AltStore Plans to Launch iPhone App in Three More Countries This Year

[turbineseaplane]

This isn’t innovation. Nothing has been innovated or invented. It’s just a way for cartels and gangs to get extra layers of obfuscation to avoid detection when they do crimes on phones. You will have no right to complain about freedoms you lose because the pace of wealth being stolen by these gangs and cartels has made them kings in places like Dubai and they will be your kings soon too.

I get the aversion and disgust towards crime (I agree!), but digital crime is WAY beyond the scope of App Store restrictions.

Far & away the largest sources of scam revenue require positive interaction from the victim.

I.e. they have to "do something".

It's incredibly difficult to stop that sort of crime and enormously beyond the purview of this discussion.

 

[WarmWinterHat]

This isn’t innovation. Nothing has been innovated or invented. It’s just a way for cartels and gangs to get extra layers of obfuscation to avoid detection when they do crimes on phones. You will have no right to complain about freedoms you lose because the pace of wealth being stolen by these gangs and cartels has made them kings in places like Dubai and they will be your kings soon too.

I've been installing what I want, when I want, and how I want, on MS-DOS, Windows, Linux and MacOS since the early 90s. Never had a penny stolen.

Keep fear mongering, though....I'm sure someone believes it.

Also, I have the right to complain about anything I want, for any reason I want.

 

[TruthAboveAllElse]

The times they are a changin'

 

[Haiku_Oezu]

I know people here love to snark about how nobody is using this but I hope you understand that’s because the EU was so incompetent in writing the regulations that Apple managed to get away with implementing a system that makes zero sense to use

Not only is it choke full of scare screens but it also requires all apps to be notarized which means you still gotta pay €99 a year to release apps this way, also there’s that Core Technology Fee

Unless your app violates the content policies of the App Store there’s no reason to bother jumping through all these hoops

 

[turbineseaplane]

John Gruber has a nice write up here.

He highlighted some of the innovation also. The Fediverse angle is awesome to see.

There’s lots of other interesting news in Testut’s AltStore status report, including the news that they’re adding Fediverse support to AltStore to distribute app updates and news (and more); converting to a public benefit corporation; have raised $6 million in funding; and are donating $500,000 of that money to help fund indie iOS Fediverse apps like Tapbot’s Ivory (Mastodon) and Phoenix (Bluesky) clients and The Iconfactory’s Tapestry feed aggregator.

AltStore State of the Union

Link to: https://rileytestut.com/blog/2025/10/07/evolving-altstore-pal/

daringfireball.net

 

[SoldOnApple]

I used to use altstore in Australia. But now that game emulators are in the App Store I don't see the need.

 

[Morgenland]

I'm honestly a bit baffled that no one here is actually naming what it is they're missing from the Apple Store. A few folks mumble something about emulators—fair enough—but beyond that? Silence. Are the pro-sideloading crowd secretly pining for hardcore porn apps, digital bloodbaths, or some kind of underground freebie software smorgasbord? I mean, what's the endgame here?

If you're going to cheer something on, turbineseaplane, you should probably be able to say why, right? I’ve read every single comment here (yes, I need a hobby), and I still can’t for the life of me figure out what all the excitement is about.

 

[Remy149]

Maybe one day there will be as many people that want to use the AltStore as there are Apple Vision Pro users!

What has kept the Vision Pro from being a mass market product is its price

 

[Remy149]

None of which happens right now on macOS.

View attachment 2564975

People that install software on macOS that isn’t from Apple or a major corporation tend to be more knowledgeable then the average iPhone user

 

[ToothBlueth]

Might not take long for Norway, either. They are planning to get the DMA passed this year in Stortinget. 🎉

 

[Starfia]

They don't have to ..

Just treat iOS like macOS and let folks install software from wherever they please.

The entire "App Store" concept is a fabrication.

No "store" is needed whatsoever, as all of us using Macs readily understand (I'm assuming you too).

Sure, and that's already a separate question. If their intent was to treat iOS like the Mac, I'd wish Riley nothing but luck on all fronts (not that he'd need it).

Presumably every concept that makes up an operating system is a "fabrication." The Mac App Store is a fabrication too, yet the notion of choosing to seek apps there retains a range of meaningful distinctions from the notion of seeking Mac apps more traditionally.

Apple doesn't support natively running Windows or Linux apps on Macs today. Most of us understand intuitively – and, indeed, respect – that the reason has less to do with their ability to implement this support, and more to do with design intent. And I imagine at least a lot of us would agree intuitively that it's somewhere between bizarre and squandering for a government to therefore require them to implement it.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Bfd. Never will use, period.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Apple doesn't support natively running Windows or Linux apps on Macs today. Most of us understand intuitively – and, indeed, respect – that the reason has less to do with their ability to implement this support, and more to do with design intent.

No, but macOS & Apple do support running Mac apps, irrespective of where they're sourced from.

My point about "App Stores" being simply a created construct/aggregations of Apps is that the Apps themselves are indistinguishable irrespective of source, short of being vetted for compliance with individual objectives or restrictions of a given store (business objectives in the case of the iOS or Mac App Stores).

Running Apps built for totally different platforms isn't relevant here.

 

[robbyclark]

I will never side load an app, this is just breaking Apple's secure system.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I will never side load an app, this is just breaking Apple's secure system.

Nope, the security model of the OS is fully intact.

The App Store has nothing to do with that.

I realize this is confusing. Apple has gone out of their way to push confusing narratives about it specifically to justify their App distribution, and revenue (what it's really about), lock down on iOS.

 

[Morgenland]

I will never side load an app, this is just breaking Apple's secure system.

I feel the same way you do. Why abandon something that’s solid and reliable? I really don’t think most folks make that leap because they’re poor, or because they think Apple’s store apps are all that terrible. Nah—more often than not, I suspect it’s about wanting to be seen as different. Special, even. And some, bless them, don’t quite realize just how hot fire can get when you play with it too long.

Others wrap themselves in the illusion of being deeper, smarter, or more enlightened than the mainstream. I get it—I was young once too. And with youth comes a certain… well, let’s call it creative foolishness. It’s the age where you go hunting for fellow rebels, allies in your noble quest against all things “normal.”

These days? I’ve left that behind. And honestly, I’m quite happy to have a Mac that works and an iPhone that doesn’t try to stage a revolution every time I open an app. As safe as can be, anyway.

Still, I do smile watching the next generation of fighters and fire-starters coming up, catching that adolescent fever all over again. So full of wild ideas that sound clever and straightforward—at least to them. You and I? We’ve long since stopped being impressed. Ah, yes—every era has its rebels. Some challenge ideas, others just smash windows in funny hats.

 

[01cowherd]

Nope, the security model of the OS is fully intact.

The App Store has nothing to do with that.

I realize this is confusing. Apple has gone out of their way to push confusing narratives about it specifically to justify their App distribution, and revenue (what it's really about), lock down on iOS.

It’s amusing because there is actually a security benefit to using the Mac App Store. Apps distributed through the Mac App Store must have the sandbox enabled, whereas they don’t have to be sandboxed when distributed by the developer or another marketplace. Almost no devs enable the sandbox if they don’t have to. This contrasts with iOS, where every app is sandboxed no matter the installation source. Yet Mac is the open platform and iOS is closed.

 

[Morgenland]

It’s amusing because there is actually a security benefit to using the Mac App Store. Apps distributed through the Mac App Store must have the sandbox enabled, whereas they don’t have to be sandboxed when distributed by the developer or another marketplace. Almost no devs enable the sandbox if they don’t have to. This contrasts with iOS, where every app is sandboxed no matter the installation source. Yet Mac is the open platform and iOS is closed.

May I ask you something? Just out of curiosity…

You know, I believe people do know everything you so rightly point out. I think they do understand the boring facts. And yet—somehow—they still choose other priorities, walk different paths, support alternative providers that, frankly, raise more than a few eyebrows when it comes to trust integrity and security.

So may I ask you a question? Not to challenge, not to provoke—just genuine curiosity (and not because I don’t have my own thoughts on it):

Why do you think people still advocate for those alternatives, even knowin’ they ain’t near as safe?
Why do they, knowingly, bringin’ more damn uncertainty into this world, and they know it?
What is it, do you think, that pulls them in that direction?

I’m really curious what you see there.

 

[bLackjackj]

when people download apps from this place do not blame apple when you get hacked or you phone

Then you probaly shouldn’t own a computer. The iPhone is still sandboxed.you really need to do appropriate research. Altstore is already available with no such cases 🙄🤦‍♂️

 

[bLackjackj]

Alternative app store AltStore raises $6M, connects with the fediverse | TechCrunch

The alternative app marketplace AltStore has raised $6 million and launched a Mastodon server.

techcrunch.com

 

[Naraxus]

Absolutely unreal that Apple does all the hard work of creating & maintaining the AppStore (not to mention iOS), provide developers with all the tools they need to create great apps as well as a huge range of customers to buy your apps and so on, and because of a bunch of freeloading whiners (Ek & Sweeny chief among them) Apple is now expected to give it all away for free.

Sad times indeed.

 

[I7guy]

Absolutely unreal that Apple does all the hard work of creating & maintaining the AppStore (not to mention iOS), provide developers with all the tools they need to create great apps as well as a huge range of customers to buy your apps and so on, and because of a bunch of freeloading whiners (Ek & Sweeny chief among them) Apple is now expected to give it all away for free.

Sad times indeed.

Yep, amazing what can be done on the backs of others who do the hard work and then must give away their IP for $0.

 

[germanbeer007]

which we should all be fans of.

I'm a fan of choices that make sense.

I'm sure there would be some people that choose to run Windows or MS-DOS on their iPhone/smart fridge/watch/playstation/electric car. Doesn't mean we should allow it.

 

[Shirasaki]

Do people not realize all the different places they get macOS software from, right now?

It's so odd to watch folks advocate against having those same consumer freedoms on iOS.

It’s so bizarre it’s incomprehensible to this day. Always scratch my head around.

 

[Shirasaki]

when people download apps from this place do not blame apple when you get hacked or you phone starts messing up because you download a bad App. do not complain, you are to blame for using the altstore nothing good is going to come from this. They will point the finger at Apple when apple has nothing to do with it.

Wow people are actually held responsible for their actions for once? Shock. Horror. Unprecedented. Unbelievable. Brand new concept in 2025 lol.

Whether it's 6 or 6,000 or 6 million, the point is consumer choice, which we should all be fans of.

Yet we can all see many people love “freedom” and “lack of choice” at the same time. So yeah, at least in US, Apple won’t need to worry about needing to do anything about alternative App Store.