Despite the hopes of some users, iPhone tethering application NetShare has been officially banned from Apple’s App Store. News comes straight from developers Nullriver following an unfortunate final decision by Apple.
The following is from NetShare’s blog: Looks like Apple has decided they will not be allowing any tethering applications in the AppStore. As such, NetShare will not be available in the iTunes AppStore. We are seeing a lot of similar reports from various developers who’s applications were abruptly removed and banned from the AppStore without any violations of the terms of service. This is all unfortunate news for the iPhone platform end-users.
While we definitely irrationally had our hopes up, the inevitable banning of NetShare comes as no surprise. Apple’s App Store has been run more like a high-end application boutique, with Apple picking and choosing which applications make it through. “PodCaster” — a podcast streaming and management application has recently been banned by Apple because it “duplicates the functionality of the Podcast section of iTunes.” “Given that a rejection on these grounds is certainly promoting “anti-competitive” behavior, why are none of the numerous calculator, weather and stock ticker apps subjected to the same scrutiny?” MacBlogz wrote in a previous post. An application called “BoxOffice” which allows users to search for local movie times was also randomly banned by Apple.
While NetShare being banned is not so random, seeing as how it bypasses AT&T’s data usage plans, it’s still unfortunate that an app which has been called “the best iPhone app ever” has met its ill-fated demise at the hands of Apple and most likely AT&T.
Here’s to hoping that the rumor about Apple and AT&T developing their own tethering plan, turns out to be more than just another rumor.
[via The iPhone Blog via Daring Fireball]
