Want To Sideload Apps On Your iPhone? There’s A New App Store For These Users And It's Not Free

Last Updated: March 02, 2024, 10:00 IST

Apple has been forced to open iOS to sideloading apps, at least in part of Europe for now, and we are now seeing some action from companies. Sideloading will be a whole new game for iPhone users in the EU region, where the new rules have forced Apple to open iOS with the latest 17.4 beta version.

The Setapp store will be the first third-party apps store for iPhone users in the region, who can pick their best apps and install them on the device. The interesting part about the Setapp store is that it wants to charge a fee to those who want to use the app store and download its apps.

Currently, this app store is available on macOS for a monthly fee of $9.99 (Rs 830 approx) which gives them access to over 240 third-party apps from the company. The iOS version of the app store will be available in Beta next month, with a full release expected at a later date.

The iPhone users will also get the app store via a subscription model, but the twist is that the money you pay gets you access to the full suite of apps on the app store. Apple is not at all pleased about opening iOS to third-party apps stores but the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules have left no choice.

In fact, the company was compelled into adopting the USB C port on iPhones by the same regulator which clearly isn’t done yet. Apple feels that allowing third-party apps on iOS makes the ecosystem less secure and vulnerable to malicious attacks which is never ideal for any platform.

Apple says it will make it strict for these third-party apps to be installed, but there is very little the company could do to monitor its workings and access. The Setapp store does feel like a new twist to the apps store ecosystem, one that people will surely be keeping an eye on in the coming months.