YouTube Abandoning the iPhone Ship?

In an article in the upcoming issue of iPhone Life magazine, the author discusses the decision developers have to make as to whether their app should be native to the iPhone or Web-based.  It seems there are definite advantages to having a Web app since it becomes global rather than specific to a platform. Well, it seems YouTube has made the decision to go global.

There's a new version of YouTube in town and you might want to check it out. YouTube just revamped its mobile site (m.youtube.com) to the new HTML5 format and I have to say that it makes a difference in the quality of the video.  I checked out the same video on both the native iPhone app and Web-based app and the video is much clearer on the Web version.

YouTube also made the interface clean and simpler to use with larger icons. This is great for those of us of a certain age or with large fingers.   

The major issue for YouTube is getting iPhone users to move from the native app to the new Web version. They've made it easier for you. The first time you go to the mobile site via Safari, you are shown how to add the site to your Home Screen.  It's easy. You just tap the "+" sign and then tap on "Add to Home Screen."

The only other issue is that you can't delete native iPhone apps so you'll end up with 2 versions of YouTube. Oh well, 1 more app on my iPhone won't hurt since I just put everything in folders. There's always room for 1 more now.