Last week, Microsoft announced the availability of the updated YouTube app for Windows Phone 8, which featured a complete redesign. The app was due for a long time, but faced issues between Microsoft and Google. Now that the app is finally available, it seems that Microsoft continues to stick it to Google.
Earlier this year, Microsoft was fed up with Google now allowing the software giant to release a full-featured YouTube app. “We continue to be dogged by an issue we had hoped would be resolved by now: Google continues to prevent Microsoft from offering consumers a fully featured YouTube app for the Windows Phone,” Microsoft had stated. Eventually this was resolved and we saw the new app make its debut last week.
Now, according to a new report, the YouTube app for Windows Phone 8 strips out YouTube ads when it plays back videos and allows users to easily download the video they are watching by simply clicking the “download” button. This is an obvious violation of the YouTube terms of service, which clearly states that one may not “modify, replace, interfere with or block advertisements placed by YouTube in the YouTube Data, YouTube audiovisual content, or the YouTube player.”
As you can see from the image below, there is a download button that lets a user download the video they are watching. This is a violation of the YouTube terms of service:
Microsoft may have admitted to “re-architecting” the YouTube API to “deliver a great YouTube experience” as well as Live Tiles and Kids Corner feature, Microsoft seems to be looking to poke the proverbial bee hive. Both Google and Microsoft have yet to offer a statement on this matter, but we expect this to become an interesting battle over the next few weeks.
Further reading: Google, Windows Phone, YouTube
