Microsoft and Google clash over Windows Phone YouTube app
Friday, January 4, 2013 - 16:15:56
Anyone who has picked up a Windows Phone device in the past couple of years will have encountered one persistent issue with the platform - there is no dedicated application for use with YouTube.
That is not strictly true, since there are a number of third party clients as well as a standalone, branded YouTube app, but this latter program is little more than a shortcut to the mobile version of this online video streaming site.
Microsoft's Dave Heiner wrote a blog on this topic, stating that Google is responsible for the lack of a YouTube app on Windows Phone, since it has allegedly continued to block the launch of one ever since the platform emerged back in 2010.
In response, Google released a statement to TechRadar, in which it argued that Heiner's claims were more than a little misleading.
Windows Phone's Internet Explorer is able to support HTML5 content, which means that users can enjoy all of the features of YouTube from within their mobile browser, according to Google.
The search giant even said that it has been working closely with Microsoft over the years, to make YouTube as accessible and smooth as possible on its mobile platform.
You can see that both sides have pertinent points. It would be nice to have a dedicated, officially sanctioned YouTube app on Windows Phone, but on the other hand, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with consuming clips via the web browser.
Microsoft and Google have also been generating friction over other services, which is unsurprising, given that they are now direct rivals in the smartphone market.
Apple learned the hard way that kicking a Google service off of its mobile ecosystem was not a good idea, as the recent reinstatement of Google Maps to iOS 6 proved.
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