The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW)

It was there. And now it's... gone. What happened to iPhone 3G tethering app NetShare?

For a while it was live on the App Store, for a meagre ten bucks. Then it vanished. And now, it seems to have vanished from Nullriver's web site, too. Their news page has no mention of NetShare.

This smells of lawyers. NetShare was designed to let you share your iPhone's connectivity with your computer. Wireless freedom for all. And quite possibly something the telephony service providers in various countries would be alarmed to see on offer in the App Store, ten bucks or no. But wait -- the App Store is vetted, isn't it? Something like this couldn't just creep in through the ventilation shafts. This couldn't just be a ghastly mistake, could it?

You can't make software just disappear from everywhere. There must be some TUAW readers who managed to get hold of a copy before it disappeared. What do you make of it? Is it working?

For the record, we have asked NullRiver for comment, but not heard back from them yet. As soon as we do, we'll add an update.

UPDATE: And here it is. No word directly from NullRiver yet, but one of the NullRiver team pointed out in the comments that they did not have a web page for NetShare in the first place. Also, the following text has now been posted on the NullRiver home page (a fact that was also noted in the comments):

"We're not quite sure why Apple took down the NetShare application yet, we've received no communication from Apple thus far. NetShare did not violate any of the Developer or AppStore agreements. We're hoping we'll get some feedback from Apple today. Sorry to all the folks that couldn't get it in time. We'll do our best to try to get the application back onto the AppStore if at all possible. At the very least, we hope Apple will allow it to be used in countries where the provider does permit tethering."

AGAIN UPDATE: NetShare has now reappeared in the App Store, at least in the US, the UK, and the Netherlands, and probably in many other places as well. You can download and play with it to your heart's content. Thanks to all the commenters and tipsters who alerted us to this.

AGAIN AGAIN UPDATE: Now we've had a reply from NullRiver, as follows: "Hi, NetShare is back on the Apple Store, hopefully for good this time! We're not quite sure why Apple took down the NetShare application yet, we've received no communication from Apple thus far. NetShare did not violate any of the Developer or AppStore agreements to our knowledge. It is unknown how mobile phone carriers may react to using the program. Or if they are even in a position to tell. My personal advice is to not go NUTS just yet by downloading tons. Also be aware that contracts/carriers vary in what they offer from country to country, please be careful your service doesn't have a metered limit, that if you go over may incur extra costs for you."

Odd, is it not, that despite all the ups and downs their app has experienced during the last day or so, NullRiver has not heard anything at all from Apple? What's that all about?

Thanks to Zoli + everyone who sent this in.