NetShare briefly offers iPhone tether at App Store

(Credit: Mac-Addict)

One of the most requested features for the iPhone is the ability to tether the phone to feed 3G or EDGE network data to your computer. That feature was briefly a reality Thursday, thanks to Nullriver's NetShare application. MacRumors reports that, priced at $9.99, the application seems to have, somehow, slipped below Apple's radar, but was pulled down after about 20 minutes of availability in the App Store.

The application basically turns your iPhone into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot, giving all of your Wi-Fi-enabled devices internet, wherever you have a cell signal. There are similar solutions available for iPhone users who have jailbroken their handsets, but they are significantly more complicated than Nullriver's offering, and since they require a hacked phone, don't hold mainstream appeal.

Briefly available, NetShare allowed iPhone users to take advantage of tethering their 3G and EDGE connections to their computers.

(Credit: MacRumors.com)

Wireless carriers have almost always been opposed to tethering smartphones with unlimited data plans. Many telcos even state in your contract that if you tether your phone, you may be responsible for additional fees associated with the data that you use. Of course, for an additional cost, you can tether some phones, such as a Blackberry, but Apple's iPhone doesn't offer legitimate tethering at any cost.

Those of us who were not quick enough to grab the app while it was available on the App Store seem to be out of luck for now. Links to the application now pop up with an error message that reads, "The item you've requested is not currently available in the US store." It's not exactly clear what happened with NetShare, how it slipped through the cracks, or why it was pulled. The app may have accidentally gotten through in the avalanche of new applications that are being added to the store, however it seems unlikely that someone at Apple would have signed off on this app, not knowing what it did. It would appear that either Apple, AT&T, or both had cleared the application, then quickly reconsidered. Apple has not yet responded to a request for a comment on the issue.

[ibeetle]

I figure by this afternoon (Friday) it will either be on Nullriver's website, User Groups or Torrents.

[Vegaman_Dan]

This does raise the question of how the Apps Store qualifies applications before posting them. This should never have been even accepted for consideration, let alone allowing it to go to sale. I do wonder if Apple is actually testing or examining the apps before posting them to iTunes.

I do know that on my Touch that the jailbroken apps available through Cydia seem to be much more stable and useful than what is available in the Apps Store. The darn thing crashes enough as it is, but using the official apps from Apple just makes it even more unstable. There's some debate online about whether this is due to the way you install the apps- through iTunes or wireless with the nod going to iTunes causing corruptions. It will be curious to see how this turns out. In the mean time, for reliability, I'll go with the jailbreak apps.

[bethieedward]

Being able to use your cel connection to do internet connectivity is a feature I use all the time with my Windows Mobile phone. (Plus having a keyboard, being able to do email stuff like "sort by sender", set my out of office message, etc.)

There are other choices besides the iPhone where vendors aren't disabling or prohibiting this kind of useful functionality.

[catalogin]

Whe Apple will be not only US brand and will be more functional in old Europe than will se how this company will grow Up!!!