Google revealed that it will be making changes to the Data API of YouTube, which would prevent old versions of the app from properly functioning on various devices.
For users of the second generation of the Apple TV, the YouTube channel will cease to be accessible, while users on their iPhones, iPads and iPods will need to upgrade their operating systems to at least iOS 7 to continue using the YouTube app.
Users of the second-generation TV will be left with no possible way to access videos on YouTube after the YouTube Data API upgrade, while users of the third-generation Apple TV can launch an update to its YouTube channel through the device's Settings menu. Users of pre-iOS 7 Apple mobile devices, meanwhile, can choose to access the access the mobile version of the YouTube website through Internet browsers such as Safari.
Google has released a discontinuation video to the users of devices that will be affected by the YouTube Data API upgrade, warning users of the upcoming change that would stop the functionality of YouTube on their devices. Users are still able to access the app and videos normally, but the discontinuation video will play before the video that the user wants to watch.
In addition to older Apple TVs and Apple mobile devices running pre-iOS 7 software, the YouTube Data API upgrade will also affect older versions of Google TV and older models of Smart TVs and video game consoles that were released in 2012 and earlier. For older smart TVs, if the device is able to support HTML5 or Flash, users can still access YouTube by going to the service's website through the Smart TV's browser.
The official YouTube app will only be made available to most Smart TVs, video game consoles, Blu-ray players and several other streaming devices manufactured from 2013 onwards.
According to a post on Google's support pages, the shutting down of the old version of the YouTube app already started on April 20. A post on the official YouTube blog adds that starting early May, users of the older devices will no longer be able to watch videos and will instead only see the discontinuation video. By late May, YouTube apps that still use the old version of the API will no longer function.
