Apple has removed from its App Store a tethering app that granted customers the ability to share an iPhone’s Internet connection with a computer after paying a one-time fee.
The premise of the iTether app, which cost $15 when it was available, was too good to be true because cellphone carriers typically charge a monthly rate for tethering services. AT&T, for example, offers a hotspot service — a feature that shares a smartphone’s Internet connection wirelessly with multiple devices — for $20 per month for 2 gigabytes of data.
The appeal of an app that offers free tethering? In areas where there aren’t open Wi-Fi connections, like at some airports, bookstores and coffeeshops, you could power on your laptop and activate a tethering app to get on the Web, check e-mail, etc. And you could do all of this without spending a dime.
Therefore, when iTether went on sale Monday evening, customers pounced on the opportunity to get free tethering. The app on Tuesday morning skyrocketed up the charts of Apple’s bestsellers list to the No. 1 spot for top grossing app. But alas, shortly after, Apple removed the app.
AT&T declined to comment on iTether. Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
The story of iTether is a rerun of the app NetShare, which appeared, then disappeared from the App Store, in 2008. AT&T back then said unpaid tethering was not allowed, and Apple clearly adhered to the carrier’s policy.
The only surprising part of the iTether episode is that Apple let the app in the App Store in the first place. Apple has a team of app reviewers, who approve or reject pieces of software submitted to the store depending on their content and functionality.
