Apple giveth... [u]
August 1st 2008
MacRumors is carrying the curious tale of Nullriver's NetShare, an iPhone tethering tool that appeared and was then pulled from the App Store. Designed to allow users to share their connection to an EDGE or 3G network with a computer via a SOCKS5 proxy, NetShare functionality low sought by iPhone owners.
Although NetShare apparently didn't violate App Store policies, and Apple hasn't contact Nullriver about the redaction or otherwise said why they pulled it, AT&T does charge $30 per month for similar functionality.
Nullriver has, however, commented: "We're not quite sure why Apple took down the application yet, we've received no communication from Apple thus far. NetShare did not violate any of the Developer or AppStore agreements."
"We're hoping we'll get some feedback from Apple [today]. Sorry to all the folks that couldn't get it in time. We'll do our best to try to get the application back onto the AppStore if at all possible. At the very least, I would hope Apple will allow it in countries where the provider does permit tethering."
NetShare has been shown to be an effective tethering solution and a detailed tutorial on its use has been posted.
[u] MacRumors, among a host of others, reports that NetShare is again available via the App Store. However, you can only get it via this direct link.
** As of Saturday at 10:30am (EST), the direct link no longer works, yielding a pop up that reads, "The item you've requested is not currently in the US store.[u]
Editor's note: If there ever was a time for the iPhone hackers / unlockers to step up shine, this is it. After all, iPhone data plans are unlimited and charging $30 a month for an "off-label" implementation seems a bit absurd...
What's your take?
