YouTube works again on Amazon Echo Show speaker with touchscreen

Amazon Echo Show users can use YouTube again. This is now done via a web view instead of a native application. Google disabled the YouTube app on the Echo Show, because it allegedly violated the video service’s terms and conditions.

The new view is a setback, Voicebot thinks. The new interface looks less slick and users have to touch the screen to start a video, something that was not necessary with the old interface.

It is possible to start a video with only voice commands by asking digital assistant Alexa to search YouTube, but that function relies on search results from search engine Bing and is limited in the results.

It is not the first time that Google has disabled a competitor’s YouTube app. Four years ago, the search giant did just that with Microsoft’s YouTube app for its Windows Phone mobile platform. There are alternative apps available for that platform.

The Echo Show is a speaker with a 7″ touchscreen that the Amazon web store released earlier this year. Like all other hardware from the American company, the Echo Show is officially not for sale in the Benelux.

YouTube on the Echo Show in July 2017 (left) and now