Apple Pulls iPhone Torrent App From AltStore PAL in Europe

An anonymous reader shares a report: Apple has removed the iPhone torrenting client, iTorrent, from AltStore PAL's alternative iOS marketplace in the EU, showing that it can still exert control over apps that aren't listed on the official App Store. iTorrent developer Daniil Vinogradov told TorrentFreak that Apple has revoked his distribution rights to publish apps in any alternative iOS stores, so the issue isn't tied to AltStore PAL itself.

Malicious Compliance

[Sebby]

This is just Apple doing its usual malicious compliance thing, where it "allows" devs to do something, but only because it's required to by law, and then takes it away, without any real explanation given.

Malicious Defiance.

[geekmux]

This is just Apple doing its usual malicious compliance thing, where it "allows" devs to do something, but only because it's required to by law, and then takes it away, without any real explanation given.

If Apple is required by law to do something and then turns around and does not do or allow that something, that’s not what I or anyone else would call “compliance”.

Requiring no explanation is akin to telling a bank manager “girl math” is the reason they should ignore a negative bank balance.

Fine them $1M per day until they provide a legal explanation. Otherwise, call malicious defiance what it is; blatant corruption.

Re:

[Sebby]

Fine them $1M per day until they provide a legal explanation. Otherwise, call malicious defiance what it is; blatant corruption.

Agreed - any service provider that accepts money for a service but then locks customers out of said paid service without valid explanation deserves these types of fines (I'm looking at you, Google!)

Re:Malicious Compliance

[Pinky's Brain]

Apple's actions can never be malicious and when apparently contravening the law, it's because people don't realise that the law must and will bend around Apple's actions as the definers of the greatest good.

This is what Apple managers actually believe.

Re:

[easyTree]

It's probably true. I've never heard of n00bs queuing with sleeping bags so they can get early access to the output of governments.

Re:

[Sebby]

Or it could be a simple error.

Ah yes, the convenient excuse for not providing any reasoning for any type of lockout for an eternity: "it's an error" - sounds a lot like "don't hold it like that".

How?

[micksam7]

For someone who doesn't develop apps for Apple devices, can someone explain how Apple can revoke an app from a third party store? Is this a revoking of developer license keys or something?

Re:How?

[DonkeyG5]

Is this a revoking of developer license keys or something?

Yes, basically this is it.

Re:

[vbdasc]

Well, if you develop for Android then you're going to learn how this very thing works real soon.

Re:

[fred6666]

can't you develop for Android and sideload your apps freely without having to pay anything or get any "key" from Google?

Re:How?

[test321]

Google just announced developers will need to get a verified account (and pay $25) for any app to install and run, even sideloaded. Comments already said this will enable Google to revoke permissions to anyone they don't like. https://tech.slashdot.org/stor... [slashdot.org]

Re:

[fred6666]

Very bad news, they are becoming almost as bad as Apple if they move forward with that change in 2027.

Re:

[flink]

You can do this for Apple as well, it's just a hassle. You can sign an app with a self-signed "enterprise" certificate. But the end user has to go into their security settings and manually trust the enterpise and click through a scary warning. After that though, you can side load the iPhone app from a web link just like you can on android with an .apk.

Re:

[fred6666]

Not only it's a huge hassle, but from what I understand you need to pay a developer fee to Apple to be able to do that (not counting that you need to buy an Apple computer) and it looks like Apple can revoke your developer license if they don't like your application.

Re:How?

[Sebby]

For someone who doesn't develop apps for Apple devices, can someone explain how Apple can revoke an app from a third party store? Is this a revoking of developer license keys or something?

Basically, you still need a developer certificate (and account) from Apple, because even though the developer might not release to Apple's AppStore, they still need to have their app notarized through Apple's notarization service in order for it to be installable on any device, regardless of the source "store" it's installed from. That gives Apple the usual powers it's always exerted on any iOS/macOS developer.

There's other ways to develop for Apple's devices, ("ad-hoc"), but those severely limit how you can distribute the app (basically: you can't).

Re:

[Sebby]

Note: macOS is less restricted for distribution (for now), but still requires dev account/notarization to avoid the B.S. scary warnings they put up during install when you don't go that route.

apple is just asking for being forced to allow sid

[Joe_Dragon]

apple is just asking for being forced to allow side loading with.
NO FEES
NO notarization or the macos software that is an automated system that scans your software for malicious content, checks for code-signing issues, and returns the results to you quickly. (NO content checks)

Re:apple is just asking for being forced to allow

[Austerity Empowers]

A torrent app will put government will to the test. I have no doubt citizens will want this, but governments are bought and paid for by many corporate interests, and those interests dislike torrent apps, whether they're used for things that aren't yet owned, but especially for things that are.

Re:

[flink]

apple is just asking for being forced to allow side loading with.
NO FEES
NO notarization or the macos software that is an automated system that scans your software for malicious content, checks for code-signing issues, and returns the results to you quickly. (NO content checks)

You've always been able to side load on Apple devices, it's just a hassle with a bunch of manual steps that the average user would not want to do, but you don't need to jailbreak your phone or anything. For a 3rd party app that is unlisted on the Apple App Store(tm) to be commercially viable, you need a 3rd party app store as that's the only thing that a normal user is ever going to use. Otherwise, Apple will remain the only source of apps for everyone except developers, pirates, and hard core tech enthus

This is exactly the sort of corporate tyranny

[FudRucker]

Is why I won't buy an iPhone or iPad

Re:

[Austerity Empowers]

Windows wants into this club, soonest, just install that TPM and windows 11, i bet macos and windows lock down the same day.

Re:

[registrations_suck]

But it's why millions of other people do.

Apple's CUSTOMERS want what you don't like.

Apple's non-customers want what Apple does not offer. Besides which, even if Apple DID offer it, those people would remain non-customers, simply because they hate Apple.

Re:

[FudRucker]

No they don't, Apple brainwashed them, they are prisoners of Apple's advertising

More to the story

[CommunityMember]

Revoking the developers keys suggests there is more to the story than just an app store removal. I doubt Apple is going to share details about the why they performed the revocation.

Re:

[thegarbz]

There likely isn't more to the story. They have a long history of not allowing torrenting apps, and just lost one level to restrict such apps in the app store with the alternative store in the EU, so now they used another lever.

what a joke

[diffract]

You pay an arm and a leg for a computing device, and have to put up with this crap

Government sanctions...

[tlhIngan]

Apple posted the reason for disabling the app - apparently there are some sanctions in the EU being applied to the appl

Update: Apple said in a statement that the app was removed to comply with government sanctions. "Notarization for this app was removed in order to comply with government sanctions-related rules in various jurisdictions. We have communicated this to the developer."