Google has removed YouTube from the Amazon Echo Show's catalogue of apps, The Verge first reported.
If a user were to trigger Alexa on Amazon's video-enabled speaker, the digital assistant would reply saying: "Currently, Google is not supporting YouTube on Echo Show."
The change seemingly took place on Tuesday afternoon, without Google notifying users about it.In a statement issued to The Verge, Amazon had this to say:
"Google made a change today at around 3 pm. YouTube used to be available to our shared customers on Echo Show. As of this afternoon, Google has chosen to no longer make YouTube available on Echo Show, without explanation and without notification to customers. There is no technical reason for that decision, which is disappointing and hurts both of our customers."
The Echo Show is an iteration on the Amazon's Echo speaker. It differs from the original in that it has a 7-inch screen.
The Echo Show is an iteration on the Amazon's Echo speaker. It differs from the original in that it has a 7-inch screen.
The screen meant the YouTube app was a natural fit and, up until this week, Echo Show users could follow recipes or watch music videos on the app.
Google, however, seems to think differently. As per its own statement:
"We've been in negotiations with Amazon for a long time, working towards an agreement that provides great experiences for customers on both platforms. Amazon's implementation of YouTube on the Echo Show violates our terms of service, creating a broken user experience. We hope to be able to reach an agreement and resolve these issues soon."
Google hasn't given any specifics on the removal, but as The Verge's Dieter Bohn speculates, this may be due to the fact that Google usually demands third parties to implement the full feature-set of YouTube, which goes beyond simply playing videos (think subscriptions, video recommendations, autoplay, etc.).