YouTube offers new iPhone app to fill looming void

The new format debuted Tuesday with the release of a new YouTube application that will introduce more advertising and more videos on Apple's trend-setting devices.

The changes are being made because Google Inc. and Apple Inc. didn't renew a five-year licensing agreement that established YouTube as one of the built-in applications in the operating system that runs the iPhone and iPad.

YouTube is being bumped from the menu of pre-installed apps on the next version of Apple's mobile operating system, or iOS, which could be released as early as Wednesday when the latest iPhone is expected to be unveiled.

The updated iOS also is dumping Google's digital maps as its go-to source for directions.

The mapping snub stung Google, but Apple's removal of YouTube from the iOS's application line-up appears to be a less contentious decision.

The two rivals couldn't agree on the best way to watch YouTube on the iPhone and iPad, leading to the termination of the licensing agreement and leading to Google's development of a stand-alone YouTube app that can be downloaded for free in in Apple's iTunes store.

The licensing agreement had granted Apple control over the design of the built-in YouTube app on the iPhone and iPad.

The new YouTube app will create more moneymaking opportunities for Google and video producers because it allows advertising to be shown with the clips. That's something Apple hasn't allowed on the pre-installed YouTube app. The ban on ads prevented many music videos and other widely watched clips from being shown in the iOS app because some copyright owners don't allow their content to be shown if there is no way for them to be paid.

Removing the advertising limitations will mean users of the new iOS app can watch YouTube videos that already have been available on smartphones and tablet computers running on Google's Android software, said Francisco Varela, YouTube's global director of platform partnerships.

"We are offering a better user experience to iPhone users," Varela said of the new YouTube app. "We will now have content parity on all our mobile platforms."