FAQ
Questions people actually ask.
- Is it really free?
- Yes, while TETHERÆ is in beta. No card, no trial timer, no device cap. It will not be free forever, because relays cost money, but any price will be published in advance and will not be applied retroactively to the beta.
- Can you see my screen?
- No. Sessions are encrypted end to end with keys agreed between your device and your machine. The relay forwards ciphertext it has no key for, so it cannot decrypt a frame, read a keystroke or reconstruct a session.
- What can the relay see?
- That two endpoints are connected, roughly how much data passes between them, and when. That is the irreducible minimum for a service that introduces two machines behind routers, and it is all of it.
- Do I need to open ports on my router?
- No. The agent makes an outbound connection to the relay, and so does your device. Nothing needs forwarding and no port is opened on the machine.
- Why do I have to pair in person?
- Because it is the one design decision that makes remote account takeover impossible. A machine can only be paired by somebody standing at it. You do it once per machine; after that it is a tap.
- Can I use it on a machine I do not own?
- TETHERÆ is built for reaching your own machines. Share codes exist for handing someone access to one session, but there is no mechanism for standing access to a computer you do not control, and adding one is not planned.
- What is Rest mode?
- It switches the remote display off and releases the capture pipeline while keeping the machine reachable. It is the state ordinary sleep cannot give you: a sleeping machine saves power but cannot answer you.
- Will it wake a machine that is already asleep?
- Only on the same local network, and only if the machine recorded its hardware address while it was awake. Waking a sleeping computer across the internet is not something any software can do on its own.
- Does the weekly record leave my device?
- No. It is computed and stored on the device, is never uploaded, and is not readable by us. That is also why it does not appear on your other devices.
- Why does the tracker show less time than I spent connected?
- Because it counts work, not connection. A minute counts when you typed, tapped, scrolled or clicked in it. Sitting connected to a machine you were not using is not work, and reporting it as work would make the number worthless.
- Which platforms are supported?
- Agents run on Windows, macOS and Linux. Apps run on iOS, Android and macOS. A Mac can be both ends.
- Where can I download it?
- Nowhere yet. It is in closed beta and the apps are not on the App Store or Google Play. Write to hello@tetherae.com if you want to be told when that changes.
- How do I remove a device?
- From either end. Revoking a device takes effect in both relay regions, normally within about a minute, so a revoked device cannot simply reconnect through the other region.