsoft to build an HTML5-based app. But the new app is still a native one, and done in a such a way that Google can't guarantee that the correct ads would be served. Thus, it has again violated YouTube's Terms of Service, leading it to revoke Microsoft's API key.

Of course, Microsoft itself has something to say about this. In a nutshell, the Redmond headquartered company is charging that Google's reasons for blocking the app are "manufactured". It's especially puzzled about Google's condition that it has to be an HTML5 app, since the YouTube apps for Android and iOS aren't HTML5-based. Regarding the serving of ads, Microsoft claims that it's asked Google to provide the same information iPhone and Android get so that Microsoft can mirror the way ads are served on these platforms more precisely, but Google has refused this request.

Microsoft's fairly long (and exasperated) response concludes with these statements:

We think it’s clear that Google just doesn’t want Windows Phone users to have the same experience as Android and Apple users, and that their objections are nothing other than excuses. Nonetheless, we are committed to giving our users the experience they deserve, and are happy to work with Google to solve any legitimate concerns they may have. In the meantime, we once again request that Google stop blocking our YouTube app.

What a mess!

Source: Engadget, Microsoft.

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Originally posted on August 14, 2013:

In early May, shortly after Microsoft updated its own YouTube app for Windows Phone, the company received a cease and desist letter from Google, asking it to remove the app from the Windows Phone Store. The search giant said that Microsoft’s app was in violation of the terms and conditions of the YouTube API because it didn’t allow ads to be shown. The app was eventually pulled; but both companies have also agreed to work together to bring a new YouTube app to Windows Phone.

Fast forward to today and this app’s relaunched on the Windows Phone Store. While the updated app now has ads, it also sports several new features, including video uploads and live video streams. There’s also pinning of videos, playlists, channels, and search queries to the Start screen as Live Tiles; managing of YouTube profile and playlists; a quick access search bar; and sharing of videos to social networks, email, and text messages. If you’ve kids, you can let them view age appropriate videos in the Kid’s Corner. However, the download function is gone.

The YouTube app for Windows Phone is now live on the Windows Phone Store, and it supports Windows Phone 7.5, 7.8, and 8 devices.

Source: Windows Phone Store (via The Verge).

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