altstoreio/altstore

★ 13,852SwiftAudience · developerComplexity · 3/5LicenseSetup · hard

Mindmap

mindmap
  root((AltStore))
    What it does
      Sideload iOS apps
      No jailbreak needed
      Auto-refresh apps
    How it works
      Personal dev account
      AltServer companion
      WiFi sync
    Requirements
      Xcode 15
      iOS 14 or newer
      macOS 11 or newer
    Use cases
      Install Delta emulator
      Distribute own apps
      Bypass App Store

mindmap root((AltStore)) What it does Sideload iOS apps No jailbreak needed Auto-refresh apps How it works Personal dev account AltServer companion WiFi sync Requirements Xcode 15 iOS 14 or newer macOS 11 or newer Use cases Install Delta emulator Distribute own apps Bypass App Store

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Things people build with this

USE CASE 1

Install apps on your iPhone or iPad that are not available on the App Store, without jailbreaking your device.

USE CASE 2

Distribute your own iOS app to users outside the App Store by listing it as an AltStore source.

USE CASE 3

Build and compile AltStore from source in Xcode 15 to sideload it directly onto your device.

USE CASE 4

Automatically refresh sideloaded apps over WiFi before Apple's 7-day certificate expiry limit kicks in.

Tech stack

SwiftXcodeiOSmacOSiTunes

Getting it running

Difficulty · hard Time to first run · 1h+

Requires a Mac or Windows PC running AltServer, Xcode 15 for building from source, and an Apple ID with a personal developer account.

Licensed under AGPLv3, but the original author grants anyone permission to use, modify, and distribute the original code without restrictions.

In plain English

AltStore is an alternative app store for iPhones and iPads that does not require jailbreaking. Apple only officially allows apps to be installed through the App Store, but AltStore works around this by using your personal Apple developer account, which every Apple ID holder has in a limited form, to re-sign app files and install them on your device. The setup requires two pieces: the AltStore app on your iPhone or iPad, and a companion desktop app called AltServer running on your Mac or Windows computer. When you want to install an app, AltStore communicates with AltServer over your local WiFi connection, and AltServer handles the actual installation using Apple's standard iTunes sync mechanism. Because apps installed this way expire after seven days (a limit Apple imposes on personal development certificates), AltStore also runs in the background to automatically refresh your installed apps before they expire, as long as your device is on the same WiFi network as AltServer. The project was originally built primarily to distribute Delta, an all-in-one game emulator for iOS. The code is now publicly available and the author has been working on making it possible for other developers to list and distribute their own apps through AltStore as well. For developers who want to compile the project themselves, it requires Xcode 15, Swift 5.9, and supports iOS 14 or newer for the phone app and macOS 11 or newer for the desktop companion. The README includes step-by-step instructions for building it, including some manual configuration steps needed when running through Xcode rather than installing via AltServer directly. The license is AGPLv3 due to some dependencies, though the author explicitly grants anyone permission to use, modify, and distribute the original code without restrictions. There is an FAQ on the AltStore website for common user questions.

Copy-paste prompts

Prompt 1

Help me set up AltStore on my iPhone using AltServer on my Mac, and explain how to keep my sideloaded apps from expiring every 7 days.

Prompt 2

I want to distribute my iOS app to beta testers using AltStore instead of TestFlight. Show me how to create a custom AltStore source JSON.

Prompt 3

Walk me through building the AltStore project from source in Xcode 15, including the manual configuration steps needed when not installing via AltServer directly.

Prompt 4

How does AltStore use my personal Apple developer certificate to sign apps, and what are the 7-day expiry limitations I need to plan around?

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