Tether icon

Tether

Use your iPhone's data on any device, as the iPhone's own traffic instead of hotspot traffic.

Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iPad or a travel router

Get started View on GitHub

Why Tether

Lots of plans give the iPhone itself plenty of data, then cap, slow down or block Personal Hotspot. Tether makes every connection again on the iPhone, so your laptop's traffic counts as the phone's own.

Any device

If it runs WireGuard, it works. The free app is on Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iPad and iPhone, and many travel routers have it built in.

Set up in a minute

A phone or tablet scans a QR code. A laptop opens a page on the hotspot and downloads its config, no camera needed.

Calls and games too

It's not only web pages. Video calls, games, streaming, downloads and SSH all go through.

No account, nothing in the cloud

Traffic goes from your devices to your iPhone and out, and Tether itself talks to nothing else. The device configs use Cloudflare's 1.1.1.1 for DNS, which you can change.

One tap to start

A shortcut turns on the hotspot and Tether together, from the Action button, a widget or Siri.

Free and open source

MIT licensed. Every release is built by GitHub Actions from its commit, and you can check the download.

Tether sharing with an iPad and a Windows PC, with the speed and the list of devices
Your devices and the speed, at a glance
Tether with the hotspot on and a QR code for the first device
A new device scans the code or opens the page
Tether's Notifications screen with a switch for each kind
Notifications when a device comes or goes

How it works

Your device still joins the hotspot. Its WireGuard client hands the traffic to Tether, and Tether sends it out from the iPhone.

Your deviceWireGuard client
hotspot
Tetheron the iPhone
cellular
Internet

Tether runs a WireGuard server on the hotspot address. WireGuard's own code decrypts the traffic, and a small TCP/IP stack inside Tether (gVisor) makes each connection again from the iPhone. It only listens on the hotspot, and it only lets in devices you added.

Get started

You need an iPhone with iOS 17 or later and a plan with Personal Hotspot.

  1. Install Tether on your iPhone

    Tether isn't in the App Store. Install it with SideStore or AltStore, which you set up from a Windows PC or a Mac. A free Apple ID works, but apps need a refresh every 7 days. SideStore does it on the iPhone, AltStore with its computer on the same Wi-Fi.

    Add to SideStore or AltStore Other ways to install

  2. Turn on Personal Hotspot and open Tether

    It shows a QR code for the first device.

  3. Connect a device

    Install the free WireGuard app and join the hotspot. A laptop opens http://172.20.10.1 and downloads its config. A phone or tablet scans the code. Then turn the tunnel on.

    Step by step for each device

Tether hides where the traffic comes from, not what it is, and a carrier that looks closely can still notice. Many carrier contracts don't allow tethering workarounds. Check yours. Using Tether is your call and your risk. Good to know