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Comment by pronoiac | Hacker News Reader

From their GitHub readme:

> AltStore is an iOS application that allows you to sideload other apps (.ipa files) onto your iOS device with just your Apple ID. AltStore re-signs apps with your personal development certificate and sends them to a desktop app, AltServer, which installs the re-signed apps back to your device using iTunes WiFi sync. To prevent apps from expiring, AltStore will also periodically refresh your apps in the background when on the same WiFi as AltServer.

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Note that this is also completely at Apple's whims, so if they ever decide to lock down their signing process or cut off non-developer IDs, the whole concept would fall through.

It's a hack with a nice UI, really - which doesn't mean that it doesn't work quite well, just that it's unsustainable and annoying, especially with non-developer ID limitations.

Even if developer fee would be required, it's better than nothing.

Debatable if it's "better"; it's legitimately scummy to prevent/paywall people from running whatever software they want on their devices.

Well, kind of. Apple was able to kill Cydia Impactor (which is predecessor to AltStore) without breaking their “legitimate” code signing service.

http://www.cydiaimpactor.com/

This is mostly because Cydia Impactor stopped having much effort put into it.

That’s true, but Apple did break it out of the blue after working for 5+ years.

https://twitter.com/saurik/status/1196888477830221824

It's really not new and it's just a signing trick, not an alternative Store as the name suggests

It's also not practical as you need a desktop to install and also every now and then to keep the apps running...

It appears to be very practical for some people.

If as a user, you plan to use it for yourself, then re-signing is already possible and while this complex setup might make it easier, it's still a little bit unpractical.

If you expect to distribute an app through this, then it's mostly a no-go as, except some very strange use-cases, no user will be willing to go for this to use your app.

You like to speak for other people, huh?

Needing a desktop to install is not a deal breaker for a large fraction of users, even if it's not as convenient as having a phone-only solution. According to the FAQ, you don't also need to keep the (phone) apps running. Keeping the desktop app running doesn't seem like a problem.

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