App Store snub? Apple leaves YouTube off list of top video apps

Apple is leaving YouTube off more than its new operating system.

A new featured section of the App Store called "TV Time" launched yesterday to showcase top video apps across a range of categories: networks and services, shows, and sharing tools, among others.

But while there are dozens of video apps on display there, the most popular one is nowhere to be found. YouTube's standalone app, which it released Tuesday, is missing.

The news comes on the heels of Apple saying it would no longer include YouTube as a preinstalled app on iOS devices, a position YouTube occupied since the first iPhone came out in 2007. The move takes effect with the release of iOS 6 on September 19. It's part of a larger purge of Google products from iOS that also includes Google Maps.

Now, this is a curated list, and Apple can exclude whichever apps it wants. We're guessing the list was created long before YouTube's app launched. And most of the featured apps showcase niche content, like official apps for the Food Network, TED, and ABC Family.

Still, all the other big video discovery apps are included here: Netflix, Hulu, and Vimeo, to name three.

YouTube and Apple declined to comment. In interviews before the app launched, YouTube executives went out of their way to say Apple has been a good partner as they developed their new app.

And leaving YouTube out of "TV Time" doesn't appear to be hurting the app's downloads -- as of this writing, it is the most popular app in the App Store.

CNET staff writer John Lowensohn contributed to this report.