Existing users, 
iPhone-as-modem app gone again
Posted 1 August 2008 @ 9am in News
UPDATE 2: The app is gone… again.
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UPDATE: NetShare has now been re-posted to the AppStore, and is available in the United States. Instructions are built into the application.
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Apple has yanked a briefly approved tethering application for the iPhone from its AppStore, surprising the tool’s developer. Dubbed NetShare, the application was developed by NullRiver and allows use of the iPhone (including the iPhone 3G) as a wireless modem for laptop or desktop computers.
NetShare was briefly available for $9.99 Thursday evening, meaning it passed Apple’s initial approval, but later disappeared.
A message posted to NullRiver’s site reads:
“We’re not quite sure why Apple took down the NetShare 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, we hope Apple will allow it to be used in countries where the provider does permit tethering.”
AT&T allows tethering, officially dubbed Phone-As-Modem (PAM), on many of its handsets, but not the iPhone. That hasn’t stopped enterprising users from developing a solution unofficially, however, and jailbroken iPhones can be tethered.
UPDATE: We’ve now received word from AT&T, which states:
“Apple manages the App Store. We have no comment.”
Feedback? info@iphoneatlas.com.
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10 Comments
Posted by William Robinson
1 August 2008 @ 12pm
It’s back in the App store (as of 3 p.m. EST). But you can’t search for it.
Direct Link
http://www.macrumors.com/c.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fphobos.apple.com%2FWebObjects%2FMZStore.woa%2Fwa%2FviewSoftware%3Fid%3D286541579%26mt%3D8&t=1217617201
Posted by versiontracker2007
1 August 2008 @ 4pm
ATT suck. Glad we don’t have them Down Under.
Posted by Test-O-Rama
1 August 2008 @ 7pm
All phone companies suck. And I have heard about the Aussie data plans phone companies and I will take ATT any day of the week.
Posted by daniel4510_dotmac
1 August 2008 @ 10pm
“ATT suck. Glad we don’t have them Down Under.”
You got that right. Try as I might to impress friends even with the new 2.0 software, their smart phones on other networks (Verizon particularly) blow AT&T away. Fewer dropped calls? You bet. Because here in the Midwest at least, you can send them or receive them to begin with. We don’t have 3G and Edge is so bad I won’t even TRY to use the web. To top it all off, since the 2.0 update, I can no longer access wi-fi. But I won’t blame AT&T for that.
Doesn’t Apples contract with AT&T as the exclusive carrier end next year? I sure hope so. AT&T will lose customers in droves.
Posted by A. Nony Mouse
2 August 2008 @ 6am
I don’t mind AT&T’s service much as I’m in the NE. However if you’re tethering your iPhone be aware that the UNLIMITED data plan doesn’t cover the kind of up and down traffic that a laptop will generate. In general surfing on a handheld device is still so uncomfortable that you probably won’t easily exceed the 5Gb cap. On a laptop you are likely to receive large emails or surf longer- 5Gb will FLY and AT&T will slap you with a data bill that will choke the life out of you.
This is essentially what happened to Verizon customers too. Also if you do tether your gear make sure you turn off data roaming. I’d rather loose my signal by not being on AT&T’s edge than to pay a premium on a premium to mistakenly use someone elses network. That’s tantamount to paying a $3 service fee to withdraw $20 from an ATM other than one owned by your Bank.
Posted by Hookoa
3 August 2008 @ 10am
Has anyone actually been able to FIND NetShare, DOWNLOAD it, and INSTALL and USE it on their iPhone 3G??
I keep getting “Can’t be found……” messages from the iTunes App Store.
Posted by varase
3 August 2008 @ 5pm
I get “The iem you’ve requested is not currently available in the US store.”
Posted by glen_richardson
3 August 2008 @ 6pm
RE: Hookoa’s Post - I managed to download it, install it and use it. It’s a little fiddly but once you’ve got it setup it works perfectly. I’ve set my iPhone so it never locks automatically so it doesn’t disconnect me, that was the only little quirk.
I don’t intend on misusing the privilege of Mobile Broadband via NetShare in hope other users do the same so Apple and O2 don’t band this app indefinitely.
I’m very interested to hear what Apple’s official response is going to be!
Posted by Japendranatha
3 August 2008 @ 9pm
I can’t find it. It says either it can’t be found or it is unavailable in the US store. I think you need to update this supposed “update” to reflect that. It is, in fact, not available to us US customers.
Posted by buddy1065
4 August 2008 @ 4pm
I have both the tethering hack and Netshare installed. Each has its quirks:
Terminal speed is twice as fast as Netshare.
Netshare lets you surf with both Safari and Firefox if set up correctly on the Macbook Pro in OS Tiger, while Terminal only allows Firefox.
I use which ever I am in the mood for and I love it. I bought the iPhone 3G hoping this would happen it has both thru jailbreak and Apple. I could kiss Jobs. I don’t even mind the slowing operating system of the iPhone. I know they’ll eventually improve it. This is the closest thing to the perfect phone there is IMHO. Such great potential with such a big screen.