After nearly three-month gap with no official app for Apple’s latest iOS devices, Google has released a version of its iPhone YouTube app optimized for the iPad and iPhone 5. The new universal version also adds video streaming with AirPlay, a feature missing from the original iOS 6 version of the app, which worked only with the iPhone and iPod Touch. Google originally released a version just before the launch of iOS 6, which brought some new features (and also ads for the first time), but left out iPad compatibility.
The new official client also now offers video playlist management, a channel guide for signed-in users, clickable links in video descriptions and improved accessibility using VoiceOver.
Apple’s decision to stop including a YouTube client as part of the default software suite in iOS 6 was met with some criticism, but is seen as being part of a move by Apple to untangle itself from relationships with Google, though the company is free to continue developing and submitting apps (and may even be allowed to bring its own Maps application back to iOS 6 at some point). The previous YouTube client, like the previous Maps app, was a collaboration between the two companies.
