For the sake of user privacy and security, Apple has been reluctant to open the app side loading function of IOS devices to third-party app stores Officials insist that this will lead to malware risk, and the current policy does not allow unapproved apps to run on the iPhone. Even so, developer Riley testut has been trying to find a breakthrough since 2019 Fast company said: altsotre has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times since its launch three years ago.
(from: altstore website)
It is reported that altstore has more than 300000 monthly active users, and nearly 6000 of them support testut on the patreon platform (paying more than $14500 for its full-time service).
After installation, altstore will allow users to add applications made by testut and be relatively free to import available resources they find elsewhere (as long as they use the encapsulated format of. IPA).
It can be seen that the advertising version of SNS applications are quite popular, as well as those classic game simulator applications.
Step ① - Download altserver on your PC and install it to Apple On the phone.
In fact, the developers of Apple's [Xcode] app are allowed to load their [Xcode] app development channel directly to the [Xcode] side of the iPhone( https://apple.pvxt.net/c/1251234/435400/7639?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com%2Fcn%2Fiphone%2F ) Come on.
Testut said: "when Apple first announced this feature in 2015, we wondered whether we could find some workarounds to load apps onto IOS devices using Apple ID only, and then gradually expand altstore into a near perfect overall solution.".
Although it is not easy for a set of processes to come down, interested friends can still refer to testut's "three-step" strategy.
Step 2 - start altstore on your phone to start downloading the required applications.
First, the user needs to install an application with the same name on the MAC or PC, and then sign the security of an app with the help of altstore to make it look like it was developed by the user.
Secondly, it should be noted that the iPhone must be on the same Wi Fi network as the MAC / PC (and running altserver) in order to successfully start the application installation process.
In addition, users can only load three apps in this way each time, and the altstore ontology is also the mandatory one.
Step 3 - keep altserver running, and the tool will help you finish the rest of the work.
The embarrassment is that although users can switch a group of apps on demand, the official still restricts the loading of up to 10 apps per week. To make matters worse, fast company It is pointed out that each app after installation must be connected to altserver to "Refresh" once a week.
Even so, Apple insider Or does it mean that some colleagues have been using altstore since its debut, and it can be confirmed that it can work as well as expected. The app itself installed through it may be quite "picky" - after all, testut can't bypass Apple's official restrictions.
In the above figure, Riley testut is on the left and Shane Gil is on the right.
Finally, testut stressed that there are still considerable risks in side loading. As a tool, altserver itself is not good or bad.
The good news is that testut said it intends to build a more secure mechanism to ensure that applications loaded through altserver will not be mixed with malicious content.