A few hours after its initial release (in which time it became the App Store’s top grossing app) the iTether iOS app has been (predictably) pulled by Apple. It’s not all bad news, however: If you were lucky enough to grab a copy, it should continue to work just fine.
The app sold for $14.99, and went live late last night, allowing users without tethering plans to plug their iPhones into their computers and take advantage of unlimited data tethering, bypassing Apple’s $20/month tethering services (and enabling tethering for unlimited data customers who aren’t allow to tether at all).
Apple briefly approved another tethering app called Netshare in 2008, but quickly pulled it due to concerns of possible carrier backlash. The app’s approval seems to have been an oversight on Apple’s part – and one which was swiftly remedied.
The removal comes in spite of Tether’s claims on Twitter that Apple asked them a number of questions, and still approved their app, suggesting that Apple was initially OK with the idea.