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

by

AltStore today announced plans to make its iPhone app available in Australia, Brazil, and Japan later this year, followed by the UK next year.

altstore pal eu
AltStore is also gaining "Fediverse" support, via the ActivityPub protocol.

AltStore provides iPhone users with an alternative to Apple's built-in App Store, and it even offers some apps that would violate Apple's App Review Guidelines.

AltStore first launched on the iPhone in the EU last year, after the Digital Markets Act required Apple to allow alternative app stores. Australia, Brazil, Japan, and the UK are working to implement similar regulations, which would pave the way for AltStore to launch in those countries as well. However, the exact timing could shift.

Alternative app stores have been supported on the iPhone and iPad in the EU since iOS 17.4 and iPadOS 17.4 were released in April 2024. AltStore and other alternative app stores can be installed on these devices via Safari or another web browser.

Apple has yet to announce or implement support for alternative app stores in Australia, Brazil, Japan, and the UK, as regulations in those countries are still being finalized and/or have yet to be enforced. AltStore has simply announced its plans early.

In the U.S., the Department of Justice filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple last year, but the case is ongoing and alternative app stores on the iPhone remain unsupported there.

Tag: AltStore

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Top Rated Comments

turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
19 weeks ago
Phenomenal!

This is the kind of real innovation that is enabled by competition in the App Store space.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G
germanbeer007
19 weeks ago
All of 6 people rejoice!
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
19 weeks ago
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.
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
E
Eorlas
19 weeks ago

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.
This is precisely why I actively refuse to acquire macOS applications from apple's official app. I really, really REALLY do not need a company deciding which programs I should be allowed to run on my machine.

They are welcome to warn me if it shows up in whatever malware reports that security researchers generate. They can warn me about potentially malicious code in the files. This is all fine.

I cannot stand Apple's insistence on gatekeeping my user permissions behind warnings that make it appear like I absolutely cannot install something they didn't approve of, only to be able to circumvent this by going into Security settings and clicking "install anyway" and giving biometric approval.

This is idiotic. If you as a user want Apple's hand-holding because elementary IT awareness isn't something you have the bandwidth to learn, fine. Go for it. Grandpa needs to not have to work so hard just to use their macbook air? Obviously this is helpful to him.

But for the love of god, stop endorsing a company's malicious behavior when it acts against the interest of the user just because you don't want to think harder than a button that says "Get." For people who can handle determining whether or not installing something is a good idea, this setup is irritating at best.

It's doubly ironic to me seeing people give AltStore the same treatment they gave Cydia & jailbreaking in MR forums, when this place is inundated with people who think Apple doesn't innovate any more. I mean, they're specifically creating certain limitations because they can control what constitutes innovation. Syncing with iPhones over WiFi waaaaaaaaay back in the day was something people with jailbroken devices could do before Apple called it a "new feature." Control Center introduced by Apple back in iOS 7? Had that on iOS 4.

An enormous amount of you will complain that Apple makes little effort to bring big changes, and then celebrate when they lock their OS' out of customization.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
turbineseaplane Avatar
turbineseaplane
19 weeks ago

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.
None of which happens right now on macOS.



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Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
U
Unregistered 4U
19 weeks ago

All of 6 people rejoice!
Maybe one day there will be as many people that want to use the AltStore as there are Apple Vision Pro users!
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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