The app marketplace charges €1.50 annually, with additional tax. It starts with a free Nintendo emulator named Delta and a clipboard manager called Clip.
AltStore PAL, a third-party iOS app store, is now available in the European Union. This launch follows Apple’s adherence to the Digital Markets Act (DMA) after a recent beta test.
Users must pay an annual fee of €1.50 plus tax. This fee is to cover Apple’s Core Technology Fee (CTF) necessary for setting up the app marketplace.
To install AltStore PAL, you need to navigate through many of Apple’s warning screens. These screens repeatedly confirm if you want to install apps from outside Apple’s App Store. With enough persistence and clicks, it will finally install.
The new app marketplace is launching with two apps created by Riley Testut. The first, Delta, is an emulator that plays games from NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS.
The second, Clip, is a clipboard manager that Apple does not allow. Riley Testut and his business partner Shane Gill developed this store.
Delta is also being released on Apple’s App Store today for users outside of Europe. This is positive news for those affected by the iGBA incident over the weekend.
AltStore PAL is linking its marketplace to Patreon for earning money. It will help developers who wish to offer beta apps as a reward for crowd-funded support, something not permitted in the App Store.
Delta is available for free to balance the CTF cost, but downloading Clip needs a monthly Patreon donation of at least €1, plus tax.
Neither the apps nor the app store they’re launching on are completely new. AltStore has existed for iOS since 2019. Previously, installing it required a method that made the iPhone believe you are the app’s developer.
This was done using a software called AltServer on a Mac or PC. Although this method is somewhat makeshift, it does not actually require jailbreaking your phone.
Now, because of the DMA, Delta and Clip have been officially approved by Apple and are launching on the AltStore PAL marketplace in the EU. You can find our reviews of both apps in our hands-on section.
These apps showcase the type of software that could now appear on iPhones since developers don’t have to solely rely on Apple’s App Store to reach users. Delta, a game emulator, occupies a legally uncertain space that Apple has only recently begun to accept.
Clip, on the other hand, must use several tricks to keep running in the background and, according to Testut, these tricks violate App Store policies.
There are valid reasons for these rules—for instance, trusting Clip is important since it accesses everything you copy and paste.
However, this is something users must assess themselves instead of depending on Apple to decide.
Testut mentions that AltStore PAL is also accepting apps from third-party developers. Unlike the centralized approach of Apple’s App Store, developers will host their AltStore PAL apps on their own servers.
Users will need to add extra “sources” to the marketplace to download apps created by other developers.
What we think?
I think the new AltStore PAL will be popular because it lets people get apps that aren’t on Apple’s App Store. The price is very low, just €1.50 a year, which is affordable. People will like using Delta to play old Nintendo games.
However, setting it up with all of Apple’s warnings might be annoying. It’s good that it doesn’t need jailbreaking, making it safer for users.