AppleInsider Staff
As of Tuesday morning, iTether was still available on the App Store for $14.99. But later in the day, the application was pulled and can no longer be downloaded. It was a one-time charge, compared to the recurring $20 tethering plan offered to iPhone users by AT&T.
AT&T has previously cracked down on unauthorized tethering by iPhone users, an ability that can be accomplished by "jailbreaking" the handset to run unauthorized code. Those users have been warned by the carrier that they will be automatically charged for a tethering plan due to their high data usage.
But unlike previous jailbreak solutions, the iTether offering was approved by Apple for sale in its controlled App Store environment. Its removal confirms the approval was an error.
User interest in the iTether software for iPhone was so popular that the developer's official website has been brought down by traffic. That's a problem for those who buy iTether, as a Mac or PC client is required for the iPhone's 3G data connection to be accessed on a separate machine.
For comparison, those who buy official carrier-sanctioned tethering on their iPhone use the Personal Hotspot feature, which allows a 3G data connection to be shared with other devices over Wi-Fi. Personal Hotspot does not require any special software to be installed on a separate device.
The Personal Hotspot feature was launched earlier this year with the debut of the Verizon iPhone, and later came to GSM iPhones with the launch of the iOS 4.3 software update.
Christine McKee
Stephen Silver
Charles Martin
William Gallagher
Malcolm Owen
91 Comments
Hopefully this opens the door for cheaper, competing apps. $15 and no support for Bluetooth/WiFi = ripoff.
Also, according to Mac Rumors:
http://www.macrumors.com/2011/11/29/...-one-time-fee/
Now that most carriers have implemented a data cap of around 2GB, why should they care? The monthly charge is for 2GB and customers should be able to tether and use their data on their laptops instead of their phones.
Now that most carriers have implemented a data cap of around 2GB, why should they care? The monthly charge is for 2GB and customers should be able to tether and use their data on their laptops instead of their phones.
Bingo!
Now that most carriers have implemented a data cap of around 2GB, why should they care? The monthly charge is for 2GB and customers should be able to tether and use their data on their laptops instead of their phones.
...but we still pay $20 / month for an unlimited text messaging plan [$30/month for family], right? how much data is there in 10,000 text messages? one meg? maybe two?
I'll be surprised if this gets pulled. I'm sure this was much discussed at 1 Infinite Loop before being approved.