I just saw this app the other day, and now — it’s gone! How shocking! It looks like “Wifi tether for root users” was in violation of T-Mobile’s terms of service, and Google has shown its cards by removing it. No one really thought the Android Marketplace was going to be a Wild West of G1 apps, but it’s a little disappointing to see just how locked-down it really is.
The question raised is this: will apps have to comply with all carriers’ terms of service once Android is on AT&T, Sprint and the like? That could lead to a lot of confusion. At the moment it’s hard to say since only T-Mobile’s terms apply, but it had better get hashed out soon or developers are going to get antsy.
If you’re savvy, you can still get the app and code here.
There’s always PDANet…
Unless getting rooting back has become easier in the last month, I can hardly weep for the loss of ANY app that requires root to use.
On the other hand, I’m not terribly enthusiastic about Google going all “Apple-ish” over anything in the Marketplace.
Just get it from here:
http://code.google.com/p/android-wifi-tether/
More than likely, Android will develop a market that has different “doorways” for different carriers. Thus those apps that violate T-Mobile’s terms wouldn’t appear on T-Mobile phones, but may appear on Sprint or ATT and vice versa. It may also make sense to subdivide by country, as Chinese customers may not appreciate having to sort through all these english apps and vice versa.
Removing an app that endangers the investment of the first (and so far only confirmed) carrier only makes sense.
How likely would ATT, Sprint, Verizon be to join the Android party if they know that their TOS will be actively undermined? Not to mention that anyone who is caught by a carrier using an app that violates the TOS will have the auto-defense of “But that app was on the official android market, if I wasn’t supposed to use it, why was it on the market??”
I was just talking to a sales manager at T-mobile about the Android and asked about tethering. Turns out that the tethering is not a T-mobile restriction but a Google edict. T-mobile isn’t allowed at this time to offer tethering apps for the Android. T-mo actually wants to offer tethering and will as soon as Google lets them. The T-mo rep said it comes down to their agreement in order to be allowed to sell the Android phones.