And yet the relationship between the two tech superpowers seemed to have been thawing in recent days, with Apple even . Cupertino, for its part, seems to have adopted a strategy of straight-up competition with its Mountain View rival, rather than out-and-out hostility.

That culminated in the announcement over iOS 6s Maps changes, and now in the removal of the YouTube app. According to Apples statement, Google will provide its own native YouTube app in the App Store in coming months; the search giant has already hinted that it will in some form .

In both the cases of YouTube and Google Maps, Apples decision to remove the built-in apps and allow Google to instead create third-party clients shows a shift to focus on capabilities, rather than specific popular services. Why ship a built-in YouTube client, but not include apps for other media-sharing services like Vimeo or Flickr? Besides, users are more than comfortable downloading apps these day, so they should have no trouble finding a third-party program if they need to.

The message from Apple is clear: The iPhone is, in and of itself, a comprehensive device. It does everything you need right out of the boxeven letting you access YouTube or other video services, and providing maps. Simply put, Apple doesnt any other companys help. Especially Googles.