MacPaw launches beta of Setapp Mobile marketplace for iOS in the EU

The Ukrainian company MacPaw has released a new marketplace called Setapp Mobile. It is available in the beta version and by invitation only, designed for users from the European Union.

About it said Mykola Savin, Lead Product Manager at Setapp.

This is one of the first marketplaces created after Apple’s EU policy update.

Setapp appeared as a macOS application. For $9.99 per month, Mac users could download and use popular productivity software and various utilities. As a result, the model proved so popular that MacPaw released an iOS version in 2020.

According to The Verge, when subscribing to the marketplace you can download as many iPhone apps as you want from it without in-app purchases or hidden fees.

• The current beta is free for everyone who has registered on the waiting list,
• The full version will charge a subscription fee. It is not yet known how much it will cost.

The publication noted that downloading applications through Setapp Mobile is not the easiest process.

• You need to open your Setapp account in a browser;
• go to the section with programs;
• then follow the link that opens the iOS App Store;
• After that, you can download the software;
• then you need to return to your account and activate it.

Observers have suggested that this may be part of Apple’s strategy to limit the number of purchases outside its own app store.

Installing Setapp Mobile works in the same way as AltStore PAL

When you first install userswill be accompanied by so-called «fear screens» from Apple — a warning that «updates and purchases in this program will be managed by the developer». The developers of AltStore PAL. for example, claimed that these steps are reasonable security measures, but critics believe that they will cause doubts among iOS users about going outside the ecosystem, hinting that it is riskier than downloading through the App Store.

The following apps were available in the trial version of Setapp Mobile that users tested:

• Focused Work;
• CleanMyPhone;
• SideNotes;
• Itemlist;
• Taskheat;
• MonAI;
• Mindr;
• NeatNook;
• Subjects;
• BasicBeauty;
• Optika;
• Downie;
• ClearVPN.