Untether 0.2.4

Updates from inside the apps. From this version on, Untether looks for a new release at start
and every 12 hours and offers it right where you are:

• Mac: a banner in the window, Install. It downloads the new version, checks that it is signed
  like the one running, puts it in place and restarts.
• Phone: a card in the app, Install. It downloads the APK and hands it to Android's installer,
  which asks once whether Untether may install apps, then to confirm the update.
• What's new opens the release page.

This release itself still has to be installed by hand.

Your hotspot stays yours. New installs keep the hotspot name and password set in Android (Use
Android's hotspot settings is on by default). Randomize gives the hotspot a new random name and
password and opens the pairing window for the Mac.

Updating

• Phone: install Untether-0.2.4.apk over 0.2.3. The app now asks for internet access, for the
  update check. Pairing and settings stay.
• Mac: put Untether from Untether-0.2.4.dmg in Applications (self-signed: on macOS 15 and newer
  allow it once in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway). If you built Untether
  yourself before, replace it with this one: in-app updates only accept a release-signed app.

Play Protect may still block the APK as harmful; its verdict is tied to the app's package on
Google's side. Tap Install anyway; the APK is built by GitHub Actions straight from this
repository.

Untether 0.2.3

A fix release for phones whose hotspot would not start from Untether.

Fixed

• "Could not start (code -1)": some phones cannot run a hotspot on 5 GHz channel 36 with WPA3,
  which Untether sets for a fast join. When that start fails, the phone now retries once on any
  band with WPA2 and keeps using that. The network's name and password stay the same, so the Mac
  still joins, just with a scan.
• After the hotspot settings were changed by hand in Android, Untether showed its own network name
  while another one was on the air, and the Mac could not join. The config is now checked before
  every start, and the app shows the name really on the air.
• The Mac could get stuck reconnecting after the phone app updated: when macOS sends no disconnect
  event, the session now ends by itself within a few seconds.

Updating

• Phone: install Untether-0.2.3.apk over 0.2.2; pairing and settings stay.
• Mac: replace Untether in Applications with the one from Untether-0.2.3.dmg (self-signed: on
  macOS 15 and newer allow it once in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway).

Play Protect may still block the APK as harmful; its verdict is tied to the app's package on
Google's side. Tap Install anyway; the APK is built by GitHub Actions straight from this
repository.

Untether 0.2.2

The menu bar tells it all. A grey mark while the phone is out of reach, the mark while the
hotspot is off, and once it is on, the phone's signal alone: iPhone-style bars with the network type
(5G, LTE, 3G, 2G, or Wi-Fi when the phone shares its own Wi-Fi). The mark blinks while the hotspot
goes on or off.

New

• Quick connect: a click on the menu bar icon turns the hotspot on or off; right-click (or
  Option-click) opens the window. Settings → Quick connect.
• Network mode for the mobile data SIM, from the Mac or the phone: Auto, 5G, LTE, 3G or 2G. 5G keeps
  LTE as the anchor that non-standalone 5G needs and is offered only where the SIM allows 5G; Auto
  gives back exactly what the phone had before.
• Signal for every generation: RSRP and SINR on 5G and LTE, RSCP and Ec/No on 3G, RSSI on 2G.
• Use Android's hotspot settings: keep the name, password and band set in Android instead of
  Untether's own.
• Stop Untether on the phone, from its notification or the app. It stays stopped, also after a
  reboot, until you start it again, and the Mac shows the phone gone at once.
• The Mac app has an icon, and Cmd+Q quits it from the window.

Better

• After the phone app updates, the Mac picks it up again in under a minute instead of up to three.
• The DMG is no longer signed: macOS rejected the self-signed image before it even mounted.
• Phone app sections fill the width.

Updating

• Phone: install Untether-0.2.2.apk over 0.2.1; pairing and settings stay.
• Mac: replace Untether in Applications with the one from Untether-0.2.2.dmg. It is self-signed,
  not notarized: on macOS 15 and newer open it once, then allow it in System Settings → Privacy &
  Security → Open Anyway (on macOS 14 a right-click → Open is enough).
• Update both: the Mac's new checks expect the phone's new 30 s heartbeat.

Play Protect may still block the APK as harmful. Its verdict is tied to the app's package on
Google's side, not to the code, and stays until Google reviews it. Tap Install anyway; the APK is
built by GitHub Actions straight from this repository.

Untether 0.2.1

Signal in the menu bar. The Untether icon now carries the phone's signal bars and network type
(3G, LTE, 5G), so you can see whether the hotspot is worth turning on before you click. Unlit bars
are dimmed; Settings → Signal in the menu bar hides them.

Also in this release

• Android: the hotspot is controlled from a Shizuku user service, a separate process that runs as
  the shell user. The app no longer ships a hidden API bypass library, and the APK no longer carries
  Google's encrypted dependency list.
• macOS: the mark sits on one line with the bars and the label.

Updating

• Phone: install Untether-0.2.1.apk over 0.2.0, pairing and settings stay. A build you made
  yourself has a different signature: uninstall it first and pair again.
• Mac: replace Untether in Applications with the one from Untether-0.2.1.dmg. It is self-signed,
  not notarized: the first launch needs a right-click → Open.

Play Protect may still block the APK as harmful. Its verdict is tied to the app's package on
Google's side, not to the code, and stays until Google reviews it. Tap Install anyway; the APK is
built by GitHub Actions straight from this repository.

Known limits. Tested on a Pixel 9 with Android 17; Android 12–16 are expected to work but have not
been tried on a device yet.

Untether 0.2.0

The first public build of Untether: turn on your Android phone's hotspot from the Mac menu bar over
Bluetooth, no root.

Downloads

• Untether-0.2.0.apk: the phone app, Android 12 or newer, needs Shizuku.
• Untether-0.2.0.dmg: the Mac menu bar app, macOS 14 or newer, Apple Silicon.

What's inside

• One click on the Mac: the phone starts its hotspot and the Mac joins it in about 4–5 s.
• Battery, temperature, operator, network type, RSRP/SINR with graphs, devices on the hotspot.
• Choose the data SIM, reconnect mobile data, block a device, ring the phone or the Mac.
• Idle auto-off, battery guard, off when the Mac sleeps or leaves the hotspot.
• Signed commands with one-time nonces over an encrypted, bonded BLE link.
• English and Ukrainian.

First launch on the Mac. The app is self-signed and not notarized: right-click → Open, or
run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/Untether.app.

Play Protect. It may block the APK as harmful: the app is installed from outside Google Play
and switches the hotspot through hidden system APIs (via Shizuku). Tap Install anyway. The APK is built by GitHub Actions straight from this repository.

Known limits. Tested on a Pixel 9 with Android 17; Android 12–16 builds are expected to work
but have not been tried on a device yet. Reports are welcome.