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Tag: iTether

  • iTether Is Back And Better Than Ever

    It was no surprise last year when iTether was pulled from iTunes. It allowed users to turn their phones into a tether without signing up for their carrier’s tether service. Well, the app is back, but not on iTunes.

    The Tether blog announced Friday that iTether is now available to all iPhone users through an ingenious loophole that leaves Apple without any recourse. They have built a web app that runs natively on HTML5 and allows iPhone users to take advantage of the Tether software through their iPhone’s Web browser.

    “It was clear from our initial application iTether, there was enormous demand within the iPhone ecosystem,” says Tim Burke, CEO of Tether. “It was unfortunate that Apple decided to remove our application, only 20 hours after we launched. However, this caused us to innovate. Our underlying patent-pending technology behind Tether for iPhone is unlike anything on the market.”

    The new iTether creates a wireless connection over AdHoc so its able to circumvent the walled garden that Apple has built. This also allows iTether to work all over the world no matter the carrier or network.

    While the new iTether has successfully found its way around Apple’s certification process, it makes you wonder how long they have until Apple tries to do something about it.

    In what may be an intended consequence of the app, according to the demo video, users who use Tether can access content on their PCs that they normally couldn’t before due to region blocks. The demonstrator is watching videos on Hulu through his phone when normally he could not due to his Canadian residency.

    Here’s the demo of how the new iTether works.

  • UPDATE: Apple Axes iTether

    In a move that should suprise no one, iTether, an app that allowed people to tether their phones to their computers without purchasing a carrier tethering plan, has been pulled from the Apple App Store. The app became available early this morning and caused quite a stir across Twitter and the blogosphere. The universal reaction was surprise at the app’s approval, and the expectation that it would be removed at any moment. That moment appears to have come, as the app can no longer be found in the App Store.

    Reactions to the app’s removal on Twitter were consistent with previous expectations: no one was surprised.

    @_TJR_
    Tris    ITether has now been pulled from the app store – didn’t think it would last that long 4 minutes ago via Twitter for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    What is perhaps most interesting is the reaction of the app’s publisher, Tether, who have been manning their Twitter feed all morning fielding questions about the app. They defend their lack of any formal arrangements with the carriers:

    @Tethercom
    Tether.com    @taylor9209 We do not have any legal arrangements with the carriers. In fact, we help carriers upsell more data. 6 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    They also claim that they followed the App Store’s strict guidelines closely, and point out that they made no secret of what iTether did:

    @Tethercom
    Tether.com    @bradycreel Apple has pretty strict guidelines which we followed. In addition, we were very clear to what our app did when launching. 9 hours ago via TweetDeck · powered by @socialditto

    What do you think? Was Apple right to pull iTether? Was Tether right to even submit it in the first place, knowing it would be pulled? Let us know in the comments.

  • Tethering App Sneaks into the Apple App Store

    UPDATE: The app has now been pulled from the App Store. See here for more details.

    The App Store approval process is notoriously finicky. Though improvements to the process have been made in the last year, it remains common for apps to be rejected without apparent reason. Sometimes, however, apps that should be rejected manage to sneak through the approval process. The latest app to sneak through is iTether [iTunes link]. The app allows users to share their phone’s data access with their computers via a USB connection, a service previously available only to those who pay for it, or are willing to jailbreak their phones. While the price tag of the app is a bit steep at $14.99, it is significantly cheaper than the monthly tethering plans offered by AT&T or Verizon.

    The iTether app appears to have originated with Tether, a company specializing in mobile tethering solutions, primarily with BlackBerry devices until now. The app is extremely simple, with only a single screen showing data traffic, and no apparent settings or options.

    iTether for iPhone

    This is not the first time a tethering app has managed to make it through the approval process, however it does appear to be the most brazen. Last July an app called Handy Light was approved. While iTether makes no secret of what it does, Handy Light was much different. The app appeared to be just one more of dozens upon dozens of flashlight apps. However, a somewhat convoluted setup process allowed users access to an Easter egg that enabled wi-fi tethering for iPhone users.

    Did you get iTether? Does it work? Let us know in the comments.

    Reactions on Twitter are fairly consistent, with most users amazed that the app was approved at all, and encouraging their followers to get it while they can.

    @techjitsu
    TD Warren    The clock is ticking!!! iTether for iOS: Get it while you can http://t.co/XnpKxsvU 9 minutes ago via Tweet Button · powered by @socialditto

    @MrGobert
    Bob Gnarly    The iTether app is still available (not sure for how long though). The only thing is it cost $15. But AT&T charges $20/mo for same function. 11 hours ago via web · powered by @socialditto

    One Twitter user made sure to warn people that although iTether allows plan-free tethering, there may yet be a cost:

    @hrbrt
    Chris  Herbert    Remember iTether peeps: AT&T is cracking down on unofficial iPhone tethering. 11 hours ago via Tweetbot for iPhone · powered by @socialditto

    How iTether made it into the App Store is unclear. What is certain, however, is that its time is limited. The app has been live since sometime this morning, and the hammer is expected to fall at any time.