Apple caves: NIN App Store update approved 'unchanged'

We don't know why and we don't know how. We only know that Trent Reznor is saying that the updated iPhone NIN application has finally been approved. In his tweet Trent states the following:

NEWS FLASH: Apple has approved the NIN iPhone app update. Should be live in a few hours.

Whatever the reason for the turn-around -- Trent's expletive-ridden rant or the fact that the developer at one point had pulled any links to the offending "Downward Spiral" album -- let's hope these nerd-fights end once the App Store gains some parental controls.

Update: Reznor followed-up with this, "The NIN iPhone app is unchanged, the "issues" seem to have been resolved." Looks like Apple caved under intense criticism.

[Ned7077 @ May 7th 2009 1:51PM]

Good thing no one cares about NIN anymore.

[duncdamonk @ May 7th 2009 1:55PM]

I do.

k thx bye!

[gstar @ May 7th 2009 2:25PM]

Is that why NIN shows always sell out, real fast like and everything?

[Frankfurter @ May 7th 2009 2:29PM]

Ned's right - NIN is the Depeche Mode of today's generation. It was cool to like them for about 6 months in their heyday, but that heyday has disappeared over the horizon years ago.

What this means to you hipsters out there is, NIN isn't cool anymore. Yes, their music always kinda blew, but when you wore your NIN t-shirt, people would gasp and think to themselves, "Oh my, that hipster must be OUT there!".

Now you're just that creepy old guy in the bar staring at chicks.

[Jason @ May 7th 2009 2:39PM]

As a music major, I find Rezor's work brilliant. I'm not the kind of person who you would have found at some of his hardcore shows back in the 90s, but that doesn't mean he can't be appreciated. Basically what I'm getting at is, I'm 20, have many musically-inclined friends, and we all love NIN.

[gstar @ May 7th 2009 2:41PM]

@Frankfurter

So you only listen to music that is cool at the moment...tell the truth, you really don't even like music, do you?

[*Just some girl @ May 7th 2009 2:45PM]

I was hoping apple didn't cave in :/

Steve Jobs should have told that self righteous d-bag to kiss his a**

[Tiptup300 @ May 7th 2009 2:45PM]

Doood, NIN = awesome.

[Rocketboy @ May 7th 2009 3:07PM]

I was a fan of the Flood days, but I'd still never say that nobody cares. It's just that now many of the people who care, were the people who didn't like anyone who liked that "weird crap".

[Elora HRanma @ May 7th 2009 3:43PM]

Reznor is nowadays almost more relevant now than he was in the 90s. Not only did he release an amazing album last year, but he offered it for free with the option to buy it with extras. He also has been giving his tunes for free under a Creative Commons License for some time. And still had positive accounts.
He is one of the few big artists who have turned their backs to the industry while remaining important and making a profit. To put this in perspective, think that musical gods like Eno (last year, with David Byrne) or Prince (in the nineties) have not matched this achievement.

So, yes, NIN is still relevant and will apparently be for some time.

[Samboini @ May 7th 2009 4:06PM]

Frankfurter; typical iPod user.

[David S @ May 7th 2009 4:32PM]

@Frankfurter Lady GaGa appreciates your support. In the meantime, NIN becomes ever increasingly more relevant to its fanbase. Enough that it can make Apple change its tone, something whole record labels have a hard time doing.

It took the record labels years to get Apple to cave on variable pricing (and had to offer DRM free across the board to make it happen). It took NIN what, a week to get it's app reinstated?

Don't worry, when I become as socially relevant as NIN, I'll make sure iPhones have mkv and avi support for video playback. And I'll have Steve Jobs do his comeback keynote in your backyard. He'll bring veggie burgers.

[awholeian @ May 7th 2009 4:50PM]

the fact that frankfurter is calling nin fans hipsters says a lot about how far he is from the pulse of things.

[warpa4 @ May 7th 2009 5:21PM]

lady gaga and trent are actually kinda a perfect match.
they should get married.

since trents been off the speed, boy has he got thick, yum!

[unzarjones @ May 7th 2009 5:30PM]

I thought they were crap from the start.

[Bobsley @ May 7th 2009 8:05PM]

This is a TERRIBLE LIE!!!!

[wako @ May 7th 2009 8:20PM]

@Jason


LOL! You major in music? Get a real major, stop pussying around college. Just because you major in music doesnt mean you are musically-inclined. It means you're going to be a drain on society and become a music teacher at some public school. Oh shit, i just spoiled your life for the next 20 years, whoops!

[OneLove @ May 11th 2009 11:32AM]

QUAKE!

[insky @ May 7th 2009 1:51PM]

I'm sure the well publicized rant by Trent Reznor had nothing to do with it. /s

[James @ May 7th 2009 2:31PM]

Celebs are worse than toddlers when they dont get their way.

[Nacho PATA @ May 7th 2009 3:24PM]

"Apple is worse than toddlers when it doesn't get its way."

Fixed that for ya.

[*Just some girl @ May 7th 2009 3:37PM]

I'm all for apple being more lenient, but if they're they do it....they should do it for every dev not just for this has-been.

+ Steve Jobs is a bigger rock star than Trent will ever be

[jepzilla @ May 7th 2009 3:39PM]

Probably their plan to release the application unmodified for jailbroken phones, instead of changing it as Apple wanted. Apple backed down rather than risk a high-profile app requiring jailbreaking. They'd rather let NIN get their way than risk losing control entirely.

Either way, it's a chink in the armor that other app developers should look to.

[facebookfake @ May 7th 2009 3:48PM]

@ James

God forbid artist's get pissed when their work gets censored.

[Brad @ May 7th 2009 3:48PM]

See, that's the beauty of a mysterious, un-documented approval process: you can make special exemptions for people who are famous, powerful, friends of the company, etc. You can have completely arbitrary approvals, and no one can ever say "Hey, how come you let them do it, but not me?"

"That was different"

[Templarian @ May 7th 2009 1:54PM]

Thomas, "We don't why and we don't know how". Small typo.

[greatcaffeine @ May 7th 2009 1:56PM]

Just saw the tweet a little bit ago... I knew Apple would come around eventually, it was too hypocritical to reject it.

[ProfWho @ May 7th 2009 1:59PM]

It is up now.

[Amrosorma @ May 7th 2009 2:01PM]

I really hope you unchecked the "E-Mail me when someone replies to this comment" box, Ned7077.

[danfinuc @ May 7th 2009 2:02PM]

No one cares about NIN anymore? You mean age group that has the most disposable income to purchase the iphone and pay for a contract? Not like they grew up during the time when NIN was big...

[David @ May 7th 2009 2:04PM]

And there's still no Slingplayer. What gives?!?

[Chad @ May 7th 2009 2:17PM]

I did grow up when NIN was big and their concerts are still sold out in minutes! I would rather crap out an iphone than use one so plehh! As long as I have a phone that has numbers and possibly a keyboard I can tap out a few text to my wife (also a big NIN fan) with, I'm good. But Trent has always been a big Apple donkey so I can see why he would push for it. Doesn't matter to me, I have pretty much all the NIN swag ever sold anyway. Oh yeah and F***k Ned7077!

[Mike @ May 7th 2009 2:24PM]

Apple is such a tight arse

[DirtyVegas @ May 7th 2009 2:25PM]

Well, that's fixed. There's still going to plenty of double standards in the App store.

[iPod Touch @ May 7th 2009 2:30PM]

Where is this thing located in the App Store, I can't find it under music:

http://appstoreicons.com/music

[DirtyVegas @ May 7th 2009 2:34PM]

I searched for "NIN" - it's the first result.

[texorinc @ May 7th 2009 2:34PM]

Why do we have to phrase this as "apple caves"? Apple clearly realize their approval process is flawed - there are indications that they are working to make the approval process tiered to allow for more adult content - and they have corrected an instance of the approval process gone wrong - shouldn't this be celebrated? Something like "Apple does the right thing" or "Apple improves iPhone Apps - NIN now available". If you smack someone down when they try to do the right thing - pretty soon they will just stop trying.

[The Truthbringer @ May 7th 2009 3:03PM]

Its phrased "Apple Caves" because its accurate. Had Trent not written this strongly worded letter, would Apple just decided to take the high road out of the blue and let him in? They caved. Apple has more then enough leeway when it comes to its consumer practices. The whole approval process is unnecessary, inconsistent, cumbersome, and totalitarian. Frack the Apple ecosystem.

[wichsenstar13 @ May 7th 2009 3:46PM]

@ Truthbringer: "Unnecessary"? It'd be flooded with adult content or worse, if they did not have an approval process at all. And like the "Baby Shaking" app, it shows that Apple can make mistakes, and they are willing to admit and correct it. I'd be interested in how the approval process works though. Is it just a series of interns, each approving a couple dozen a day? Do they get re-checked by a senior manager, before being released?

[krizoitz @ May 7th 2009 5:42PM]

@truthbringer: Wow, someone has a chip on their shoulder when it comes to Apple. Did Steve Jobs kill your puppy or something?

Apple didn't "cave" to anything, the review process has never been painted as a one shot only deal. There are numerous cases of other developers whose apps were at first declined, the contacted Apple, and were able to work out the issues. This is just another case were an error was reviewed and rectified. Caving implies they never had any intention of changing their mind, but since they have a demonstrated history of reconsidering apps, including those that are fundementally unchanged, your conclusions is wholly and entirely innaccurate. As is the line the above, apparently biased, writer used as well.

Then again, hating on Apple is apparently the "cool" thing to do these days among the nerd herd.

[Timoh @ May 8th 2009 5:57AM]

@krizoitz "hating on Apple is apparently the "cool" thing to do these days" Really? I think people are just starting to realize how terrible their business ethics are. They overcharge for their computers. They sue anyone that tries to sell a mac clone because apparently you only rent the software when you buy it from them. If you try to customize your Iphone they throw a fit and try to brick your phone. Yes this was a cave-in. They saw that they were called out on their own BS, the users were angry, and had to do a quick "oops we made a mistake" response. Guess what happens when something breaks on your ipod? You call customer service and they tell you to buy a new ipod because they wont sell parts or repair them. Apple is completely out of touch, no pun intended, with reality and the normal consumer. Thankfully people are starting to realize it.

[ClarkyCat @ May 7th 2009 2:35PM]

Tweeting... how industrial.

[Cheesey iPhone User @ May 7th 2009 3:09PM]

downloadable as of 15:00 EST

[helloelan @ May 7th 2009 3:36PM]

Is that an Apple logo hidden in the TDS album cover? Nice one.

[Elora HRanma @ May 7th 2009 3:50PM]

It looks more rotten and beaten to a pulp than hidden.

[warpa4 @ May 7th 2009 5:25PM]

crazy it does

a little smudged, but yeah

[DirtyVegas @ May 7th 2009 6:13PM]

It's a pretty good 'shop...

[Elora HRanma @ May 7th 2009 3:48PM]

Apple, you shouldn't have left NIN in. He told you his plans a long time ago:

He wants to fuck you like an animal
He wants to f[uck] you from the inside
He wants to fuck you like an animal

[awholeian @ May 7th 2009 4:56PM]

Something that hasn't had enough attention is the innovation Trent is bringing to his live shows. Last time I saw him, they had multple layers of led screens that were responding to sound, light, and touch. At one point he actually drummed out a beat onto a sequencer on one of the screens. Another time the front screen was covered with static, and he was behind it with a spotlight on him. The screen reacted to the light and punched a hole in the static where Trent was standing, even as he ran around the stage. Incredible.

[Bill @ May 7th 2009 5:06PM]

Trent fall off years ago. And, I haven't really listened to any of his stuff since Pretty Hate Machine. I listened to bit and pieces of Downward Spiral and decided I didn't like the direction he was going in.

So, yeah. Anyway, he went on a little bitch-rant because Apple didn't like his new toy, and probably to try an make himself relevant again. So what? To me, it just makes him look childish and desperate.