The Juno app for watching YouTube videos on Apple’s Vision Pro headset has been removed from the App Store after YouTube complained to Apple’s App Store. When Apple first introduced Vision Pro, YouTube stated that they were not interested in creating a native app for visionOS and recommended users to watch videos through Safari on the web instead. This created an opportunity for app developers to pull videos to play through the YouTube API, including Juno.
In Juno’s case, YouTube complained from the start about violating terms of service and improperly using the YouTube API without permission, as well as using a logo that caused confusion. Juno resolved the issue by transforming into a web viewer app and labeling itself as an “Unofficial YouTube Viewer,” but YouTube ultimately lodged another complaint, leading to the app being removed from the store.
Christian Selig, the developer of Juno, disagreed with the decision but chose not to dispute it. Juno was a fun project for him to provide a better YouTube experience for Vision Pro users, and the app will continue to work until YouTube changes its video embedding method, rendering the app unusable. Juno was sold for $4.99, and Selig, also the developer of the Apollo app for Reddit clients, shut it down last year after Reddit revised its API terms.
TLDR: The Juno app for YouTube on Apple’s Vision Pro headset was removed from the App Store due to complaints from YouTube regarding its use of the YouTube API and branding confusion, despite efforts by the developer to comply with guidelines.
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