According to sources in the music industry who spoke to the New York Post, it seems that Apple had purposely taken a long time to approve the updates made to the Tidal iOS app. Their source was quoted as saying, “Tidal had a new app on Android on April 15, but still hasn’t received approval for Apple’s iOS app store.”
Their sources went on to state that Apple’s VP of iTunes Content had told executives at Universal that musicians who put out exclusives on Tidal would not be featured on iTunes, and in one example Rihanna’s song “American Oxygen” was reportedly glitchy on iTunes when it made its debut on Tidal, further showcasing Apple’s attempts at interfering.
Unsurprisingly Apple has since denied these allegations, but with the Cupertino company reportedly planning a relaunch of their music streaming service, it would make sense that they would try to slow the competition down as much as possible.