Sometime this month it should happen: third-party developers can bring their own App Store to the iPhone. Setapp is going to try that, but what can you expect from it?
Apple is anything but happy with the European Union. The political body has the company firmly in the pincer with the Digital Markets Act, as it feels it is abusing its monopoly position. Thus, we previously saw the USB-C port appear on the iPhone and Apple must now allow App Store competitors.
The first provider to take advantage of the opportunity is Setapp. But what exactly is it and is it really a good alternative to the App Store?
The App Store gets competition on the iPhone
To get right to the point: Setapp works a little differently than Apple’s App Store. Instead of paying per app, Setapp is a subscription. You could actually call it a kind of Netflix of apps. For a fixed monthly fee, you get as many apps as you want on your iPhone.
The company behind Setapp is Ukraine’s MacPaw. Perhaps the name doesn’t tell you anything at all, but it has developed one of the better-known apps for the Mac. CleanMyMac X is used by a fair number of people to clean up their Mac.
Big news! MacPaw will launch @Setapp Mobile Beta in the EU – the first alternative marketplace for iOS with a curated selection of apps 
Read on for some insider secrets, including the first apps on board: https://t.co/b7Tc2hm7JA pic.twitter.com/lYfplYlnFp
– MacPaw 
(@MacPaw) February 29, 2024
It also has other apps such as ClearVPN 2 and Moonlock, which should protect you from cyber attacks. The company’s apps are mainly focused on the Mac and iPhone, and so the company has not released Setapp on Android.
What does Setapp have to offer?
Sure, the idea of Setapp is nice as an App Store competitor, but everything hinges on what apps the company can offer in the app store. MacPaw’s apps are useful, but not so popular that people would subscribe to them en masse. For that, the company will really have to bring in apps from other providers.
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CEO and founder of MacPaw, Oleksandr Kosovan, is at least confident that his App Store alternative for iPhone will work: “Our promise with SetApp is simple: to offer software that makes your work more streamlined and encourages creativity. We make sure that every app we offer can start doing this.”
SetApp is currently already available for the Mac. A subscription costs $9.99 per month and users get access to 240 apps. These include media players, editing programs and photo editors.
