# Songs of Innocence by U2

5 Hacker News commenters recommended Songs of Innocence by U2 and 14 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Free album people got at no charge, though critics call it forced onto devices, hard to remove, and a consent violation.

## Why people recommend it

- Free album at no charge (2 comments): "the free U2 album they automatically added to everyone's iTunes account at no charge" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49793635)) "Apple giving them a free U2 album that ate up limited device storage space" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48030414))

## What people warn about

- Forced onto devices without consent (6 comments): "Remember U2 Songs of Innocence album offe^forcibly downloaded on every iTunes library?" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49961744)) "The questioning of Apple's approach to consent all started with Tim Cook and that damn "Songs of Innocence" U2 album." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49801798)) "They were not only messing with our libraries, they were claiming we wanted it and were in fact U2 fans." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46968506))
- Hard or impossible to remove (3 comments): "The only real issue with it was the inability to remove it which they later rectified." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47912541)) "it's still not possible to remove it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46972959)) "It just would not go away." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46967828))
- Obnoxious and intrusive to users (4 comments): "this “gift” as you call it would get in the way all the time" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46969168)) "a U2 album is like having broken glass sown under your skin" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48566707)) "I would've found it obnoxious too" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46967402))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Endtroducing by DJ Shadow](https://hackerapproved.com/p/entroducing.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Songs of Innocence by U2", https://hackerapproved.com/p/songs-of-innocence/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).