Alternative app store AltStore PAL joins the federation

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

Users on the open social web, widely known as “federations,” join independent servers that interact with each other, or “federations,” allowing people to communicate, view and respond to posts with those on other social platforms.

With the launch of its Mastodon Server, AltStore PAL became the first unified app marketplace.

The company intends to use its server to give app developers a way to communicate about their app news, updates, and alerts. Because these posts are federated, users can view, like, and interact with them across the open social web, including Mastodon, Instagram’s Threads, and even Bluesky — assuming Bluesky users have linked their accounts to make them accessible to people in the federation.

“That means, for example, if you have a Mastodon account or a Threads account, you can follow those accounts. You can follow the source from our Mastodon server, and then, in your timeline, you’ll see when there’s been an update to the app,” Riley Testot, co-founder of AltStore PAL, told TechCrunch last fall, when the company was teasing its plans and announcing a $6 million Series A.

Reactions to these posts will also be displayed on the AltStore PAL app itself, where people can log in with their Mastodon or Bluesky accounts to like apps, app updates, and news alerts within the App Market.

At launch, a range of apps were already participating, including Loops, a unified short video app; PeerTube, a unified application similar to YouTube; and iPhanpy, a Mastodon client created by indie developer Matt Fantinel.

Some larger apps plan to launch in this single market later after changes to Apple’s commission structure are finalized in the EU (Given potential liability issues related to payments, these apps are waiting for Apple to replace the Core Technology Fee with a Core Technology Commission, a decision it made after getting pushback from regulators over its previous revamp of its commission system.)

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