Tethering has had something of a checkered history on the iPhone, having been unofficially available in more than one Trojan horse that’s slipped past the App Store gates as well as via jailbreak apps. Now the folks at Tether have figured out a way to circumvent the App Store entirely with a new HTML5-based app.
Tether announced on Friday the company’s relaunch of their iPhone app, but don’t go looking for it on the App Store. The new version is completely HTML5-based, requiring an annual subscription to create an AdHoc wireless connection for any iPhone or iPad with a data connection.
"It was clear from our initial application iTether, there was enormous demand within the iPhone ecosystem," explains Tim Burke, CEO of Tether. "It was unfortunate that Apple decided to remove our application, only 20 hours after we launched. However, this caused us to innovate. Our underlying patent-pending technology behind Tether for iPhone is unlike anything on the market."
Perfect for frequent travelers since it works worldwide without having to fiddle with network or carrier settings, users simply sign up, pay a $30 per year subscription fee, download a Mac or PC client and browse to the Tether website on their mobile device to tether to an AdHoc network.
For a limited time, the Tether subscription service is only $15 for the first year ($30 per year thereafter), but keep in mind that carriers frown on such unsanctioned workarounds and you’ll likely get the stink eye from them if you use too much data this way.
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