The AltStore Team took to social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday to share some exciting news concerning AltStore PAL, a third-party App Store experience for iPhones and iPads that anyone residing in the European Union (EU) can use to install apps that aren’t available in the first-party App Store by Apple.
The first announcement, is that AltStore PAL’s app catalog has grown substantially since its launch in 2024, and to help highlight what users can download on their iPhone or iPad from it, users can now discover new apps from the official AltStore website.
Moreover, the AltStore Team has pushed a new version of AltStore PAL to the general public in the form of version 2.1.6, and from what we can gather, this update not only makes it easier to find those aforementioned apps, but also includes the following changes and improvements:
– Automatically remove apps when deleted from the Home Screen (iOS 18+)
– Add “Discover More Apps” button to showcase featured apps on altstore.io
– Include bundle ID when logging installation progress
– Fix apps not appearing in My Apps if installation crashes while in background
– Fix apps not updating under certain conditions
– Fix opening source deep links when app is not in background
– Fix displaying internal version number instead of public version number in settings
The latest version of AltStore PAL is recommended for all users, prospective and existing. On the other hand, it’s worth noting that AltStore PAL isn’t available anywhere else in the world besides the EU, as Apple is merely complying with EU government demands to make installing apps from sources besides the App Store possible.
It’s worth noting that AltStore PAL is not the same as AltStore Classic, the latter of which is a sideloading utility that iPhone and iPad owners can use to install a limited number of apps as an Apple Developer via the help of their own Apple ID. That said, if you’re an AltStore Classic & AltServer user, then today’s update for AltStore PAL does not pertain to you.
If you’re an AltStore PAL user, have you already updated to the latest version? Be sure to let us know why or why not in the comments section down below.