Install NES Emulators and Alternative iOS Apps With AltStore – Lifehacker, Lifehacker.com

As someone who uses Android as their primary mobile OS, I tend to focus onalternative apps / service to Google’s products, but that doesn’t mean I don’t also enjoy the third-party replacements for Apple’s apps on iOS and iPad. Unfortunately, Apple’s “walled garden” approach to its products means there are far fewer third-party and / or open-source app alternatives available on iOSthan on Android—And most require you to jailbreak your iPhone, which is a tedious, warranty-busting project.

However, a newly released open-source app store project from software developer Riley Testut, aptly namedAltStore, can be downloaded and installed on your iOS devices with a clever workaround.

AltStore is pretty new and only carries a includes a small handful of software created by Testut at launch, but this includes Testut’s Delta emulator app that lets you play NES games on the iPhone (and potentially SNES, Nintendo 64 , Gameboy, and Gameboy Advance in the future). More apps will hopefully be added to AltStore in the future, but is a pretty big deal; emulation software is banned from the official App Store and used to be nigh-impossible to install on iPhones without jailbreaking the device.

AltStore is able to exist by exploiting a few iOS loopholes, like the ability to download software to your phone via a Mac / Windows application. It’s a smart, but precarious solution, and Apple could easily shut the whole thing down at some point. Because of that looming potential, it’s probably smart to install AltStore immediately if you’re even remotely interested in what it’s offering. Developers cancheck out the AltStore Github pageif they’re curious and want to learn more about the project.

How to install AltStore and AltStore-distributed apps

Installing AltStore is a helluva lot easier (and safer) than jailbreaking your iPhone, but takes more effort than your average App Store download. Still, the whole process is quick and painless once you’ve got all the pieces in place. Here’s what you’ll need:

• Your iPhone.
• A PC running Mac or Windows 10 (The Windows 10 version of the software is still technically in beta.)
• A USB cable to connect the two.

With everything set up, you can now install AltStore on your iPhone:

1. Plug your iPhone into your PC.
2. Go tohttps://altstore.io/and install the AltServer software for your PC OS.
3. Run the installation then open the AltServer app on your computer.
4. We’ll now send the AltStore app to your iPhone via AltServer. On Mac, click the AltServer icon from the toolbar to open the dropdown menu, then“Install AltStore”and click your device. On Windows 10, click the AltServer icon from the icon tray (you may need to click“Show more Icons”) then hover the mouse over“Install AltStore”and select your device.
5. Wait for the AltStore app to be installed on your iPhone.
6. Keeping your phone connected and AltServer running on your PC, open the AltStore app to begin downloading apps.
7. Unlike installing apps from the App Store, you’ll need to plug in your phone to your PC and have AltServer running to install new apps, as well as update apps every few days — so make sure you don’t uninstall AltServer from your PC.