iOS beta 4 strips out YouTube app, changes Maps, Passbook
updated 03:57 pm EDT, Mon August 6, 2012
More secure Bluetooth sharing among other upgrades
In a surprise move, Apple has stripped the native YouTube app out of iOS 6 beta 4, developers note. The app has been a staple of iOS since 2007, when Apple in fact promoted it as one of the original iPhone's selling points. Google has since fallen out of Apple's favor, though, and the iOS 6 version of Maps substitutes Google content either with Apple's work or content created by a host of third parties. Apple has explained the YouTube change in a statement. "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," the company says.
Beta 4 makes an assortment of other changes as well, such as asking for iCloud credentials on first login, and new security controls for Bluetooth devices that share data. Passbook now has a button link to the App Store, presumably so that people can find apps which integrate with the Passbook system.
The toggle for Shared Calendar Alerts has meanwhile been moved to the bottom of the Mail, Contacts, and Calendar menu under Settings. More crucially Apple has once again upgraded Maps, for instance by speeding up performance, using improved map data, and enhancing font rendering. Labels should show more address numbers, and indicate one-way streets with blue arrows.
