Alternative app store AltStore PAL joins the fediverse

AltStore PAL, an alternative app store for iOS, made possible by new regulations in markets like the EU and Japan, is integrating with the open social web. The company on Wednesday announced support for the fediverse, the open social web that runs on ActivityPub, which underpins apps like Mastodon, Flipboard, PeerTube, Threads, and others.

Known broadly as the “fediverse,” users on the open social web join independent servers that interoperate with one another, or “federate,” allowing people to communicate, view, and respond to posts with those on other social platforms.

With AltStore PAL’s launch of its own Mastodon server, it’s becoming the first federated app marketplace.

The company intends to use its server to give app developers a way to communicate about their apps’ news, updates, and alerts. Because these posts are federated, they can be seen, liked, and interacted with by users across the open social web, including Mastodon, Instagram’s Threads, and even Bluesky — assuming the Bluesky users have bridged their accounts to make them accessible to those in the fediverse.

“So that means, like, if you have a Mastodon account or Threads account, you could follow these accounts. You could follow the source from our Mastodon server, and then, in your timeline, you would see when there was an app update,” AltStore PAL co-founder Riley Testut told TechCrunch last fall, when the company was teasing its plans and announcing its $6 million Series A.

The interactions on these posts will also be shown on the AltStore PAL app itself, as people can sign in with their Mastodon or Bluesky accounts to like the apps, the app updates, and the news alerts within the app marketplace.

At launch, a handful of apps are already participating, including Loops, a federated short-form video app; PeerTube, a federated app similar to YouTube; and iPhanpy, a Mastodon client built by indie developer Matt Fantinel.

Some larger apps are planning to launch on this federated marketplace at a later time after changes to Apple’s commission structure are finalized in the EU. (Due to potential liability issues over payments, these apps are waiting for Apple to replace its Core Technology Fee with its Core Technology Commission, a decision it made after getting pushback from regulators over its prior revamp of its commission system.)

To access the AltStore PAL’s Mastodon server, users can visit fosstodon.org/@altstore. Meanwhile, users can also discover apps and sources on the AltStore PAL’s explore page at explore.alt.store. Alongside this update, the AltStore PAL app has been updated with an iOS 26 Liquid Glass design and icon.