Apple hasn’t been known for looking too favorably on various applications submitted to their App Store, sometimes with vague reasoning. This time the reason is apparent, but that probably won’t be much comfort to those looking forward to the app in question, Drivetrain, which would allow users to remotely control the Transmission Bittorrent application. Commenting on the decision to deny the app a place in the App Store Apple said “… this category of applications is often used for the purpose of infringing third party rights.” The decision is notable for two reasons: one being that Apple reference ‘this category of app’, in other words the net has been cast wide to encompass any application that is linked with file sharing.

The second point to note is that Drivetrain isn’t in itself a Bittorrent application and doesn’t actually facilitate the sharing of files, rather it simply allows the user to control the Transmission Bittorrent client that is presumably running on their PC. Undoubtedly this will do little to improve the image of Apple’s App Store policy, which has come in for some harsh criticism over the past few months.