The archive · Developer & Business Tools · Strategic decision · 2019–2024
AltStore PAL bets EU DMA opens iOS distribution; Delta tops App Store, Epic makes it free
Riley Testut's open-source iOS store launched April 2024 under the EU's DMA; Delta hit No. 1 and Epic's grant made it free.
AltStore PAL
What the business is
Open-source alternative iOS app store in the EU that distributes indie apps (Delta, Clip, UTM SE) outside Apple's App Store, with self-publishing for developers.
How it started
Riley Testut spent a decade pushing against iOS app rules: GBA4iOS ran on a loophole until Apple shut it down, and AltStore sideloaded apps via desktop software from 2019. When the EU's Digital Markets Act forced Apple to allow alternative marketplaces in iOS 17.4, Testut had the product ready — AltStore PAL launched in the EU on April 17, 2024 with Delta and Clip.
What happened
Delta simultaneously launched on the official App Store outside the EU and quickly became the No. 1 app in the US, staying at the top for weeks with millions of downloads. In July 2024 AltStore PAL added its first third-party apps (iTorrent, qBitControl, PeopleDrop, UTM SE); in August 2024 Epic Games' MegaGrant began covering Apple's Core Technology Fee, dropping the €1.50 subscription.
How it ended up
Still live: a free, self-publishing alternative iOS marketplace funded by Epic's grant — an existence that was impossible before the DMA.
Background
AltStore PAL is the EU edition of AltStore, Riley Testut's open-source iOS marketplace, launched on April 17, 2024 as one of the first alternative app stores allowed under the EU's Digital Markets Act. It launched with two apps — Delta, Testut's Nintendo emulator, and clipboard manager Clip — charging users €1.50/year because Apple's €0.50 Core Technology Fee applied to every install.
Delta was the demand engine: released on the official App Store outside the EU the same week, it became the No. 1 app in the US within days and stayed at the top of Apple's charts for weeks, with millions of downloads. In July 2024 AltStore PAL added its first third-party apps, and in August 2024 Epic Games' MegaGrant began covering the Core Technology Fee, making the store free.
The bet was that the DMA would make sideloading a durable channel for indie apps the App Store had excluded — and that a small, self-publishing store could be a viable counterweight to Apple's default marketplace rather than a curiosity.
What has to be true
- Shipping first into a regulator-forced channel inherits demand that was pent up for years — Delta's No. 1 run proved it.
- The €1.50 fee existed only to pay Apple's Core Technology Fee, so the business model was literally regulation-shaped.
- Self-publishing plus Patreon integration gave indie developers a distribution reason the App Store couldn't match.
- Epic's MegaGrant showed ecosystem players will fund the channel's survival to keep it open.
What can be applied
A regulation that forces an incumbent to open a channel creates distribution power for whoever ships first — the moat is being ready before the rule bites, not after.
Aftermath
As of August 2024 AltStore PAL is free to EU users, funded by Epic Games' MegaGrant covering Apple's Core Technology Fee; it distributes self-published indie apps (UTM SE also reached the official App Store) and stands as the reference example of DMA-era iOS distribution. Testut continues developing Delta with millions of downloads.
Sources
- AltStore PAL Alternative App Marketplace Launches on iPhone in EU
- Adobe comes after indie game emulator Delta for copying its logo
- Alternative app store AltStore PAL adds third-party iOS apps in wake of EU Apple ruling
- Epic Games' 'MegaGrant' makes EU alternative app store, AltStore PAL, available for free
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