March 01, 2024 – Today, MacPaw announced its plans to launch Setapp, Apple’s first third-party app store, in the European market this April.
Currently, a beta version of Setapp has been released and interested users are being invited to test it. According to the official statement, the beta version will offer a variety of “carefully selected applications.”
Setapp, created by Ukrainian software company MacPaw, is a subscription-based service for MacOS and iOS applications. Users can access a wide range of apps from different developers by paying a monthly subscription fee, which is approximately 72 yuan.
Meanwhile, Apple is expected to release iOS 17.4 next week, and the biggest change in this version is the support for sideloading. However, this feature will only be available to iPhone users in the 27 countries or regions covered by the European Union, while users in other regions will not have access to it.
The sideloading in iOS 17.4 mainly brings three major changes:
Firstly, Apple will allow users to download applications from third-party app stores. Secondly, third-party browsers will be able to use web engines other than Apple WebKit on the iPhone. Thirdly, third-party wallet applications will be able to access the NFC chip on the iPhone.
These changes are expected to bring more flexibility and convenience to iPhone users in the European market, while also providing new opportunities for developers and businesses in the app ecosystem.
