AltStore’s alternative iPhone app store is coming to more countries

AltStore PAL, which launched arsenic 1 of the archetypal alternate iOS app stores successful the EU past year, is coming to much countries, developer Riley Testut announced today. “Specifically, we program to motorboat successful Japan, Brazil, and Australia earlier the extremity of the year, with the UK to travel successful 2026,” Testut says. Launching successful much countries is “by acold our fig 1 request,” though the AltStore squad is inactive waiting to perceive much from Apple “on nonstop timing.”

Testut besides says that AltStore is making a large propulsion into the fediverse by utilizing the ActivityPub protocol to “federate apps, app updates, and quality alerts from AltStore to the unfastened societal web.” Here’s however that volition work, according to Testut:

Each AltStore root volition person its ain ActivityPub account, which tin past beryllium followed by immoderate different unfastened societal web account. You’ll beryllium capable to like, boost, and reply to everything, and astir importantly each these interactions volition look natively successful AltStore. In different words, you’ll beryllium capable to remark connected an app connected Mastodon, similar a quality update connected Threads, past unfastened AltStore and presumption each these aforesaid interactions in-app.

The AltStore squad is moving with Mastodon gGmbH to “manage a customized Mastodon server connected our behalf” (it’s disposable in beta now) and with the non-profit A New Social to enactment Bluesky utilizing the Bridgy Fed tool. The fediverse features volition travel to AltStore PAL successful “the adjacent fewer months,” Testut says.

AltStore is besides getting a $6 cardinal concern from Patreon committee subordinate Chris Paik’s Pace Capital truthful the squad tin prosecute much unit and adhd “the indispensable bandwidth to finalize Fediverse integration and grow AltStore worldwide,” Testut says. Paik volition articulation AltStore’s committee of directors, arsenic volition Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, who is simply a large instrumentality of the fediverse.