Musi App Store Ban Sparks Rise of Copycat YouTube Music Apps
Musi app clones in App Store
Apple recently removed the popular YouTube wrapper app Musi from the App Store for violating YouTube's terms of service, prompting the emergence of several alternative apps. The removal affects some 66 million users who previously downloaded the app.
Musi's key violation was bypassing YouTube's advertising system while serving its own ads, a practice explicitly forbidden by YouTube's terms of service. While existing users can still access the app, many report that their playlists are blocked and songs won't play, likely due to YouTube restricting access to Musi's servers.
In response, Musi has filed a lawsuit against Apple, claiming their app doesn't violate YouTube's terms since it uses a custom "augmentative interface" rather than YouTube's API. The developers argue their technology simply enhances the user experience without directly storing or processing YouTube videos.
Former Musi users are now turning to alternatives like Music Si, a similar wrapper app for YouTube and SoundCloud. Music Si offers comparable features, including ad removal through subscription options ($2.99/month or $9.99/year). The app has quickly gained popularity, rising from #244 to #120 in the App Store's Music category.
The situation raises questions about the future of YouTube wrapper apps and whether these alternatives will face similar scrutiny from YouTube and Apple.