The AppAdvice Week In Review

by Bryan M. Wolfe

August 12, 2012

This week, Apple continued to distance themselves from Google, just as Starbucks and Square got closer. Meanwhile, the original iPhone made some interesting news, as did Conan O'Brien.

The native YouTube app, 2007-12

With iOS 6 beta 4, Apple officially killed off the native YouTube app, which was included with each iOS device since 2007. In confirming the news, Apple said:

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.

Why would Apple do this? I had my thoughts, which included the likelihood that Cupertino (with Facebook) could be prepping their own video streaming service. I said that an Apple-Facebook video streaming service would serve both companies well. Cupertino would gain a better foothold in social networking, after Ping’s demise. For Facebook, the new service would help them offer a service similar to YouTube, but also like Netflix, and Amazon. Plus, if Apple were to use this as a stepping stone to the iTV, imagine what this could mean to the Facebook community.

Apple Takes On Google In 3-D Maps Comparison

Meanwhile, A.T. Faust III said the soon-to-be Google-free native Maps app is much better than anything Mountain View is offering. He stated:

Statistically, Apple is leading Google in the support category, featuring full 3-D maps of 26 cities on three continents to Google’s 13 on two. Further, Apple’s images are of markedly higher resolution, and the company’s textures are finer and more realistically applied (e.g. no skewing — see the battleship shot in the header). However, due to Apple’s use of these higher-quality images, panning and zooming — at least in Maps’ current beta form — is a bit choppier than getting around on Google Earth. However, it’s a good bet that once iOS 6 is officially released, any such lag will be mostly sorted out.

I'll Pay For My Starbucks Coffee Using Square, Please

Joe White explained this week how a massive partnership between Square and Starbucks could lead to changes in how many of us make small payments. He concluded:

For a while now, folks around the blogosphere have been holding out for some kind of mobile payments standard. Google dipped into the smartphone-powered payments scene with its own in-house developed “Google Wallet,” which launched on the company’s flagship, NFC-capable Sprint Nexus S 4G. It seemed Apple was holding off on launching a similar solution in the hope that such a standard might appear – even if it was established by Google. Since, the iOS 6 betas – graced with a “Passbook” app – have launched, and people have been wondering whether this new, built-in application, which promises to house store cards, coupons and memberships, might also double-up as a similar mobile payments app if the sixth-gen iPhone supports near field communication. However, with Square, we’re reminded that such a mobile payments solution is kind of already available for the iPhone. That Square has partnered with a huge chain like Starbucks is great news for the service and its users, and also for existing iPhone owners. If Square can offer “legacy” iPhones a chance to act as mobile wallets, there’s one less reason to spend cash on an NFC-capable sixth-gen iPhone handset, right?