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AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

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Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#151

Post by saagarjha »

nicolas_17 wrote: post #126
troupo wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why the developer would bother with their own store if the App Store now allows emulators The keyword is now allows emulators. They didn't allow it 3 weeks ago. Or a year ago. Or 10 years ago. Only now , with alternative stores launching and offering this, Apple has finally allowed emulators. Perhaps the developer doesn't want to be beholden to Apple's whims? Especially after investing a lot of effort into setting…

Could you point at what part of the old rules was forbidding emulators?

Which part of the App Store makes you think that the rules are ever applied as written?

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#152

Post by dredmorbius »

dang wrote: post #149
reaperducer wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Hey can you please stop breaking the site guidelines in your HN comments? You have a long history of doing this and we've had to warn you a whole bunch of times. This is not cool. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34152909 (Dec 2022) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=26597504 (March 2021) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22795912 (April 2020) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22050840 (Jan 2020) https://…

I'd put in a strong vote that sufficient second chances have been offered here.

Moderator inaction itself reads poorly on HN after a time, and is a frequent criticism of the site, with some merits.

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#153

Post by sureglymop »

saurik wrote: post #129
broodbucket wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In what sense? Testing my memory here, but it let you install stuff from various developers. Cydia cranked things up several notches (thanks for that, by the way), but are they both not "stores"?

I guess, to me, the defining characteristic of a "store" is that you can buy things at a store... it just feels awkward to say that a store is just a place that has things and lets you get them on request ;P. AppTapp Installer was merely a package manager, and they did not implement any store functionality. FWIW, in Cydia's case, I didn't launch "Cydia Store" until about a year after I launched "Cydia Installer". (Ap…

Cydia was awesome. As a kid, the porting of apt and dpkg to ios was what got me into linux and debian, having only had access to an ipod touch before. Thank you for your work, it is inspiring.

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#154

Post by pantulis »

extraduder_ire wrote: post #147
pantulis wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is "superblack"?

In a TV signal, the brightness is encoded using certain signal levels. So you'll have a set black point, and white point representing the darkest and brightest values to be displayed respectively. If you send a signal outside those bands, it's known as a superblack/superwhite. The "blanking interval" (when the beam is meant to start at the top of the screen again) has a signal blacker than any black that would show u…

Thanks!

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#155

Post by dgellow »

oarsinsync wrote: post #141
dgellow wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Same issue here on an iPhone SE. Also tried on an iPad, where I got a pop up “you can only install this marketplace on an iPhone”, which is disappointing.

> Also tried on an iPad, where I got a pop up “you can only install this marketplace on an iPhone”, which is disappointing. Apple claim that the iOS App Store is a separate entity to the iPadOS App Store, and thus, doesn’t qualify as a gatekeeper under the EU DMA. Apple have made alternative app stores only available to iPhones running iOS 17.4+. Apple may benefit from you registering your disappointment with them di…

What a joke… Apple is so obviously abusing everything they can to avoid complying to the spirit of the law. That makes it so clear they in a dominant position here.

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#156

Post by [deleted] »

threeseed wrote: post #89
lapcat wrote: post #38

"For developers who choose to agree to the new business terms, membership in the Apple Developer Program includes one million first annual installs per year for free for apps distributed from the App Store, Web Distribution, and/or alternative marketplaces." https://developer.apple.com/support/core-technology-fee/ This is what some commenters here don't understand when they criticize the developer for not offering a…

There is nothing stopping you having multiple developer accounts. And there is the option of setting up a non-profit which removes the CTF. It seems much more like the aim is to drive usage towards the AltStore.

[deleted]

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#157

Post by kalleboo »

nicolas_17 wrote: post #126
troupo wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> why the developer would bother with their own store if the App Store now allows emulators The keyword is now allows emulators. They didn't allow it 3 weeks ago. Or a year ago. Or 10 years ago. Only now , with alternative stores launching and offering this, Apple has finally allowed emulators. Perhaps the developer doesn't want to be beholden to Apple's whims? Especially after investing a lot of effort into setting…

Could you point at what part of the old rules was forbidding emulators?

Until now, emulators have been rejected under this rule

> 2.5.2 Apps should be self-contained in their bundles, and may not read or write data outside the designated container area, nor may they download, install, or execute code which introduces or changes features or functionality of the app, including other apps

I.e. "all the code this app ever runs has to be there when the app goes to app review"

This rule change on January 29 allowed for mini games and streaming games

> 4.7 Mini apps, mini games, streaming games, chatbots, and plug-ins: Apps may offer certain software that is not embedded in the binary, specifically mini apps and games, streaming games, chatbots, and plug-ins.

And then specifically this addition on April 10

> 4.7 [...] Additionally, retro game console emulator apps can offer to download games

is what allowed retro game emulators.

Source: https://www.appstorereviewguidelineshistory.com

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#158

Post by talldayo »

nerdjon wrote: post #45
littlestymaar wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I have not seen anything that the release on the App Store was held up by apple and that this wasn't just instead an simultaneous release on both platforms by the developer. See this commit from 3 years ago[1]! On Delta's Repo: > Delta was originally developed under the impression Apple would allow it into the App Store. Unfortunately Apple later changed their minds, leaving me no choice but to find a new way to di…

> The main reason why you “have not seen anything that the release on the App Store was held up by apple” is that because you did not want to see it, because it goes against your believes (believes that have been manufactured by Apple's propaganda machine). I really feel like it should be obvious that I am talking about since apple made the policy change regarding emulators. It is well understood that before about a…

> which doesn't line up with your conspiracy theory that the only reason this one was allowed was because of their own store.

Literally, tell me you have never heard of Delta without telling me you've never heard of Delta.

The only reason this app exists is because of alternative App Stores. It is not a conspiracy theory, you can ask me, saurik, or any other iOS user that used the Altstore to attain basic functionality on their phone.

> And no this is not 100% on apple. The developer could have put it on the App Store in all regions. Again, Apple approved an emulator recently.

Yep. This is 100% on you. You are the only person that continues to enable and apologize for this behavior. So naturally, you are the only person that deserves to suffer on behalf of the users. I really hope you never sideload, and you get to watch the App Store become the same barren husk it is on MacOS while you desperately beg developers to pay for distributing their Free Software. Surely, those high-and-mighty developers will descend from their ivory tower and delete their altstores so that 'nerdjon' from Hacker News won't keep pissing and moaning about how his iPhone sucks now. Yes, that will fix it.

Re: AltStore PAL, the first alternative app marketplace on iPhone, is available now

#159

Post by [deleted] »

nerdjon wrote: post #25
talldayo wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That really sucks. I don't deal with any of that on Android, it must be an iOS-specific policy that results in the vast and feverish desire for developers to leave the App Store. As a user, you must really be going through it. From a developer standpoint (or hell, even a business one), kissing Apple's ring is not infinitely viable. Either Apple drafts more amicable first-party terms for their developers, or the peopl…

Android is a good point because there were a lot of people trying to say, well this didn't happen on Android. I get it from a developer stand point, but from a user standpoint I bought an iPhone because of the restrictions developers had to abide by (not that I agree with all of them, like with Emulators). I subscribe to a number of apps on my iPhone through the App Store because of the easy way to cancel any subscri…

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