AltStore Pal Now Free Thanks to 'MegaGrant' From Epic Games

[MacRumors]

AltStore PAL, the open-source app that is designed to distribute apps in the EU from independent developers, is now free thanks to a grant provided by Fortnite developer Epic Games.

The alternative iOS app store had charged a €1.50 plus tax annual subscription, in order to cover Apple's Core Technology Fee (CTF). Apple's terms for alternative app marketplaces requires developers to pay the CTF for each annual app installation.

However, AltStore Pal will no longer pass on the cost of this fee after the third-party store received a "MegaGrant" from Epic Games. AltStore said that existing subscribers won't be charged upon their renewal date, and that the AltStore team plans to "show our appreciation for our existing subscribers in a future update," but didn't go into details.

Developer Riley Testut has been working on AltStore PAL since Apple announced plans to support alternative app marketplaces in iOS 17.4. It is open to all apps, but Testut says that it makes the most sense for "smaller, indie apps that otherwise couldn't exist due to ‌App Store‌ rules."

AltStore PAL is equipped with Patreon integration to allow developers to monetize their apps. Developers can offer their apps to just their patrons, and this method of distribution also allows for a sub-1 million cap on those who can subscribe to use an app.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1823826343085433226

iPhone users in the European Union can download AltStore PAL from the AltStore website. Alternative app marketplaces are not available outside of the European Union.

As for Epic, it has submitted the Epic Games Store to Apple for notarization under Apple's alternative app marketplace policy in the European Union. The ‌Epic Games‌ Store will include Fortnite, which means ‌iPhone‌ users in the EU will be able to install and play the title without having to use a cloud gaming service. An ‌iPad‌ version of Fortnite is expected to follow this year.

Article Link: AltStore Pal Now Free Thanks to 'MegaGrant' From Epic Games

 

[Amazing Iceman]

A nice piece of delicious cheese... in the center of a concealed mousetrap.

 

[Populus]

I wonder if EU users can install and use the AltStore on the iPad like you do on an iPhone.

 

[Robert.Walter]

Welcome to your security nightmare.

Ps I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that AltStore is owned by Epic Games interests.

 

[contacos]

I wonder if EU users can install and use the AltStore on the iPad like you do on an iPhone.

Let me try and get back to you

 

[JordanCautious]

I just realized. If AltStore works because of Patreon integration, is it possible that Apple has started going after Patreon's iOS billing because it was so integral to AltStore's existence?

Also, I can't say I'm surprised by the MegaGrant since it's going to an Open Source project. It makes sense too. Getting people used to using these alternative stores works out in Epic's favor, if anyone was wondering if there was any other reason. Its like if you have ever used one streaming service, you are more likely to use another.

 

[goodcow]

So if we install this, and do nothing with it, we're making Epic pass along €1.50 a year to Apple?

 

[contacos]

Welcome to your security nightmare.

Ps I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that AltStore is owned by Epic Games interests.

Its really no different than using the App Store. It's not like Apple allows them system access or to operate outside of their own Sandbox. It's really just "Apps" and i don't see how i can trust Apple more with my payment than other vendors. Apple is just another online vendor at the end of the day, just like the page I buy concert tickets on or the items I buy on Amazon. If you enter your credit card information on a page called phishmenow dot com, that's a whole different kind of issue

 

[SmugMaverick]

Great news, but you just know Apple will do something disgusting to ruin this for people.

And the Americans still crying about this, it's only a security nightmare in your apple obsessed head.

 

[klasma]

I wonder if EU users can install and use the AltStore on the iPad like you do on an iPhone.

It should become possible by end of October or so: https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip_24_2363

Edit: It already is in iPadOS 18 beta.

 

[klasma]

Welcome to your security nightmare.

Any security issue would be a bug in iOS. Apple has full control over that.

 

[mystery hill]

I wonder if EU users can install and use the AltStore on the iPad like you do on an iPhone.

Yes, AltStore PAL can be installed on iPadOS 18.

iPadOS 18 Beta 2 Includes Alternative App Stores and Other EU Changes

Apple today announced that the second beta of iPadOS 18 extends alternative app marketplaces and other app-related changes to the iPad in the EU. ...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Danilamak]

I wonder if EU users can install and use the AltStore on the iPad like you do on an iPhone.

No only iOS, iPad later this year

EDIT: my bad, actually you can on beta

 

[contacos]

I wonder if EU users can install and use the AltStore on the iPad like you do on an iPhone.

works!

(but deleted it again. There are like 5 Apps on this “Store“)

 

[vertsix]

Still absolutely preposterous Apple feels 'entitled' to a fee for software to run on hardware customers PAY for. Imagine having to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every executable you run or distribute on Windows. It's crazy!

 

[Abazigal]

Still absolutely preposterous Apple feels 'entitled' to a fee for software to run on hardware customers PAY for. Imagine having to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every executable you run on Windows. It's crazy!

Well, we do it for consoles.

But good for Altstore, though I suspect it's more about trying to get back at Apple indirectly, than any sort of altruism on Epic's part. We will see if it ends up costing them anything in the long run.

 

[gnipgnop]

Still absolutely preposterous Apple feels 'entitled' to a fee for software to run on hardware customers PAY for. Imagine having to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every executable you run on Windows. It's crazy!

If developing a commercially viable mobile operating system is no big deal, why are there only two in the EU?

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Still absolutely preposterous Apple feels 'entitled' to a fee for software to run on hardware customers PAY for. Imagine having to pay a royalty to Microsoft for every executable you run on Windows. It's crazy!

Apple is not charging this to the end user but to the Alt App Stores, who instead are passing the charges to their users.
Apple is entitled, because they built the whole ecosystem, development tools, and are constantly updating and upgrading their operating systems without changing for it.
Windows is not free, you have to pay to upgrade. And their professional development tools were very expensive until not long ago.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

If developing a commercially viable mobile operating system is no big deal, why are there only two in the EU?

They didn't say it was no big deal, they said it was preposterous to require payment to install on a device that you have paid for and own, and I agree.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

Windows is not free, you have to pay to upgrade. And their professional development tools were very expensive until not long ago.

Windows 11 is a free upgrade for Windows 10 users.

 

[gnipgnop]

They didn't say it was no big deal, they said it was preposterous to require payment to install on a device that you have paid for and own, and I agree.

They're saying it's preposterous for Apple to want to monetize the OS. But the OS is far more difficult to develop and be commercially successful with than an app...and obviously these app developers on the Alt Store want to make $$ with their apps. So it doesn't really make sense to criticize the general idea of monetizing the OS.

 

[klasma]

If developing a commercially viable mobile operating system is no big deal, why are there only two in the EU?

There are more than two, look at Sailfish OS for example. Making a mobile operating system isn’t that difficult, making the hardware for it is, and sourcing drivers for the hardware if you don’t make the hardware yourself, not the least for regulatory and patent-related reasons.

I’m pretty sure that if the iPhone hardware and firmware allowed for alternative operating systems, a whole bunch would quickly be developed.

 

[Ctrlos]

Apple is not charging this to the end user but to the Alt App Stores, who instead are passing the charges to their users.
Apple is entitled, because they built the whole ecosystem, development tools, and are constantly updating and upgrading their operating systems without changing for it.
Windows is not free, you have to pay to upgrade. And their professional development tools were very expensive until not long ago.

$10 lifetime fee for a Windows dev account and access to all tools.

$99 a year from Apple.

Apple's CTF is effectively a road tax. There's nothing wrong with charging it; its just their fine print for doing so is deliberately obtuse and they do so for free apps which is plain wrong.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

They're saying it's preposterous for Apple to want to monetize the OS. But the OS is far more difficult to develop and be commercially successful with than an app...and obviously these app developers on the Alt Store want to make $$ with their apps. So it doesn't really make sense to criticize the general idea of monetizing the OS.

They haven't stopped monetizing the OS by offering other app stores, they just have relented (well, forced) on having a monopoly on monetization. They will still get plenty of profit from their App Store, fees and services.

 

[gnipgnop]

There are more than two, look at Sailfish OS for example. Making a mobile operating system isn’t that difficult, making the hardware for it is, not the least for regulatory and patent-related reasons.

The EU says the mobile market = duopoly. So Sailfish OS has no significant commercial viability. The EU doesn't say the hardware market is a duopoly. There are more than two hardware makers that are commercially viable.