MacPaw launches its alternative iOS app store for EU in open beta
Ukraine-based Mac and iOS app developer MacPaw announced today that it is releasing its alternative mobile app store Setapp
Ukraine-based Mac and iOS app developer MacPaw announced today that it is releasing its alternative mobile app store Setapp thanks to the new Digital Markets Act (DMA) rules in the EU. The company has been testing the app store under closed beta for a few months now with select users. MacPaw is now allowing all users to try Setapp Mobile in open beta.
The store has more than 50 productivity, finance, video, photo and creativity apps from MacPaw’s own offerings and other developers. These apps include CleanMyPhone, ClearVPN, Riveo video editor, Awesome Habits tracker, Time Master, BusyCal, Free your music, MonAI, Elk currency convertor, Ochi focus manager, Bookshelf: Reading Tacker, and AdLock.
While SetApp Mobile is a marketplace from a technical standpoint, users will get all apps through a $9.99 monthly subscription with a seven-day trial. Users will need to be running iOS 17.4 or later on their device with an Apple ID associated with an EU member state.
MacPaw was one of the first companies to agree to Apple’s controversial DMA agreement for distributing apps through a non-App Store medium. The company is still not set on the business model and user experience, so it opted to release this initial version as an open beta.
“We see areas of improvement in terms of user experience, number of applications, and categories we offer. We think there is demand for the alternative app store, so we decided to launch it and tune our business model based on the feedback from users,” Yaroslav Stepanenko, director of marketing at MacPaw, told TechCrunch over a call.
“We also have to balance the number of applications and the number of users. We can’t have a low number of apps and a lot of users and vice versa.”
Stepanenko added that the store would not have hundreds of apps at any point to avoid stifling discovery for participating developers.
MacPaw has primarily offered Mac-focused apps through several subscription tiers, allowing users to download companion iOS apps for those services. However, with this Setapp mobile marketplace, the company believes it can address millions of iPhone users in the EU.