Juno YouTube App for Vision Pro Removed From App Store

[MacRumors]

Juno, an app designed for watching YouTube on the Vision Pro, has been removed from the App Store, developer Christian Selig said today. Back in April, YouTube emailed Selig and said that Juno was violating the YouTube Terms of Service and the YouTube API by modifying the native YouTube.com web user interface, and used YouTube trademarks and iconography that could be confusing to customers.

In response, Selig switched from using the embed player to the website player, made it clear that Juno was an unofficial YouTube viewer, and explained to YouTube that as a web viewer, Juno is not using YouTube APIs. At the same time, though, YouTube filed a complaint with the App Store, and Selig went on to warn customers that he would not fight Google on any decision regarding Juno.

Juno has now been removed from the App Store by Apple in response to YouTube's complaint. Selig says that he does not agree with the decision because Juno is a simple web view and that that modifies CSS to make the player look more "visionOS like," but he does not plan to appeal the decision.

Selig, for those unaware, was the developer of the Reddit app Apollo, and he faced a public fight with Reddit over its third-party API changes and fees last year. The dispute ultimately ended up with Apollo shutting down. According to Selig, Juno was just a fun hobby project.

Juno was a fun hobby project for me to build. As a developer I wanted to get some experience building for the Vision Pro, and as a user I wanted a nice way to watch YouTube on this cool new device. As a result, I really enjoyed building Juno, but it was always something I saw as fundamentally a little app I built for fun.

YouTube does not have a dedicated app for the Vision Pro, which is why Selig designed and released Juno last February. Prior to when the Vision Pro launched, YouTube said that it would not develop a Vision Pro app, nor would it allow the YouTube iPad app to run on the headset. With Juno removed, those who want to watch YouTube on Vision Pro will need to use Safari.

Juno for YouTube was priced at $4.99, and Selig says that customers who purchased the app should still be able to use it even though it's been removed from the App Store.

Article Link: Juno YouTube App for Vision Pro Removed From App Store

 

[GMShadow]

Given the opportunity to make the user experience worse, Google will take it 11 times out of 10.

 

[Onimusha370]

This sucks - Juno is a great app and helps a lot in the absence of an official YouTube app. I get developers are annoyed with Apple but its a shame it has to screw over Vision Pro users

 

[ChristianSelig]

Can't believe this is how I found out

 

[ideal.dreams]

Poor Christian can’t catch a break.

Not a day goes by that I don’t cringe having to open the Reddit app over Apollo.

 

[yanksfan114]

As much as I enjoyed his apps, it sometimes seems like he’s asking for what happens to him and his apps. I think everyone saw from a mile away when the AVP launched and Juno was released that YouTube is eventually going to kill it. But he obviously doesn’t care much since he got every early adopters $5 and is going to move onto the next thing. Hopefully something that doesn’t rely on a large corporation’s APIs and information.

 

[yanksfan114]

Poor Christian can’t catch a break.

Not a day goes by that I don’t cringe having to open the Reddit app over Apollo.

Download Narwhal

 

[ProbablyDylan]

Given the opportunity to make the user experience worse, Google will take it 11 times out of 10.

Unless it's an Android user's experience. In that case, the worse UX will roll out in the next 6-60 weeks.

 

[breenmask]

A well deserved shutdown.

I recommend everyone filing for a refund before time runs out. I suspect Christian knew this was going to get shutdown so he did a quick cash grab, hoping people will just not notice as time goes on.

Christian has done nothing but ride the success of other companies and complains when other companies want to control their own service. If Christian doesn't like it, he should build his own service instead of abusing others.

Good riddance...

 

[ideal.dreams]

A well deserved shutdown.

I recommend everyone filing for a refund before time runs out. Christian has done nothing but ride the success of other companies and complains when other companies want to control their own service. If Christian doesn't like it, he should build his own service instead of abusing others.

Good riddance...

Yeesh. I haven’t used Juno but using Apollo to browse Reddit made the experience 100x better. Apollo followed Apple’s UI guidelines and took full advantage of core iOS functions. Reddit’s official app looks like trash and with every update introduces a way to made ads more intrusive.

Time is worth something. If you can improve how people use a service and make money doing it, why not?

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Can't believe this is how I found out

Dumped via Macrumors. Classic Schiller.

 

[carniesandrubes]

Download Narwhal

Sideload Apollo

 

[binaryfuneral]

Some of you don't hate google enough

 

[breenmask]

using Apollo to browse Reddit made the experience 100x better.

I'm sure Apollo is a better app. Doesn't mean Christian should pocket the $$$ without compensating Reddit for using their service.

 

[akac]

Sideload Apollo

Narwhal is better than Apollo now. And it gets consistent bug fixes, no popup ads, and no weird little pixel pals.

I’m happy with Narwhal.

That said, even though I don’t have an AVP yet - I plan to get one someday. So I bought Juno figuring it would be killed but I could still use it. Will see.

 

[nutmac]

I can safely say that Google's official YouTube app has the worst UI of all apps on my iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV.

I was hoping Juno would eventually come to these other platforms, but alas, I guess Google doesn't want an independent developer to embarrass them.

 

[Dorv]

Sideload Apollo

Yeah, I finally broke down and installed Narwhal this week after largely avoiding Reddit without Apollo.

It immediately lead to me committing to figure out how to get Apollo side loaded as soon as humanly possible.

 

[Abazigal]

A well deserved shutdown.

I recommend everyone filing for a refund before time runs out. I suspect Christian knew this was going to get shutdown so he did a quick cash grab, hoping people will just not notice as time goes on.

Christian has done nothing but ride the success of other companies and complains when other companies want to control their own service. If Christian doesn't like it, he should build his own service instead of abusing others.

Good riddance...

Prior to Apollo shutting down, not only did I waive my right to a refund, but I also used the opportunity to slip him a couple more donations.

He took the time and effort to build a functional YouTube app for the Vision Pro at a time when the parent company (and many other developers) wouldn’t. He was there for each and every Vision Pro user at a time when many a developer was content to play out their petty little rebellion and neglect said platform.

You want to encourage and reward this sort of behaviour.

To every member here who has purchased his app, I call on each and every one of you to continue to support him financially in his future endeavours. $5 is practically couch change in this day and age.

Heck, give the man a medal!

 

[GMShadow]

I'm sure Apollo is a better app. Doesn't mean Christian should pocket the $$$ without compensating Reddit for using their service.

Reddit was fine with it for years until they decided their content was valuable to AI con men, which is why they broke API access for everyone.

Except the con men had already stolen all of their content, so all they did was piss off the userbase and further engender negative sentiment.

 

[Chungry]

I'm sure Apollo is a better app. Doesn't mean Christian should pocket the $$$ without compensating Reddit for using their service.

That wasn’t it at all though- it was the API calls and Reddit’s own lenient policy (his was one of many apps allowed and encouraged by Reddit themselves over the years) and subsequent change ahead of an IPO that lead to all the drama.

 

[breenmask]

You want to encourage and reward this sort of behaviour.

No. You do not want to encourage stealing.

Christian freeloads off of Reddit's and Youtube's service without compensating them.

Imagine if you built a platform that relies on advertisements to keep the lights on, but then Christian builds an app and deletes your ads and/or doesn't place the ads the way your advertisers want you to place them. And he gets rich off of using your service without paying you a dime.

 

[chrono1081]

"The Youtube Viewing Experience"...oh you mean constant ads and the new severe color banding that's been happening as of the past week on every single video?

 

[breenmask]

Reddit was fine with it for years until they decided their content was valuable to AI con men, which is why they broke API access for everyone.

Then request account deletion. The argument that Christian is stealing/freeloading still stands.

 

[breenmask]

That wasn’t it at all though- it was the API calls and Reddit’s own lenient policy (his was one of many apps allowed and encouraged by Reddit themselves over the years) and subsequent change ahead of an IPO that lead to all the drama.

Reddit has every right to change the policy of their API calls. Doesn't mean you can say "nope, I'm not following your API policy".

Clearly the AI craze was going to cause severe strain on Reddit's servers where Apple/OpenAI/Google is going to scrap as much as possible. Saying that Reddit should have continued the lenient policy isn't realistic.

 

[yanksfan114]

Can't believe this is how I found out

You posted on Twitter it got removed over an hour ago?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1841223881417494553