It’s labelled the price of progress, but for many this will hurt.
Google gives the cut off point as the following, and it isn’t only Apple devices which get burned:
- iOS devices which cannot be upgraded to iOS 7 and above
- Apple TV first and second generations
- Google TV versions 3 and 4
- Numerous smart TVs and Blu-ray disc players.
You can find Google’s list here and the company also warns that third generation Apple TV owners must install a newly compatible YouTube app to keep tuning in.
In total, looking at the raw numbers, this means in excess of 100m iPhones and iPads plus around 50m iPod touches and Apple TVs. Hopefully in being older devices, many owners will have already swapped them for newer models.
Affected devices should start seeing this warning:
The Good News
The good news is affected iPhone, iPad and iPod touch owners can use their web browsers to access YouTube. It is also worth looking for unofficial third party YouTube apps which support the newer Data API v3.
Similarly older smart TVs and Blu-ray players with a web browser that supports Flash or HTML5 will be able to keep accessing the site. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Android handset owners are also unaffected as Google continues to update all core APIs through the Play Store.
The Bad News
The news is less rosy if you own a first or second generation Apple TV. These devices don’t have web browsers so you’re out of luck. Similarly Google is no fan of unofficial third party YouTube apps, so any you do find may not have a long shelf life.
Whether accessing YouTube videos in
The Justification
So why would Google pull such a popular service from so many older devices? Because the company gave plenty of notice.
Google actually warned the switchover to DATA API v3 would happen back in March 2014. Since then the ball has been firmly in the court of device makers. In Apple’s case given it doesn’t provide iOS updates to any device which cannot support their latest software all these devices were then doomed.
Google also gave additional warnings about the upcoming changeover and in September it launched a DATA API v3migration guide.
Why is Google moving to the new API in the first place? There’s some irony here because its main benefit is in offering a full YouTube viewing experience (complete with captions, notifications and more) within other applications. In fact only flagging remains absent at this point.
So yes, millions just lost access to YouTube so Google can make the service more widely available. Let’s all say it together once more: the price of progress…
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