iPhone NetShare - can I or can't I?
Apple can't make up its mind whether or not Adam Turner is allowed to share his iPhone bandwidth with his notebook.
One of the big complaints about the iPhone is that you can't use it as a wireless modem for connecting your notebook to the internet when you're out on the road.
Practically every other smartphone lets you "tether" your phone to your notebook via Bluetooth for mobile internet access, so why doesn't the iPhone? Most people suspect it's to appease AT&T in the US, which offers unlimited data for the iPhone and so doesn't want people tapping into this with other devices.
Now that the iPhone 2.0 software is open to third party developers, it didn't take long for someone to release an app to enable tethering. Nullriver's NetShare turns your iPhone into a wireless hotspot to which your can connect your computer. At least it did for a few hours until Apple pulled it from the Apps Store, then put it back up, then pulled it again. What's the hell is going on here?
As usual, Apple is telling us stuff-all about what's happening with NetShare. It seems even Nullriver doesn't even know what's going on, although it's adamant it didn't violate the developer agreement. It's interesting that NetShare's product page lists "a valid iPhone data plan authorized for tethering" as a requirement for using the app.
I doubt many telcos authorise tethering, if any, and up until now they've slept soundly thinking that it can't be done. It was already technically possible on a jailbroken iPhone, but it's a less than elegant solution.
Pulling NetShare from the Apps Store without even an explanation to the developer is the kind of disgraceful contempt for end users that's become all too common from Apple. If Apple doesn't want tethering, why didn't it spell this out in the developer agreement?
If it's not mentioned in the agreement, why did Apple pull it from the App Store? Perhaps because it doesn't have the balls to stand up to AT&T, which is surprising from a vendor that normally isn't afraid to throw its weight around.
Now that Australia's telcos are starting to offer some decent iPhone data plans, you can expect local interest in tethering to grow. If NetShare isn't given a stay of execution, expect work to continue on streamlining the tethering process for Jailbroken iPhones. If Apple won't stand up for its customers, plenty of other people will.
What do you think? Should iPhone owners be entitled to tethering?
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