Aptoide, a popular Google Play alternative for Android devices, will be launching an iOS game marketplace on Thursday, June 6, in the European Union.
The Aptoide iOS store will launch with a limited selection of titles, but the company says that new games will arrive every day, and that 30 titles are currently being processed for inclusion. Examples of current games include Word Jungle, Condor — Leap of Faith, Solitaire, Mahjong, and Charades.
Initially, access to the store will be restricted to users with invitation-only access codes, but Aptoide says it has a waiting list of 20,000 signups and plans to issue between 500 to 1,000 codes per day.
As noted by The Verge, Aptoide is the first third-party iOS marketplace to launch with an Apple-approved in-app purchases (IAP) solution, which it will provide to developers via an IAP software development kit.
Apple's 50 euro cents Core Technology Fee (CFT) will be covered by a fee charged to developers for in-app purchases, which means IAP-driven apps will be "preferred" in Aptoide iOS, according to the marketplace's CEO, Paulo Trezentos.
Apps distributed through alternative app marketplaces are required to submit to a notarization process to ensure they are free from malware, but Apple does not have restrictions on content so apps that might not have been eligible for the App Store can be distributed through alternative means. Alternative app marketplaces are not available outside of the European Union.
Aptoide has operated for an Android App Store since 2009, and last year reached nearly half a billion downloads.
