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Apple-approved iTether iPhone app bypasses carrier tethering plans - Page 2

post #41 of 87
11/29/11 at 8:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bloggerblog View Post

Now that most carriers have implemented a data cap of around 2GB, why should they care? The monthly charge is for 2GB and customers should be able to tether and use their data on their laptops instead of their phones.

Because they are greedy and they see this as just another loss of income like texting and iMessage
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post #42 of 87
11/29/11 at 8:46am
Is it just me, or does the tether logo look like someone flipping the bird with both hands? I can't unsee that now.

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post #43 of 87
11/29/11 at 8:56am
Tim Cook taking a stand! Oh, yeah! Uh-huh, uh-huh!
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post #44 of 87
11/29/11 at 8:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by irnchriz View Post

Is that the all you can eat data bundle with 3? Its a shame their service is utter shite in Scotland otherwise I would have gone with them on my last upgrade.

It is sad that they have such a bad rap everywhere. I get 3-4 Mbps consistently in Bath and 2-3 Mbps in London and Portsmouth. Pretty good data speeds IMO.
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post #45 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:01am
It seems to have been pulled.

I can't pull it up in iTunes anymore. I get the "The item you've requested is not currently available in the US store" error message.

That didn't last long.
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post #46 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:06am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtkane View Post

Is it just me, or does the tether logo look like someone flipping the bird with both hands? I can't unsee that now.


Totally.
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post #47 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:10am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rtkane View Post

Is it just me, or does the tether logo look like someone flipping the bird with both hands? I can't unsee that now.


you're lucky, it made me think of the goatse, now that's something i'd really like to unsee

i) i don't argue with forum fools, my time is too precious
ii)  it's not my job to teach fools
iii) i don't read a fool's responses, they are just shouting into the void

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i) i don't argue with forum fools, my time is too precious
ii)  it's not my job to teach fools
iii) i don't read a fool's responses, they are just shouting into the void

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post #48 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hodar View Post

I travel with my iPad, and am forced to pay $20/month to Hotspot the iPad.

Wish that there was a tether plan that would allow me to tether my iPad to my iPhone.

There is such a thing, at least on all US carriers. You pay the carrier for a tethering plan, then enable wifi sharing in iOS. I think you have to have at least an iPhone 4 to use it.
"And just like that, everyone here realizes you're just another sweaty little Google licker with an axe to grind and no idea what he's talking about." --addabox
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"And just like that, everyone here realizes you're just another sweaty little Google licker with an axe to grind and no idea what he's talking about." --addabox
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post #49 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by efithian@mac.com View Post

If you usb tether to a mac and then set up airport sharing via wifi. That should handle it for the iPad. If you have a 3g iPad you don't need it.

Thats an awesome idea- didn't know about it. Think I'll look like a yuppy when my iPhone is connected to my MacBook Air just so I can use my iPad in an airport.... sounds like a Samsung commercial.


Quote:
Originally Posted by macinthe408 View Post

If this app gets pulled, AT&T can easily block tethered traffic routed through this app. There goes $14.99.

I bought it- and it is now pulled. AT&T might block it, but with how many people likely downloaded it in time (a thousand?)- it won't be worth the hassle. Regardless, I'll be e-mailing Apple and they will refund the $15 without blinking an eye.

I'll use it while I can (which will be 2 times max... lol) but within the next update or two, I'm guessing it won't work anyway. Oh well... fun while it lasted.

(2) 2010 27" iMac i7, 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro i7, 2011 Mac Mini i5
iPad 4, iPad Mini, (2) iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5, iPod Nano 7
Time Capsule 4, Airport Extreme 5, (3) Apple TV 3

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(2) 2010 27" iMac i7, 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro i7, 2011 Mac Mini i5
iPad 4, iPad Mini, (2) iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5, iPod Nano 7
Time Capsule 4, Airport Extreme 5, (3) Apple TV 3

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post #50 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:19am
I downloaded the app, but couldn't download the client at work, and now it seems to be unavailable. Can anybody post a mirror link to the client for Mac?
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post #51 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retrogusto View Post

I downloaded the app, but couldn't download the client at work, and now it seems to be unavailable. Can anybody post a mirror link to the client for Mac?

I don't think so.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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post #52 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:25am
Whoops, we didn't mean to do that. Poof....
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post #53 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:27am
Quote:
Originally Posted by malax View Post

I'll be surprised if this gets pulled. I'm sure this was much discussed at 1 Infinite Loop before being approved.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tallest Skil View Post

It'll be pulled before the day is out.

You were right. I was wrong. I expect the reverse will be true when the next iPhone's name is revealed, but we'll see.

Whoever approved that app should be retrained or fired. How could they not know to check with a supervisor about this before approving it? At the very least was exceptional due to requiring a third-party app on the Mac or PC. To test this would be non-trivial and should have raised all kinds of flags. I expect some high-priority emails are flying around the app approval center right about now.
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post #54 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retrogusto View Post

I downloaded the app, but couldn't download the client at work, and now it seems to be unavailable. Can anybody post a mirror link to the client for Mac?

Give it a couple days. Tether didn't go out of business- they support Blackberry and others.

http://tether.com/iphone/mac

(2) 2010 27" iMac i7, 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro i7, 2011 Mac Mini i5
iPad 4, iPad Mini, (2) iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5, iPod Nano 7
Time Capsule 4, Airport Extreme 5, (3) Apple TV 3

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(2) 2010 27" iMac i7, 2012 15" Retina MacBook Pro i7, 2011 Mac Mini i5
iPad 4, iPad Mini, (2) iPhone 5, iPod Touch 5, iPod Nano 7
Time Capsule 4, Airport Extreme 5, (3) Apple TV 3

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post #55 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Retrogusto View Post

I downloaded the app, but couldn't download the client at work, and now it seems to be unavailable. Can anybody post a mirror link to the client for Mac?


Here ya go...
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post #56 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:44am
What the developer said "We were very clear with Apple what our app did. They asked us a bunch of questions and then approved us."


What Apple said "GTFO"
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post #57 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jak1502 View Post

Gladly I live in the UK and get 2000 minutes, 5000 texts, truly unlimited data (with tethering included) for £35 a month (around $55-$60), bargain!!!

But how much does it cost you to call a landline?
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post #58 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by brd841 View Post

Try this instead.. deleted
still working, still in the app store

That's a scam. Does not tether. Brd841 seems to be intentionally trying to scam people today.

Please update the AppleInsider app to function in landscape mode.

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Please update the AppleInsider app to function in landscape mode.

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post #59 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:54am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

SInce most people I chat with are on iOS 5.0 I have completely turned off SMS from being sent or received. AT&T has moved from either a per usage fee or $20/month for unlimited.

How can you turn off SMS being received? And what happens to the sender of that SMS, do they know that it wasnt delivered?
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post #60 of 87
11/29/11 at 9:57am
Apple has championed the iPhone experience not being smudged by apps installed by the carriers.

With ONE EXCEPTION, namely the tethering configuration in System Preferences.

It should be noted that the tethering restriction is carrier dependent. It just plainly doesn't exist in many countries.
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post #61 of 87
11/29/11 at 10:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameronj View Post

But how much does it cost you to call a landline?

It's included in the 2000 minutes - anytime anynetwork. You also get 5000 same network minutes.

Heres a note from their website: Inclusive minutes and texts are for UK mobiles and landlines beginning 01, 02, 03. Personal Numbers (070) and numbers beginning 08 are excluded from bundle.

http://threestore.three.co.uk/TheOnePlan.aspx
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post #62 of 87
11/29/11 at 10:17am
So will people get a refund now?
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post #63 of 87
11/29/11 at 10:36am
BTW, finally got the mac version downloaded and installed (took multiple attempts), disconnected my iMac from WiFi and ethernet, plugged in my iPhone, launched the app on iPhone and iMac and it works great! Unfortunately, don't know what the future holds, but is/was fun while it lasts.
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post #64 of 87
11/29/11 at 10:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameronj View Post

How can you turn off SMS being received? And what happens to the sender of that SMS, do they know that it wasnt delivered?

They have no idea. The only SMS I will receive are from AT&T and those will be free.

I am sure I'll eventually chat with a couple people who'll say "you never returned any of my text messages" but they will few and far between. As the resident tech guy for most friends and family I've pretty much gotten them all to get devices that I don't mind dealing with if the need should come up which means that most are on iPhones and the ones that aren't typically don't even know how to text. So I felt it was finally time to pull the plug on outrageous SMS charges.

"Blank! BLANK! You're not looking at the big picture!"

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"Blank! BLANK! You're not looking at the big picture!"

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post #65 of 87
11/29/11 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameronj View Post

How can you turn off SMS being received? And what happens to the sender of that SMS, do they know that it wasnt delivered?

Call AT&T. I had them block SMS on my phone as I do not use it and did not want to be charged 20c per incoming text which was mostly spam.

If I need to use SMS I use GoogleVoice.
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post #66 of 87
11/29/11 at 11:12am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lhvide View Post

Here you go: http://www.google.com

I downloaded and installed the client from your link, but the client crashes unexpectedly after 5 seconds. Anyone else experience this issue?
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post #67 of 87
11/29/11 at 11:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by efithian@mac.com View Post

If you usb tether to a mac and then set up airport sharing via wifi. That should handle it for the iPad. If you have a 3g iPad you don't need it.

So, how does one go about doing a "USB tether"?
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post #68 of 87
11/29/11 at 11:26am
Quote:
Originally Posted by mactoid View Post

So, how does one go about doing a "USB tether"?

Plug it into your computer with the USB cable that came with it, I'd imagine.
PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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PhilBoogie
That's Google alright. For a stupid company they sure do dumb things.
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post #69 of 87
11/29/11 at 11:28am
I hope they let it stay on the market. I'm tired of paying $45 for tethering.
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post #70 of 87
11/29/11 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by irnchriz View Post

Is that the all you can eat data bundle with 3? Its a shame their service is utter shite in Scotland otherwise I would have gone with them on my last upgrade.

Yeah it is, my girlfriend lives in Scotland so I know its a bit scatty, just get signal in the cities really. I can live with it for now though.
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post #71 of 87
11/29/11 at 11:32am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cameronj View Post

But how much does it cost you to call a landline?

Nothing, it comes out of my minutes!
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post #72 of 87
11/29/11 at 12:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX View Post

SInce most people I chat with are on iOS 5.0 I have completely turned off SMS from being sent or received. AT&T has moved from either a per usage fee or $20/month for unlimited.

Yeah, that showed up on my bill and I called them on it. I told the nice lady that I never was notified nor did I consent to changing my SMS plan from 1500 to Unlimited. She immediately knocked it back with a credit and an apology.
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post #73 of 87
11/29/11 at 12:25pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kerryn View Post

Call AT&T. I had them block SMS on my phone as I do not use it and did not want to be charged 20c per incoming text which was mostly spam.

If I need to use SMS I use GoogleVoice.

HOW do the carriers in the US have the audacity to not only charge for incoming SMS but also for unsolicited spam messages?! Also, don't you have a Do Not Call/SMS registry?
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post #74 of 87
11/29/11 at 12:51pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by irnchriz View Post

What the developer said "We were very clear with Apple what our app did. They asked us a bunch of questions and then approved us."


What Apple said "GTFO"

I'd say to Apple - GYATIT1P - get your act together in the first place, and stop this madness of approving and pulling apps. The approval team is looking un-Applesque, as in incompetent.
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post #75 of 87
11/29/11 at 12:51pm
I don't think some of the app store reviewers are technical enough. For example on the Mac app store there are programs that do nothing but unzip a file while displaying a progress bar. OS X has this already. There are also programs that do nothing but burn an ISO image. OS X has this already. Just scams that are not picked up on, due to lack of knowledge about the Mac.

I'm sure no one on this site would have let the iOS tethering app through, it is an obvious violation of policy. I bet the reviewer didn't even know the technical term "tethering."
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post #76 of 87
11/29/11 at 1:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stelligent View Post

I'd say to Apple - GYATIT1P - get your act together in the first place, and stop this madness of approving and pulling apps. The approval team is looking un-Applesque, as in incompetent.

I don't believe they're capable of that degree of incompetence. It's called iTether. Either they allowed it as an experiment. Or as a statement to the carriers.

Or maybe they just wanted throw their users a bone. It really did feel like Christmas when I woke up and saw the original post on a different site.
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post #77 of 87
11/29/11 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jonro View Post

What I really want is a way to tether my iPad to my iPhone. If it can't do that, it's not very useful for me.

You can. I use it all the time, because I read the fine print and chose a service where tethering was supported free of charge.

The only reason it might not work in the US is because short-sighted carriers offered plans with unlimited data which they are now trying to claw back using every mechanism at their disposal.

It's interesting that US carriers responded to iMessage by upping the one-size-fits-all access fee. They are driving customers onto a service that directly diminishes the carrier's clout in the long term. Carriers elsewhere simply offered free unlimited text messaging, making iMessage irrelevant. I know which approach is smarter.
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post #78 of 87
11/29/11 at 1:45pm
Apple Pulls iTether
Quote:
Submitted by phankinson on Tue, 11/29/2011 - 14:22
Around 12PM EST, Apple called our head office to let us know they were going to go ahead and pull our app iTether from the App Store. They stated it was because the app itself burdens the carrier network, however they offered us no way to remedy the solution We were very clear when listing the app what the primary function was and they even followed up with several questions and requested a video demo then they approved the application.

We strongly disagree that it burdens a carriers network, as from our own data history on more than 500,000 users we know the average user consumes less than 200 MBs of data per month on Tether. In comparison, one TV show streamed from Netflix, an approved Apple App, could easily be in the 300-400 MBs range. Sure, there are some users that will consume way more than the average however thats the case with any of these types of products.

Our team is very disappointed in Apples decision; as we strongly believe we help carriers better monetize their data stream by pushing customers into new data tiers further increasing their bottom-line. It is very anti-competitive to not allow any Tethering application to enter into this space to innovate. Our team has created a lot of innovative solutions for the BlackBerry product, which we were hoping to port over to the iPhone like end-to-end encryption, compression, website filtering and port filtering.

According to Apple, users who purchase iTether before it was pulled will continue to be able to use the product.

Our team is evaluating all of our options Stay tuned.
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post #79 of 87
11/29/11 at 1:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post


But unlike previous jailbreak solutions, the iTether offering was approved by Apple for sale in its controlled App Store environment. Its removal confirms the approval was an error.

/29/apple_approved_itether_iphone_app_bypasses_carrier _tethering_plans.html][ View this article at AppleInsider.com ][/url][/c]

Does not confirm this at all - this is quite a partisan assumption
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post #80 of 87
11/29/11 at 1:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hodar View Post

I travel with my iPad, and am forced to pay $20/month to Hotspot the iPad.

Wish that there was a tether plan that would allow me to tether my iPad to my iPhone.

Jailbreak. It works quite well for me
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