It’s official, Apple removed iTether from the App Store. I’m still amazed during the development cycle of this App no one involved asked “hey, hasn’t every app that remotely does what we’re trying to do get pulled from the App Store?" The company issued the following statement:
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 carrier’s 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 that’s the case with any of these types of products.
Our team is very disappointed in Apple’s 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. — iTether Team
We strongly disagree that it burdens a carrier’s 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 that’s the case with any of these types of products.
Our team is very disappointed in Apple’s 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. — iTether Team
and ask several follow-up questions and still approve this app?
“Bill, this is the third time you’ve approved a tethering app for the App Store. Explain yourself.”
Bill stares blankly at his supervisor.
“Bill, you were just as quiet last time we had this meeting. Please explain yourself.”
Bill continues to stare blankly at his supervisor.
The Supervisor’s assistant speaks up.
“Sir, you do realize Bill is a chimpanzee. Right?”
“Bill, don’t listen to him. Charlie is just jealous because you slept with his wife and get paid more than he does.”
“Wait what?!”
Bill’s supervisor hands him a banana.
Bill stares blankly at his supervisor.
“Bill, you were just as quiet last time we had this meeting. Please explain yourself.”
Bill continues to stare blankly at his supervisor.
The Supervisor’s assistant speaks up.
“Sir, you do realize Bill is a chimpanzee. Right?”
“Bill, don’t listen to him. Charlie is just jealous because you slept with his wife and get paid more than he does.”
“Wait what?!”
Bill’s supervisor hands him a banana.
iTether, we hardly knew ye. May the App afterlife be kinder to you than your fruit bearing overlords.
Source: MacRumors
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