One of the first alternative app stores in the EU is shutting down

One of the first alternative app stores in the EU is shutting down

One of the more outstanding alternative app stores that emerged in the EU as a result of the area’s Digital Markets Act is shutting down. The retailer, Setapp Mobile, from the Ukrainian-based developer MacPaw, first launched in September 2024, providing dozens of apps across classes like productiveness, finance, video, photograph, creativity, and more.

Its mannequin supplied shoppers entry to all of Setapp’s cellular apps by a $9.99 month-to-month subscription, offered the consumer’s Apple ID was related to an EU member state.

Now, the company says all functions will probably be faraway from Setapp Mobile by the end of the sundown date, February 16, 2026. Applications that can be found on Setapp Desktop won’t be affected, the company told TechCrunch.

The news of the shutdown, announced on Setapp’s assist website, was first noticed by MacRumors.

MacPaw said that “still-evolving and complex business terms that don’t fit Setapp’s current business model” are the cause for its determination.

The “complex business terms” being referenced listed here are Apple’s difficult set of charges for apps working under its new enterprise phrases in the EU, which embrace a controversial Core Technology Fee that prices builders €0.50 for each first annual set up over a million in the past 12 months.

The tech large revised its charge construction last yr to keep away from additional penalties for noncompliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), however instead of simplifying the charges, it made them more advanced.

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One result of these fixed modifications is that builders can’t correctly plan the way to develop and monetize their enterprise. It also suggests the charges, as they stand, don’t make operating an alternative app retailer in the EU a viable choice.

In an announcement shared with TechCrunch, Setapp said it discovered its enterprise mannequin was not “viable,” as the business circumstances continued to vary. The assertion reads:

“Setapp Mobile was a bold, breakthrough project that aimed to provide EU iOS users with access to alternative app marketplaces – creating a new app ecosystem where both developers and users could thrive. We are proud of what we have accomplished with it over the past two years and still believe passionately in this vision. As a result of still-evolving commercial conditions, we have determined that it is not viable to continue development or support for Setapp Mobile within Setapp’s current business model. While we are disappointed to discontinue Setapp Mobile and let down our user base and developer community in the EU, we are looking forward to pursuing the development of other innovations.”

There are still other alternative app stores working in the EU, including, most notably, the Epic Games Store from the maker of Fortnite, and the open source AltStore.

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