Owners of second-generation Apple TV units — the last of the larger, gray-colored models — have reported that YouTube has vanished from the devices starting last night, with both the dedicated channel and references to the feature being removed. As reported previously, the change is due to alterations Google announced last month in the YouTube Data API to allow for new features that various older devices, including some of Google’s own, cannot support. Also affected in the cutoff are YouTube app support for older iOS devices running obsolete versions of iOS.
Although the YouTube app failure on second-gen and earlier devices can be blamed on Google, Apple has also largely dropped support for the gray Apple TV models, ignoring the units when it came to software updates, though for the most part channel additions were still supported. Only the smaller “black box” third-gen and later have received the current set of iOS 8-based system upgrades. Apple recently reduced the cost of the current Apple TV, presumably to clear inventory ahead of a rumored new version of the set-top box set to debut as early as the WWDC conference in June.
