Live data from Hacker News

AltStore: Alternative iOS app store that doesn't require a jailbreak

engadget.com

1–10 of 50 posts

Re: AltStore: Alternative iOS app store that doesn't require a jailbreak

#2
Isn’t apple just gonna blacklist this somehow? I get that you’re signing the app, but it’s definitely against the TOS in some obscure way. It’s not as though they won’t know which Apple IDs are logged in to the phones this gets installed on, regardless of signing certs.

Edit: I do really like this though, it is a clever way out of the walled garden! I’ve used TestFlight to load stuff like ish on my phone, and would consider doing this if apple doesn’t go around murdering apple ids associated with it.

Re: AltStore: Alternative iOS app store that doesn't require a jailbreak

#5
I thought this was abuse as labeled by Apple. What happens in this case is that the apps in the store typically need to be re-downloaded because the cert was revoked or something.

Please someone correct me if I'm wrong because I really want this kind of thing to work.

Re: AltStore: Alternative iOS app store that doesn't require a jailbreak

#6
> Testut told The Verge that measures to block AltStore would break key functionality for developers or iTunes syncing.

No, it won't. Keep in mind that we didn't have the 7 day side-load for free apple ids prior to 2015[1]. All apple has to do is disable sideloading for free accounts. I imagine it won't impact many legitimate developers, who probably have paid developer accounts anyways.

[1] https://9to5mac.com/2015/06/10/xcode-7-allows-anyone-to-down...

Re: AltStore: Alternative iOS app store that doesn't require a jailbreak

#8

Free Apple ID's have a three app limit. How is this store working around that?

From the article > Also, iOS only looks for an excessive number of app provisioning profiles, not the number of apps you have installed

I saw that line, but I must be missing something, or the article is. When I install apps with my free apple ID, they all use the same provisioning profile: I can see as much in Settings. However, I can't install more than three apps this way.

Re: AltStore: Alternative iOS app store that doesn't require a jailbreak

#9
post #5

I thought this was abuse as labeled by Apple. What happens in this case is that the apps in the store typically need to be re-downloaded because the cert was revoked or something. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong because I really want this kind of thing to work.

You're thinking of misused enterprise certs. This is a bit difference. If user's are self-signing, every install has a different certificate. So Apple can't just revoke one certificate and break everything.

The big catch is, users need to resign every seven days...

Post reply on HN