Tag: iOS App Store

Apple Kills Sideloading iOS Apps On macOS

Apple has made modifications to prevent users from sideloading iOS apps on the new M1 Macs.

Apple introduced new Macs running its custom M1 chip in November. The M1 is based on the same chips the company has been using for years in the iPhone and iPad. As a result, one big benefit of Apple’s processor switch is the ability to run iOS apps on the Mac.

While Mac users were excited to suddenly have access to the vast catalog of iOS apps, developers do have the option to prevent their apps from showing up in the Mac App Store. Many have done this as a temporary measure, as they have not modified their apps to look and function well on bigger screens. Others need changes to function well in a non-touch environment.

Enterprising users found ways of getting around developer blocks by using tools, such as iMazing, to connect their iPhone or iPads to their Macs and bring an app’s IPA file over to the Mac, essentially installing it. Needless to say, developers that had chosen not to have their apps show up on the Mac App Store were not happy, and Apple has now taken steps to rectify the situation, according to 9to5Mac.

Starting Friday, Apple made a server-side change to the App Stores that will now prevent Macs from running sideloaded apps. Mac users are sure to be disappointed although, hopefully, developers will put in the effort to make sure their apps look good on macOS and allow them to be installed legitimately.

January 18, 2021
App Store Gets Free App Of The Week, Editor’s Choice

Apple has taken some extra steps to promote new apps in the iOS and Mac App Stores. If you go to the Featured section of the App Store on your iOS device or your Mac, you’ll see a few apps marked Editors’ Choice, and one marked Free App of the Week.

As you might expect, the apps aren’t the same across the board. The iOS App Store has four Editors’ Choice apps – two each for iPhone and iPad. The iPhone apps are the newly-released Facebook Camera and Extreme Skater. The Editors’ Choice apps for iPad are Sketchbook Ink and Air Mail.In the Mac App Store, the Editors’ Choice apps are CoBook and Deus Ex: Human Revolution. The Free App of the Week appears to be unique to the iOS App Store. This week’s is the ever-addictive Cut the Rope: Experiments.

The addition of an Editors’ Choice category is hardly surprising. Apple has advertised certain apps as Staff Picks for years, and setting some up as Editors’ Choice apps makes good sense. What’s intriguing is the addition of a Free App of the Week. The App Store, after all, is not like your average retail outlet. As you may remember from the great e-book kerfluffle, Apple’s App Store and iBookstore operate on an agency model for pricing, rather than a wholesale model. Apple isn’t the kind of retailer that can discount products on its (figurative) shelves whenever it wants. Developers set the price of App Store apps, not Apple.

That, of course, raises the question of how Apple can be offering a paid App Store app for free. Presumably some sort of a deal was struck, but the details of such a deal are unclear. Requests for comment to Apple and ZeptoLab (the maker of Cut the Rope: Experiments) have not yet been returned.

May 25, 2012
HackStore Brings The Cydia Model To OS X

Earlier this month we brought you news of the HackStore, an app market designed to provide an alternative to the OS X App Store and its restrictions. Though the store was not live yet, creator Andrey Fedotov promised that it would be ready soon.

Well, “soon” appears to be “today.” The HackStore went live this morning and is currently available for download from Hack-Store.com. Like the Mac App Store, the HackStore is a standalone app that provides access to a variety of Mac software. The difference, though, is that the HackStore is free of the kind of restrictions Apple places on the Mac App Store.

According to Fedotov, the HackStore was developed using Cydia (the jailbreak “app store”). Cydia provides a safe, centralized, but restriction-free marketplace for those who have jailbroken their iOS devices to find tweaks and apps for their devices. Fedotov’s goal is the same. The HackStore is populated mainly with apps you won’t see in the Mac App Store. Fedotov’s goal is to provide Mac users with a piracy-free, malware-free, centralized marketplace for the kinds of apps that, for various reasons, Apple has decided aren’t fit to go in the Mac App Store.

Of course, the lack of Apple oversight in the HackStore means that it does carry a bit of a caveat emptor factor: while Fedotov is determined to keep the HackStore free of harmful software like malware, that doesn’t mean that all of the apps in the HackStore are of the best quality – or even work like they say they will. It also includes some apps that alter some of the basic functionality of OS X. For example, an app called Monolingual clears up space on your Mac’s hard drive by removing all the OS X files for foreign languages – a move that can’t be undone short of reinstalling the operating system.

All told, though, the HackStore represents a pretty important step in Mac software discovery. While the Mac App Store is great, there are many who are concerned that Apple is taking the Mac toward the same “walled garden” model that it employs for iOS: only apps that have been vetted and approved by Apple are allowed. The Gatekeeper feature on the forthcoming OS X Mountain Lion does little to allay such fears. The HackStore’s purpose is to preserve user freedom by providing users an easy way to find and install software that, for whatever reason, Apple may decide not to let into the Mac App Store.

As mentioned above, the HackStore is available as a free download. Unfortunately the store’s server is currently down, which means that although you can download the app itself, you can’t actually access the store. Apparently, though, this is just a case of growing pains: Fedotov posted on the HackStore site that when the server went down there were 15,000 people using the store. Considering that this is the HackStore’s first day, that’s not too shabby.

Head on over to the HackStore’s site and download the app. Once the server is back up and you can access the store, check it out and tell us what you think in the comments. In the meantime, here are some screenshots of the HackStore in action:

April 25, 2012