The rejection - which reportedly comes after a personal plea from the developers to Apple CEO Steve Jobs - has generated a storm of protest online.
According to Michael Santo of the Tech Buzz Examiner, the software is designed to monitor the level of radiation emitted by the handset it is running on.
"The app, called Tawkon, after the company that developed it, already had a mobile app for BlackBerry and Android that measured how much radiation a cell phone was emitting. The iOS version, however, was awaiting approval and has since been rejected", he says.
What's notable about the app's developer is that, after the so-called `antennagate' problems with the iPhone 4 last year, Tawkon reportedly showed the iPhone 4 as generating more radiation when the handset is having difficulty connecting to the cellular network.
Since the app has been rejected, Tawkon has released the app for jailbroken devices. The company said that it tried to use the "front door," via the app store, but was rejected, even after appealing directly to Apple CEO Steve Jobs.
In his blog, Santo quotes Tawkon as saying that, regardless of how concerned an individual is with risks caused by cellphone radiation, there is enough scientific findings to justify taking precautionary measures, especially for people (and their kids) who use their phone a lot, with many years of cumulative exposure.
"We therefore believe that giving people the choice to see and take precautionary measures (as advised by many governments and health reports worldwide) is akin to letting people see the speedometer in their car so they can use informed judgment to drive better", Tawkon said in its own blog.
Santo goes on to say that, whilst the app is available for jailbroken iPhones, the company is still interested in in getting its iPhone app onto iTunes.
"Whether or not cell phone radiation is actually dangerous is a contentious issue, and so far no study has conclusively proven harm. That said, many believe in being overcautious, rather than undercautious", he notes.