Update Feb 2 2010: Reports say that the latest iPhone 3.1.3 allows this to work again but ONLY on factory unlocked iPhones. Thanks to Éamonn for the heads up!

Three Ireland Contract

Vodafone Ireland Contract

Vodafone Live! Ireland

AT&T USA Contract

O2 UK Contract

O2 UK Pre-Paid

T-Mobile UK Contract

Virgin UK Contract

Three UK Contract

Vodafone UK Contract

Rogers Canada

Fido Canada

Note: Do this at your own risk!! I have only tested this on my own device (3G O2 Bill Pay iPhone) and cannot guarantee it will work with yours.

2. Restart the iPhone.

3. Once it restarts, go to Settings > General > Network and turn on tethering.

Done. Now connect your iPhone to the computer. The computer will automatically detect a network connection on the USB port. It just works.

On your Mac / PC turn off your Wi-Fi or unplug your Ethernet to check how it works.

Note: You will need at least iTunes 8.2 or greater installed on all the computers you want to tether with.

There you have it – Irish users get free text messages (O2, Vodafone, Meteor, Three + many others) on your iPhone and iPod Touch or on your Mac/PC with JSMS, and now you can use free internet tethering on the go.

Follow me on Twitter: @finbarrbrady

Use Jelly SMS to send free SMS messages

Now you have tethering!

1. There is a problem with sending messages in my language. Do you support Chinese, Arabic, accents and other special characters? Can you help?

Yes. This has been fixed and you can use it in the next version which is currently in review with Apple. However, it only will work with my-cool-sms.com as the other VOIP providers do not have an API for this.

2. How do people reply to my messages? E.g. if I send someone a message using Jelly SMS, how do they reply to that message?

As stated in the App Store description, Jelly SMS can forward SMS text messages that you send from Jelly SMS. Due to Apple’s restrictions, Jelly SMS cannot forward SMS messages which are stored inside the iPhone SMS app.

4. Just bought your app for my iPhone. I signed up with one of the providers. I added money to my account and every time I try and send and SMS it’s says to check user name and credit on my account. What can I do?

Let’s try and get this working for you. Can you please do the following:

1. Go to your providers website and log in.

2. Ensure that your credit has been applied to your account by checking the ‘Remaining Credit’ field on the left of the page.

3. On your iPhone, go to iPhone Settings > Jelly SMS and re-enter your login details. Please ensure your username, password are correct and that your provider is set correctly.

4. Try to send the SMS once again.

5. When typing a message, if you press the backspace key/button on screen, then cursor proceeds to delete all text.

Yes this is a known issue with some iPhones still running 3.0. There is a simple fix described here. I would recommend updating your iPhone to the latest version of iPhone OS which should also fix the issue.

6. I thought my remaining balance of my sms provider would be shown. Am I missing something?

Yes, after sending first massage the balance is shown in the ‘New Message’ screen.

7. Additional Information

In addition to the information on the home page, please note the following:

1. Jelly SMS requires an internet connection in order to send SMS text messages. It will work over Wifi, 3G or EDGE data connections.
2. Jelly SMS is localized in French, Italian, German, Spanish and English. I will be adding support for additional languages in future free updates.
3. Irish O2 / Vodafone / Meteor / Three users: If you’re in a low coverage area Jelly SMS will send quicker if you turn off the ‘Show Remaining’ preference (go to the iPhone Settings -> Jelly SMS application to see the preferences).

Please contact me if you have any questions at all.

Thanks!