Seeing is believing. I installed Aptoide on my iPhone 15 Pro. If you had told me a year ago that this was possible, I would have driven anyone who dared to comment on it crazy. But it’s true, the early access version of Aptoide is now available to anyone who pre-registered.

As with AltStore, this opens the door to installing an alternative app store on the iPhone. Aptoide is currently one of the main alternatives in this field and has many more apps than AltStore or SetApp. This is what I found in its first version.

First version with all lettersThe version of Aptoide that we can install is 1.1.0 and it is the first version that is available through the link sent to all pre-registered users.

In this email, Aptoide sends us a code that must then be entered on the website. Once we enter the code, we can proceed with the download.

Install Aptoide. As usual, Apple does not make it that easy to install third-party stores. When you want to install it for the first time, the system will warn you that you need to make some changes to the settings. That’s right, you will need to go to iOS settings and click on “Authorize apps from “Aptoide SA””.

Once we click it will tell us that Aptoide wants to install an app store and that downloads, updates and purchases will be managed by the developer and not by Apple. Once this double check is completed, Aptoide will now work on our iPhone.

It is worth remembering here that apps from third-party stores are notarized by Apple. In other words, it is almost impossible for a malicious app to sneak in, even if we do not download it directly from the App Store.

Aptoide interface. The App Store has one advantage over app stores that want to fight it: its interface is excellent. Aptoide knows this and wanted to create a highly visual app. It consists of four sections: Home, Editorial, Updates, and Bonuses.

On the Home page we will find the featured applications, application categories and some recommendations. It is interesting that there is still no application search engine.

The editorial section is a type of magazine, as its name suggests. In it we can see the descriptions of some of the most remarkable applications.

Bonus section. One of the advantages of Aptoide is that it has its own coins. By downloading some applications from this store, we can use Altcoins to make in-app payments.

This allows developers to bypass Apple commissions as we will be paying via card, PayPal, and AltCoins. Whether this will translate into more competitively priced apps remains to be seen.

The first real competitor to the App Store. The app stores released so far are not competitors to the App Store. AltStore has almost no own developer apps, and alternatives like SetApp require a subscription that many will not want to pay.

Aptoide is the closest thing to a direct competitor: it’s free, it will have a larger catalog of apps, and it’s easier to reach agreements with major developers, as it’s a massive solution that’s been around for years.

Image | Xataka

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