Apple Thoughts - News & Reviews on all things Apple

"NiceMac has finally gone public on what happened with its satellite radio iPhone App and its relationship/situation with Sirius XM Radio Inc. In late February, the uSirius StarPlayr app was rejected by Apple, and we now have confirmation on what many had already suspected - that the app was killed by the satellite radio provider. This led to the final demise of the StarPlayr project itself, and NiceMac's decision to drop its satellite radio endeavors. According to a recent post, both NiceMac and Sirius XM Radio had been under a mutual non-disclosure agreement for the past 9 months. During this period, NiceMac had hopes of striking an "entrepreneurial agreement" with the satellite radio provider. But NiceMac also pointed out that they decided to move forward as a 3rd party developer, without Sirius XM's blessing, at the beginning of this year."

Sorry for the long explanation, but it's important. The app was not rejected by Apple because it streams (as some wrongly suggested) nor was it held in release limbo because it was a media player that competed with others on the iPhone, nor was it the victim of some vast conspiracy on Apple's part. It was a simple decision by SiriusXM to build their own app and to shut down a product being made in violation of SiriusXM's terms of service (and very clearly so, as demonstrated in the linked article) and without their cooperation or approval.

Ultimately, it was NiceMac who was responsible for StarPlayr being rejected / refused / whatever you want to call it, not Apple. By the way, I think SiriusXM is being really stupid about this, but that's immaterial; anything that grows the platform is a good thing in the long run. At least they were smart enough to decide to bring their own similar player to market in a few months.

"Last year, we all had the fortune of crossing paths at which time we decided to band together and focus on helping deliver Sirius XM content to subscribers everywhere and anywhere. As of yesterday, the uSirius StarPlayr Application for iPhone still had a status of "In Review" with Apple. Late last night, we became aware that the application could not be approved at this time. As fans, we are committed to continuing to work with all parties involved as necessary in any capacity required to see this product to market. It is our goal, as it has always been, to release this application at as low of a price point as possible, if not free of charge."

Yet again, the App Store review process shows its inconsistency. Last.fm, Pandora, and even TV.com all have streaming apps which, unless I'm underestimating, use tons of bandwidth as well, so I have to wonder what the rejection reason was. Oddly enough, Nicemac isn't saying what the rejection reason was, only that the app was rejected. I do hope they get it through, though. StarPlayr is one of the apps I've been looking most forward to.