Apple gives thumbs-up to BitTorrent iOS app

Apple's been dead set against peer-to-peer sharing on its App Store and apps looking to get their BitTorrent on have been swiftly booted time and time again until now. The thinking out of Cupertino has been that apps that allow BitTorrent functionality would promote piracy, infringe copyright law, and pretty much ruin everything for everyone.

Interestingly, a new client, 'Blue Downloader', has made it to the app store free from Apple's boot-print, and doesn't mention the phrase BitTorrent once. Despite this, it's definitely a peer-to-peer app and it allows torrents to be directly downloaded to your iPhone.

Now before copyright lawyers, piracy blasters, and general reactionists out there throw a hissy fit, it's worth pointing out that there's nothing inherently wrong with peer-to-peer sharing. It's just a nifty way of downloading content without all the hassle of a dedicated download server.

Here's where it gets juicy though. Initially the app would only allow torrents to be downloaded from a select few trusted sources, dodging any concerns of piracy. “Apple is very restrictive about torrent downloading, so I thought I would take the same precautions. If Apple were to see a completely unrestricted torrent downloader, they would not take it as well as what I have now,” says app creator Harrison Tyler, speaking to TorrentFreak.

“I am not for restrictions normally, but as I am bending the accessibility of the app based on Apple’s will." “There is an unfortunate stigma associated with torrent downloading. Even though there is almost an equal amount of illegal files on the Internet to regularly download, people still crack down on the evils of BitTorrent,” says Tyler.

That's all changed though now, as it appears the app is now allowing access to Google. This means any torrent site is free game for users, and copyright-infringing files could well be downloaded.
The new update could mean a sharp punt from Apple very shortly, but for now the app is well and truly alive and available for $2.99.

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