Apple has rejected Smuggle Truck, an iPhone and iPad game in which players drive a truck packed with immigrants across a desert border and through underground tunnels.
In the game, immigrants can be hurled out of the truck and die as the vehicle navigates obstacles such as ramps, hills and explosives.
Although Apple rejected the Smuggle Truck game for its App Store, the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant did approve a less controversial version of the game called Snuggle Truck to be sold for iOS devices.
Apple has applied for a patent for a Fitness Center App with social media components that might be able to bring a variety of fitness-tracking capabilities under one icon. The United States Patent and Trademark Office published Apple’s patent Thursday.
The app would include an extensive back end for fitness centers to interact with their customers, and the front end that will reside on the iPhone, helping users keep track of their workouts and find potential workout partners via social networking.
There’s a Groupon-like component to the software, which lets fitness centers start off their interaction with prospective customers by offering a “free pass,” as well as sending them “news, updates, daily promotions and daily activities,” according to the patent application outlined on PatentlyApple.com.
Besides benefiting fitness centers, users would be able to find potential workout partners, leveraging data they’ve input as well as profile information from their social networking accounts. The app could also pit one user against another, inspiring competition while motivating users to stick with their fitness plans.