How to USB tether your Android phone to your Apple Mac
I know that users of the iPhone have been able to tether their phones to a mac from quite a time now (backward minded telcos and their ridiculously archaic pricing not withstanding). I always assumed that it would be as easy with a mac, and I was almost right.
There is a free android app called PdaNet that will allow you to share the data connection on your phone with a computer connected by USB. It requires installing a desktop app on your target computer (PC or Mac). This software will create a virtual network adapter and (with the Mac version at least) a status bar icon.
You can find the instructions for tethering your Android phone to your mac on June Fabric’s PdaNet Desktop for Mac page.
So why was I almost right? Well, I have a HTC Legend that, when plugged into my Mac, gives me an ‘Internet sharing: Share phone’s mobile network with PC’ option. It turns out to use this option you need to have HTC Sync installed on your machine. Which is a Windows-only option. PdaNet solves this problem and is both unobtrusive and simple to use.
Chris is a shining example of how, in a world where abortion is not as easily obtained as a leg of fried chicken, an ounce of prevention can be worth more than its weight in gold. He is currently completing a PhD in Bioinformatics which he hopes may one day help him get out of a speeding ticket.