Lazyworm’s Metrotube and YouTube to be discontinued from 01-01-12 – google the hindrance?

Do no evil…(in public) that’s the Google way right? Appear all fuzzy and underdog like yet be the exact opposite. I like google services, I use a lot of them. I use plenty of services from different providers, and in 2011 we’d expect them all to play nicely with each other.

Today we hear that two of the best looking YouTube apps by Lazyworm (YouTube and Metrotube) will apparently be no longer available on market place from January 1st 2012.

http://www.wpcentral.com/metrotube-be-discontinued-after-january-1st

We covered the youtube app for Lumiappaday #14 here:

http://mynokiablog.com/2011/11/30/lumiappaday-14-youtube-demoed-on-the-nokia-lumia-800/

Why? Apparently google is not playing fair with Windows Phone. In May, Microsoft’s  Senior Vice President & General Counsel, Brad Smith said:

…in 2010 and again more recently, Google blocked Microsoft’s new Windows Phones from operating properly with YouTube. Google has enabled its own Android phones to access YouTube so that users can search for video categories, find favorites, see ratings, and so forth in the rich user interfaces offered by those phones. It’s done the same thing for the iPhones offered by Apple, which doesn’t offer a competing search service.

Unfortunately, Google has refused to allow Microsoft’s new Windows Phones to access this YouTube metadata in the same way that Android phones and iPhones do. As a result, Microsoft’s YouTube “app” on Windows Phones is basically just a browser displaying YouTube’s mobile Web site, without the rich functionality offered on competing phones. Microsoft is ready to release a high quality YouTube app for Windows Phone. We just need permission to access YouTube in the way that other phones already do, permission Google has refused to provide.

http://www.wpcentral.com/microsoft-calls-out-google-poor-youtube-windows-phone

The Lazyworm folks said:

“We are extremely saddened to announce that as of the 1st of January 2012, our applications ‘Metrotube’ and ‘YouTube’ will no longer be available for download from the Windows Phone Marketplace.

YouTube’s current API does not have any documented methods for obtaining high quality video content. We have been using a workaround to obtain this content and it has recently come to our attention that this may not be sustainable in the long term, hence our decision to stop distributing the apps.

The apps should remain functional for those who have already installed them however we will be unable to push out any further updates. Of course, you can also continue accessing YouTube videos directly through your web browser.

Well that sucks. Download them now whilst you can. I’d say leave it on the marketplace but it might get negatively reviewed when YouTube starts breaking again and so taint the developer’s reputation.

Is this anti competitive? Microsoft are doing their best to share what they have on other platforms (sometimes their services on other platforms looking better or are cheaper :S) but it seems Google doesn’t want to play fair. Or is there more to it than that that we just don’t understand.

YouTube isn’t just a site, it’s pretty much everyone’s one stop shop for videos. It’s not like they’re not catering for WP because it’s not significant enough. Google never really showed Symbian much love when it was the biggest and still is a heavy player.

I don’t mind using  the mobile site. Most of the youtube videos I’m watching on mobile now is embedded ones anyway. But it would still be great if people can get a full app experience that makes youtube great for small touch screens.

Cheers Bas for the tip!

Category: Applications, Nokia, Windows Phone