AltStore PAL, an alternative app store for iOS, enabled by new regulations in regions like the EU and Japan, is integrating with the open social web. The company recently announced support for the fediverse, an open social web that operates on ActivityPub, which supports apps like Mastodon, Flipboard, PeerTube, Threads, and more.
The “fediverse” allows users to join independent servers that interoperate, enabling communication and interaction across different social platforms.
With AltStore PAL’s launch of its own Mastodon server, it becomes the first federated app marketplace.
The company plans to use its server for app developers to share news, updates, and alerts about their apps. These federated posts can be seen and interacted with by users on the open social web, including Mastodon, Instagram’s Threads, and Bluesky—provided Bluesky users bridge their accounts to be accessible within 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.
Interactions on these posts will also be visible in the AltStore PAL app itself, allowing users to sign in with their Mastodon or Bluesky accounts to like apps, updates, and news alerts within the app marketplace.
Initially, a few apps are participating, including Loops, a federated short-form video app; PeerTube, similar to YouTube; and iPhanpy, a Mastodon client by indie developer Matt Fantinel.
Larger apps plan to join the federated marketplace once changes to Apple’s commission structure are finalized in the E.U. They await Apple’s decision to replace its Core Technology Fee with a Core Technology Commission, following regulatory pushback over its commission system changes.
To access AltStore PAL’s Mastodon server, users can visit fosstodon.org/@altstore. Additionally, users can find apps and sources on AltStore PAL’s explore page at explore.alt.store. The AltStore PAL app now features an iOS 26 Liquid Glass design and icon.