Updated: Nullriver’s NetShare app allows your computer to use iPhone 3G network connection
I’m writing this on my trusty MacBook Pro, in the comfort of my own home, which is drenched in wifi coverage. However, the MBP isn’t using wifi - well, not for a direct internet connection at least. Instead, it’s piping through to my iPhone 3G, and drawing the internet connection down from there. All thanks to Nullriver’s NetShare app (iTunes link) which appeared, briefly, on the App Store last night before being rapidly taken down, and then reappeared again today.
Tethering a laptop to a mobile phone’s data connection for surfing the web is nothing new, of course, and is pretty much a staple of other smartphones (this last sentence is a trademark of every iPhone reviewer since January 2007). Yet along with a measly camera, lack of turn-by-turn navigation (it’s coming, we’re promised) and my own personal bugbear, lack of video capture support, the ability to take advantage of all that 3G goodness is one more thing Apple ‘overlooked’ in designing the iPhone 3G.
That’s where Nullriver come in. Their app, with a little judicious settings-fiddling on both computer and phone (if I can do it, it can’t be that hard - just hope you don’t have to troubleshoot if it doesn’t work), lets you create an impromptu wifi network between Mac and iPhone (Windows PC support is coming soon), allowing the Mac to draw down web traffic piped through the iPhone. In other words, if you’re not in a wifi zone but can get any sort of data connection - reports suggest it will work on 3G (near-broadband), EDGE (slower) and even GSM (painful-but-possible) - then you too can surf to your heart’s content.
For a mere £5.99, it all sounds a bit too good to be true - and that’s where I’m curious to hear O2’s stance on the matter. We already know we’ve got it pretty good in the UK when it comes to all-you-can-eat data plans, which lest we forget are subject to the usual fair usage policy. Eagle-eyed customers have already scoured the O2 user agreement and found no suggestion that tethering in this manner is in violation, but nevertheless I’ll be paying just a little closer attention to my next online bill just in case this data transfer lark is going to cost me over and above the all-inclusive stuff.
Bottom line, if £5.99 is all this app will ever cost you to get on the internet beyond free wifi coverage, then it’s the bargain of the century for iPhone-equipped road warriors.
UPDATE 2nd August 3pm: at time of writing it appears the app has once again been removed from the App Store. We’ll be keeping an eye on it and you can also follow Nullriver’s blog to stay updated. The app should still work fine for those who managed to bag it. Advantage Apple…