Nick Lee, a 15 year-old boy in the US has caused some consternation over in Apple Towers after creating a ‘Trojan’ iPhone app that allowed users to connect to the internet for free.

Those who downloaded ‘Handy Light’ can keep enjoying its benefits.

Lee designed a ‘Handy Light’ app which at first glance appeared to allow users to change the colour of their screen. It was charged at less than a dollar to upload on App Store. However, the app contained a hidden code that allowed people to use their iPhone as a 3G modem.

As Gizmodo explained, “’Handy Light’ allowed you to make your iPhone’s screen go blank with a color of your choice. You opened it, clicked a swatch from a simple palette, and that was it: Life in technicolour. Another stupid flashlight application like a hundred others. Or so the App Store team thought. Inside, the app contained hidden code that made it a full tethering application—a program that allows you to use your iPhone as a 3G modem.”

Apple were duped by Lee’s app and for a brief period, those in the know were able to get online without charges – around $20 a month in the US – though it has since been taken out of the App Store. However, as The Telegraph notes in its report on the matter, those who downloaded it, however, can keep enjoying its benefits.

One online commenter who downloaded the app before it was removed said: “I’m going to use this little gem of an app to my heart’s content. I’m typing on it now, and I’m going to see just how much data I can use all afternoon. I was able to get download speeds of roughly 2.5 MBps.”