Almost a month after Apple\u2019s begrudging capitulation<\/a> to the Digital Markets Act<\/a> (DMA), only one third-party iOS app store is currently live in Europe. It\u2019s the B2B-focused Mobivention<\/a> marketplace that allows companies to distribute their own apps internally. While that\u2019s fine and all, things won\u2019t stay this way for long \u2014 and it\u2019s what\u2019s coming soon that\u2019ll really pique the interest of Verge<\/em> readers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Both the Epic Games Store<\/a> and MacPaw\u2019s Setapp<\/a> have been announced, but it\u2019s AltStore<\/a> that\u2019s likely to hit EU users\u2019 phones first. This new app marketplace from developer Riley Testut is a version of AltStore, an App Store alternative that launched in 2019<\/a> that doesn\u2019t require users to jailbreak their devices. The primary drive for its creation was Delta, a Nintendo emulator that Testut and his business partner Shane Gill are now bringing to the iPhone through their European app marketplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Currently, the new version of AltStore is deep in Apple\u2019s approval process and will be ready to go live once it gets the thumbs up from the company. Thankfully, we\u2019ve already had a chance to preview the marketplace and spend some time kicking its tires.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One reason we\u2019ve not seen more app stores launch at this point in time is partially down to Apple making it too costly. For example, its Core Technology Fee<\/a> (CTF) requires developers to pay Apple 50 euro cents for every annual app install over 1 million<\/em><\/a>, <\/em>but <\/em>developers of third-party app stores must pay the CTF for every<\/em> first annual install<\/a> of their app marketplace. In other words, every download of AltStore and Mobivention costs their developers 50 euro cents \u2014 a fee that could quickly become unsustainable. The current AltStore has been downloaded over a million times, for example.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s no best practice guide on managing this, but Mobivention has passed the CTF fees onto its customers through membership packages<\/a>. At the time of writing, AltStore hasn\u2019t announced how it plans to handle this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Such fees aren\u2019t financially devastating for users, but they could be enough of a blocker to stop the slightly curious from exploring alternative app stores \u2014 especially if people aren\u2019t really sure what they\u2019ll find there. No one likes paying for services they may not use, after all. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Another potential roadblock to widespread third-party marketplace adoption is just how fiddly it is, with each store taking around a dozen screen interactions to install.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It goes like this: you begin by clicking a browser-based link to load the alternative store. From there, you receive a pop-up informing you that your installation settings don\u2019t allow marketplaces from that developer. Then, you head into Settings, enable the marketplace, return to your browser, click the download link again, and receive another prompt asking you to confirm the install. Finally, you can open the store and browse the available apps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s not a tricky procedure to follow, but there are enough steps and scary language to make it irritating and act as a deterrent \u2014 especially when Apple\u2019s App Store only requires a single click to get going. It\u2019s hard to view this as anything other than the company\u2019s attempt to sap people\u2019s energy and dissuade them from carrying on, especially given Apple\u2019s historical prowess at designing user experiences.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Thankfully, installing third-party apps themselves is easier. On both Mobivention and AltStore, it\u2019s effectively the same process as the App Store: you click on a button that says \u201cinstall\u201d and\u2026 it installs. On first inspection, at least. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n While this method works for AltStore\u2019s bundled apps \u2014 Delta and Clip \u2014 using software from other providers requires a slightly different approach. AltStore allows you to add \u201csources,\u201d which are URLs developers share that contain JSON files holding app metadata. Once these sources are added, the apps they point to can be downloaded from AltStore. It\u2019s a little Inception<\/em>-esque: stores within a store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Clearly, this decentralized approach differs from Apple\u2019s all-inclusive App Store and could further deter the general public. It\u2019s a little complicated for most people. Saying that, I\u2019d bet a lot of enthusiasts are rubbing their hands together with glee about this unrestrained approach to app distribution.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n These sources won\u2019t be available at release, but Testut says this is a \u201cpriority post-launch,\u201d and there will soon be a curated list of recommended source partners to download apps from.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As I didn\u2019t try out a source in the course of my testing, this left me to focus on the two apps available at launch: Delta and Clip. And this is where things get particularly exciting, because Delta, especially, is terrific. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Delta is primarily a Nintendo emulator that focuses on the NES, SNES, N64, and pre-Switch handhelds. I wasn\u2019t expecting to be impressed by the free app, but it genuinely blew me away. Playing classic games on my iPhone is something I didn\u2019t even know I missed.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Actually using Delta was a breeze. You can upload ROMs via iCloud Drive or from your phone\u2019s Download folder, and the performance while playing various titles was excellent. I will say that the controls were awkward on the touchscreen, but connecting an external controller made things much easier \u2014 even if I had a few issues accessing Delta\u2019s menu afterward.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n All in all, though, as someone who grew up with these games, finally playing them on an iPhone feels nothing short of magical.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Clip was another app I enjoyed using. This clipboard manager requires a minimum Patreon pledge of $1 a month (plus taxes) to download. You can cancel this monthly pledge at any time and still continue to use Clip, but it won\u2019t receive any updates.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Regarding the app itself, the version of Clip I tried differs from similar software offered on Apple\u2019s App Store in that it constantly runs in the background. Normally, clipboard managers on iOS have to use a variety of workarounds to achieve comparable functionality. For example, Paste<\/a> requires you to open the app each time you want to add something you\u2019ve copied to the clipboard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This is where Clip thrives, by comparison. When you copy something, you immediately receive a notification and can swipe down to save it to your clipboard. This means you have the option to add it if it\u2019s something useful \u2014 like an address \u2014 or dismiss the notification if it\u2019s something you don\u2019t want logged, like a password. I found saving your copied items like this into a centralized location to be incredibly useful, as it makes sharing and reusing these snippets painless.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Clip works well, and it\u2019s a tool I can see myself using, but it does raise some red flags. There\u2019s a reason that Apple doesn\u2019t allow fully functioning clipboard managers on the App Store after all. Security-wise, there\u2019s a potential danger in allowing an app to snoop on everything you\u2019re copying and pasting \u2014 especially if a bad actor manages to access your data store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When I put this concern to Testut, he tells me Clip uses \u201cstandard iOS security (e.g. sandboxing)\u201d and that everything is stored in an SQLite database, something that can\u2019t be accessed by other apps, \u201cunless your device is jailbroken.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Nevertheless, it\u2019s these types of apps that have raised concern around using third-party marketplaces \u2014 especially by companies like Apple<\/a>. It contends that the DMA is throttling its ability to \u201cdetect, prevent, and take action against malicious apps on iOS and to support users impacted by issues with apps downloaded outside of the App Store.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s some truth to that, but it\u2019s not quite so binary. Apple still has to do a baseline review and notarize all apps on third-party app stores<\/a> in order to \u201censure [they] are free of known malware, viruses, or other security threats, function as promised, and don\u2019t expose users to egregious fraud.\u201d Under the DMA, Apple is also allowed to take \u201cnecessary and proportionate<\/a>\u201d steps to protect users and mitigate any security issues.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For example, after I had tested Clip, Testut had to tweak the app\u2019s background monitoring feature in order for Apple to notarize it. The first version I tried used the user\u2019s location to remain active, but was rejected by Apple. Testut then updated Clip with a Map feature \u2014 so there\u2019s a reason for the app to remain active in the background \u2014 to receive approval.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This back and forth clearly shows that third-party marketplaces aren\u2019t quite the Wild West some have feared.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n This isn\u2019t to say there aren\u2019t dangers involved with operating outside of Apple\u2019s walled garden though. Clip might protect your data, but what about the next app you decide to try? The sparsely populated app privacy sections on AltStore don\u2019t help alleviate this concern, especially compared to the App Store<\/a>. Being less secure doesn\u2019t automatically mean you\u2019ll have your identity or data stolen, but some additional transparency related to data collection, permissions, and privacy would certainly be welcome.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Likely, the biggest hurdle for the general public to adopt third-party marketplaces will be leaving the comforting embrace of the App Store. People have been downloading apps from Apple since 2008. Whether it\u2019s security, user privacy, app updates, fraud protection, or refunds, you feel confident that Apple has it under control on the App Store.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Third-party app stores introduce an element of doubt. What happens if you\u2019re out of the EU for over a month<\/a> and apps you depend on stop getting updates? Or you want a refund on a defective piece of software? Or an app scams you?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the case of AltStore, Testut says that since all marketplace payments are done via Patreon pledges, Patreon will deal with any disputes as it does on the existing AltStore. Other app marketplaces will take different approaches. With Apple, you always know where you stand.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While AltStore and Mobivention aren\u2019t well known enough to inspire confidence in the same way Apple does, other big hitters might. Both the aforementioned Epic Games Store<\/a> and Setapp<\/a> marketplaces are on the horizon, and their higher profiles could convince people of their ability to mitigate harm and moderate disputes. Normalizing app downloads outside the App Store will also get a boost after the spring when Apple enables web distribution<\/a> for large developers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Of course, for the public to get used to alternative marketplaces, consumer-focused ones need to launch first. While AltStore may be close to going live, the approval process has been slow and drawn out causing the launch to miss its March target.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Fundamentally, in their current state, third-party iOS app stores like AltStore will only be attractive to power users, groups of enthusiasts who are desperate to solve niche issues or have particular interests in something they can\u2019t get on the App Store, like a fully functioning clipboard manager or game emulator.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And Apple? It\u2019s probably pretty happy with this. The fewer things that mess with its big old moneymaker<\/a>, the better \u2014 even if its approach to DMA compliance makes the company low-hanging fruit<\/a> for hungry EU regulators.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nInstalling an app marketplace<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Are the apps worth all the pain?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Caveat emptor<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n