this post was submitted on 08 Mar 2024
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IPAs are the iOS equivalent of APKs. As long as you don't sideload over 3 apps (which is actually 2 if you want to avoid having to connect your device to your computer every week, and even less if you have apps that do things other than being apps), you can sideload IPAs.
Google made GitHub take down all the downloads but not the repositories themselves.
Wait a sec. Apple allows sideloading but only 3 apps, otherwise you need to connect to a PC on a weekly basis? What for?
Apple has always allowed side loading just not as a method of mainstream distribution.
App developers use it all the time and not just on their own devices, it's also used to beta test apps.
There area few different ways it can be done with varying limitations. But in general it is absolutely possible to install apps outside of the App Store. In fact side-loading has been around since before the App Store even existed.
Almost anyone (except Tim Sweeney) can register for a developer account. And in fact you don't even need to, since most people who side-load are testers not developers. Developers can deploy a pre-release build of their app to up to ten thousand regular iPhone owners bypassing the app store entirely.
I have no idea what they're talking about with "only 3 apps". As an iOS developer I've got countless side loaded apps on my iPhone. Some of them are test builds of my own apps, some of them are test builds of other people's apps, some of them are hobby projects where I've slapped together an app in a weekend — not good enough for public distribution but it works for me and I've been using them for years.
The current method for sideloading apps without a developer account seems to be limited to three separate apps at a time.