AltStore PAL announced support for the fediverse, the open social web built on ActivityPub. The company launched its own Mastodon server, making it the first federated app marketplace.
This integration allows app developers to share news and updates that appear across platforms like Mastodon, Threads, and Bluesky. The move signals a shift toward decentralized communication within the iOS app ecosystem.
AltStore PAL intends to use the server for developers to post news, updates, and alerts. These posts will federate across the open social web, allowing users to interact from various platforms. Interactions on these posts will also appear within the AltStore PAL app.
Users can sign in with Mastodon or Bluesky accounts to like apps, updates, and alerts. “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.
Participating apps at launch include Loops, PeerTube, and iPhanpy. Larger apps plan to join later after Apple finalizes changes to its commission structure in the EU.
Apple is replacing its Core Technology Fee with a Core Technology Commission due to regulatory pushback. This change addresses potential liability issues over payments.
Users can access the server at fosstodon.org/@altstore. They can discover apps and sources on the explore page at explore.alt.store.
