Sirius XM Apps For The iPhone: One Down, Two To Go (And The Only One You’ll Really Need…)

As the Sirius/XM satellite radio merger limps towards extinction, the state of iPhone apps that’ll stream said radio ain’t exactly looking much healthier…

The bad news begins with NiceMac, LLC — the authors of uSirius StarPlayr — pulling the plug on their app after it languished for over a month in App Store approval limbo.  Although NiceMac already had a Windows Mobile version out, the iPhone flavor apparently hit copyright snags with Apple.  After learning in the last couple of days that the app would not be approved, NiceMac executed the mercy killing, leaving a trail of unhappy beta testers who were already praising the feature-rich and near-bulletproof app.

And yet, and yet…

Rumors are now afloat that there is an “official” Sirius XM app in beta, it will be launched for free, and will stream to any Sirius or XM subscriber paying for internet service.  (Interestingly, a side rumor — that StarPlayr had been folded into the official app — were discounted by NiceMac themselves.  But it also makes one wonder if the Sirius XM-sanctioned program contributed to StarPlayr’s demise…)

But if you really, truly need satellite radio on your handset, fret not: uXM is already out there (older version), so having Howard Stern in your hand is only a jailbreak away.

(Assuming, of course, that we don’t wake up tomorrow and learn that the whole SXM juggernaut is deader than StarPlayr!)