iTether App Pulled From App Store

[ferrous]

Would Apple issue a credit?

I have bought other apps in the past that were then pulled/banned. Since it was over a year ago, I wonder if I would get a credit for these or not...

 

[whooleytoo]

Did anyone honestly not see that coming? But to emphasize another comment here, data should be data with one plan, no matter how that data is accessed. Splitting it up into phone data and tethered phone data is just nuts and nothing more than a money maker for the phone companies. I should be able to use my monthly, agreed-to, purchased limit as I see fit and not have to pay extra for the bandwidth I have already purchased.

Indeed. A while back I downloaded a carrier file which enabled tethering on my iPhone 3G; the result was the carrier switched my contract from 1GB data per month to 250MB per month with a €10 extra charge for 700MB more.

The problem with all ISPs/carriers now is their business plan is screwed. All along they've been massively over-subscribed, selling broadband & mobile data packages on the assumption that people will only use it sporadically. Now everyone is using more and more bandwidth and the ISPs/carriers realise they can't live up to their over-promises.

My favourite case being the "Unlimited" broadband... with reasonable usage policies in the small print.

 

[MacAudioPro]

I bought the app last night and downloaded the software for the computer.

But I didn't move the app into a different folder yet to "preserve" it. Is there something I can do to make sure I don't loose the app?

Tighten it up.

 

[rcappo]

So how do I jailbrake my iPhone? F the phone companies.

 

[ericinboston]

Funny enough, we did actually convert the Wife's iPhone account from "unlimited" to the 2+2GB+tethering plan. I needed something reliable for when we travel, and I didn't want to deal with covert use, adhoc fees, bitchy text messages from AT&T.

Yeah, if I needed tethering I would downgrade the unlimited plan. I don't use 3G a lot (because I work from home) but would love the tethering for those emergency type times I discussed. I'm sure there are plenty of folks that need tethering for more of the "remoteness" aspect like being at a ski resort or something. But as someone mentioned here earlier, 99% of users are not going to pull over, hook up their iPhone to their laptop, and begin tethering on their laptop in the car on the side of the road. Unless tethering is used for emergency or remote purposes, it's a hard sell to me.

I think we'll just see more and more free WIFI all over the world...whether it's from the town/community or a hotel or a restaurant or even a gas station. I live in CT and I have to say that everytime I go somewhere and I open my iPhone, there is either a free WIFI spot or a locked spot and I just ask what the password is. I haven't paid for WIFI in about 5 years...even at hotels (Hilton and Marriott).

 

[MacAudioPro]

Some of you act like $15 is every last cent you have in the world. And while I realize that is true for far far too many people in the world these days, I find it hard to believe it's true for people with a $1000+ Mac, a $300 iPhone and a $80/month carrier contract.

In fact, most of you probably spend $6 for a cup of coffee at least twice a week. Get over yourselves.

Mark

The worst part of this post is that 2 people actually gave it a thumbs-up.

 

[kasei]

I had a feeling this was going to get pulled. I almost bought it last night but was concerned the app would stop working after it were pulled.

 

[daxomni]

No way. If this were to happen, it would be similar to our ISPs seeing us go to pirating websites and turning us over to the RIAA or something. Assumption is the mother of all f-ups.

I hope that's sarcasm. Otherwise you really need to read up on SOPA.

 

[bushido]

i think it should be free (like it is here anyway) for people that only frequently use it or have data caps. i swear most people would never use more than 2 GB even with tethering enabled so why would it concern the phone provider if u use 2 GB on your phone or on the laptop/ipad + phone. they lose the bandwich either way

i have a "unlimited" data plan here with enabled tethering and i barely need it bc ive got wifi everywhere i go. i only frequently need it on the train, that's about it. places that don't have wifi usually have ****** 3G service anyway so tethering would be useless either way lol. the most i ever used was 800 MB. people that stream movies etc. over the phone should be drosseled down for the rest of the month or something to secure that the service stays up and running for everyone but charging extra for tethering is redic.

in short, make it avab. for free for everyone and just slow those down that stream to much during a certain periode of time for the rest of the month

 

[notatwork]

$30/month to enable tethering...?

Forcing me to change my AT&T $15/month 200MB data plan to a $45/month 2G plan just to enable tethering (even though I never use more than the 200MB) is highway robbery. ATTENTION US iPHONE CARRIERS: My contract is expiring, and I'd switch in an instance to anyone with a reasonable small data volume w/tethering plan!

 

[vartanarsen]

Moral of the story: give your app a twitter-like icon and magical things could happen

not so magical for the poor schmuck reviewer Tim is firing right now lol

 

[Yonkoc]

For those who still can't download the local apps here's a link.

For those that still can't download the Tether-iPhone.dmg and Tether-iPhone.exe enjoy the links, don't crash my GoDaddy servers, please
http://www.homeofficetechsupport.com/2011/11/29/itether-from-iphone/

 

[realmike15]

I'd like to see Apple stand up for it's customers on this one!

Send all wireless providers an e-mail, letting them know in the next iOS update there will be a native Tethering App added. They can continue to throttle the top 5% of users, and wireless carriers that don't, can adopt that practice if they deem it necessary to avoid abuse by certain users. Let them know if they are unhappy with this decision, there are plenty of other mobile carriers who would be willing to pick up the lost customer contracts.

AT&T, Verizon know what they're doing is wrong. Apple knows it's wrong too.

 

[ericinboston]

So how do I jailbrake my iPhone? F the phone companies.

Well, first you need:

1)a small hammer
2)an extremely small phillips screwdriver
3)a small refrigerator magnet
4)about 15 mins of your time


Then just Google how to do it. One tip: you only need to hit the iPhone CPU 3 times with the hammer...not 4 like many websites state.

 

[OnNightfall]

So what happens now...



----------------------------------------

Ok, we have the app now on our iphones. Our iphones apps are being synchronized via iCloud but the app is not on iCloud so that app is not being synchronized. So if we change phones for whatever reason, phone goes defective, upgrade to another etc... we lose the app. True?


----------------------------------------

 

[karma13612]

Some of you act like $15 is every last cent you have in the world. And while I realize that is true for far far too many people in the world these days, I find it hard to believe it's true for people with a $1000+ Mac, a $300 iPhone and a $80/month carrier contract.

In fact, most of you probably spend $6 for a cup of coffee at least twice a week. Get over yourselves.

Mark

Seriously???
$15 per month IS a lot of money. You are making some broad-sweeping assumptions also regarding how wealthy people are based on what electronic devices they own. Some people save a loooooooong time to have these items.

A lot of the complaining is also about the principal of the charge. The carriers are horrendously greedy. And as always, Americans seem to get F-ed up the backside a LOT worse than other civilized countries in other parts of the world. We are nickled and dimed over EVERYTHING. And as far as telecomms go, they keep charging more money, and yet don't improve infrastructure and broaden their offering to more geographic areas in a relative profit/re-investment model. I live in the country and have few choices regarding TV, internet and phone. But, I have to sit thru tons of ads telling me to get this and that which is not accessible to me.

And lastly, there are two diametrically opposed forces going on here:

1. You have every conceivable entity encouraging you to use more and more bandwidth (Netflix, TV, online games, downloading apps, downloading books, iCloud, software updates, etc).

2. You have the bandwidth police telling you to stop using so much bandwidth. They 'punish' you by either charging you horrendous fees, or they throttle your usage in one of many different methods.

I'm fed up, but haven't a clue how this will ever get resolved. In America, we don't seem to be able to fight against corporate domination.

 

[realmike15]

Well, first you need:

1)a small hammer
2)an extremely small phillips screwdriver
3)a small refrigerator magnet
4)about 15 mins of your time


Then just Google how to do it. One tip: you only need to hit the iPhone CPU 3 times with the hammer...not 4 like many websites state.

WRONG

You have to use a framing hammer, with a checkered face for good results.

 

[ericinboston]

Let them know if they are unhappy with this decision, there are plenty of other mobile carriers who would be willing to pick up the lost customer contracts.

Please let us know what mobile carriers are offering tethering for free. That's what you're stating.

Maybe someday you will be able to buy a "device" from a cell carrier that you can plop down on your desk which will essentially act as a wireless router and offer you 3G speeds to all your devices. Wait, that device has existed for a few years now. 1)You need to purchase the device (just like purchasing a router at Best Buy) and 2)You need to pay for the 3G service (just like you pay for your home internet access now).


Again, tethering is far overrated, IMO.

 

[realmike15]

----------------------------------------

Ok, we have the app now on our iphones. Our iphones apps are being synchronized via iCloud but the app is not on iCloud so that app is not being synchronized. So if we change phones for whatever reason, phone goes defective, upgrade to another etc... we lose the app. True?


----------------------------------------

Sync your phone, and you should have a copy backed up in iTunes on your computer.

 

[marksman]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A334 Safari/7534.48.3)

I don't think it's fair that the author of this app basically got rich because Apple made a special exception just for him.

If tethering apps were allowed, there's be dozens of them, all competing and making less money individually than this app did. If anything Apple should refund everyone who bought the app and not pay the author a single cent.

----------

I guess the carriers weren't happy with Apple.

I'm a bit suspicious here.. why would this app require "servers" from the developer? I'm starting to wonder if this may be a scam or might spy on the user's data transfers.

I wonder this as well. Plus how much motivation do they have to maintain servers for a service that will never generate more revenue.

 

[karma13612]

i think it should be free (like it is here anyway) for people that only frequently use it or have data caps. i swear most people would never use more than 2 GB even with tethering enabled so why would it concern the phone provider if u use 2 GB on your phone or on the laptop/ipad + phone. they lose the bandwich either way

i have a "unlimited" data plan here with enabled tethering and i barely need it bc ive got wifi everywhere i go. i only frequently need it on the train, that's about it. places that don't have wifi usually have ****** 3G service anyway so tethering would be useless either way lol. the most i ever used was 800 MB. people that stream movies etc. over the phone should be drosseled down for the rest of the month or something to secure that the service stays up and running for everyone but charging extra for tethering is redic.

in short, make it avab. for free for everyone and just slow those down that stream to much during a certain periode of time for the rest of the month

And you've also got awesome national health care.
Europe is so much more progressive than America.
Everything is about corporations first here in America.
Hopefully someday things will change.

 

[gcastillo]

Some of you act like $15 is every last cent you have in the world. And while I realize that is true for far far too many people in the world these days, I find it hard to believe it's true for people with a $1000+ Mac, a $300 iPhone and a $80/month carrier contract.

In fact, most of you probably spend $6 for a cup of coffee at least twice a week. Get over yourselves.

Mark

I completely agree with you Mark.

 

[realmike15]

Please let us know what mobile carriers are offering tethering for free. That's what you're stating.

Again, tethering is far overrated, IMO.

No where in my post did I say any carriers are currently offering free tethering, perhaps you should re-read my post.

What I did suggest is this...
If Apple says they're adding a native Tethering App for the iPhone, and AT&T/Verizon complains or tries to block it in any way. Plenty of other companies would be willing to pick up any lost contracts AT&T loses from trying to block such a feature. Apple sets the precedence and tells the carriers to get on board, or make way for carriers who are willing. They've already in a way done this with text messaging under iOS 5.

Do you honestly think any of the carriers who currently have the iPhone want to risk losing it? I'll bet you all the money I have, the iPhone and it's standard Voice/Data plans bring in more money than any optional Tether Data Plan, 10 fold! The numbers aren't even close.

 

[wiz329]

Same business model the airlines used for years. Charge outrageous prices for seats on flights knowing that corporate / business travel will pay whatever if they need to be somewhere to close a deal or meet with a client.

which is of course why American Airlines went bankrupt this morning.

 

[jlblodgett]

Please let us know what mobile carriers are offering tethering for free. That's what you're stating.

Maybe someday you will be able to buy a "device" from a cell carrier that you can plop down on your desk which will essentially act as a wireless router and offer you 3G speeds to all your devices. Wait, that device has existed for a few years now. 1)You need to purchase the device (just like purchasing a router at Best Buy) and 2)You need to pay for the 3G service (just like you pay for your home internet access now).


Again, tethering is far overrated, IMO.

I agree that tethering is probably overrated - just isn't fast enough to really make it worthwhile. When they make wifi-capable speeds, I'll be interested. well, that and when I travel a lot more than I do now.

Be that as it may, it would be nice to have the ability to tether. I don't always want to take the time to type out a lengthy email on my iPhone. I don't always want to view documents, spreadsheets, powerpoint presentations, etc. which are emailed to me - on my iPhone. It would be very nice if I could do some of those things on my MBA when I am someplace that doesn't have WiFi.

As for buying a device - isn't the iPhone such a device? And as for purchasing a data plan, I've had a data plan ever since I purchased my original iPhone several years ago. So I've got A (device) and B (data plan) -- now I just need C (carrier) to get on board. I'm paying for the data already - who gives a rip what I use it for? Corporate greed, that's who.


It is interesting that Apple just released iMessage, which makes it so you don't have to buy the carrier's text messaging plan anymore (assuming everyone you text has an iPhone, of course) and now they've allowed an app to be released which allows free tethering. It does appear that Apple is growing weary of the tethering limitations imposed by the carriers.