Apple's notarization system restricts EU alternative app stores, iTorrent blocked

Apple's 'Gatekeeping' Returns: How EU's Alternative App Stores Face New Roadblocks

The European Union's ambitious move to foster competition in the app marketplace, by mandating Apple to allow alternative app stores on iOS, is encountering significant friction. Far from a free-for-all, Apple has implemented a 'notarization' system, mirroring its macOS model. This process essentially acts as a digital passport for apps, granting them permission to operate outside the main App Store. However, the real sting lies in the revocation of this notarization: Apple can, and apparently is, disabling applications it has previously approved, even those already installed by users.

The iTorrent Incident: A Stark Warning

This intricate system recently ensnared iTorrent, a popular torrent client. Users seeking to download the application via AltStore PAL, one of the new EU-sanctioned alternative stores, were met with an infuriating roadblock. Complaints flooded the iTorrent project's GitHub page, initially pointing fingers at AltStore PAL. The developer, however, soon unearthed the true culprit: Apple itself. Without prior warning, the tech giant had revoked iTorrent's developer account's ability to distribute the app. This meant the app could no longer be added to AltStore's distribution list, leaving users in the lurch.

“Apple removed the ability for alternative distribution of the iTorrent application from my developer account without warning. I do not have the option to add AltStore to the distribution list at the moment. I have contacted Apple support for clarification. For now, iTorrent has been temporarily removed from AltStore until the issue with Apple is resolved.”

The developer's attempts to gain clarity from Apple have been met with a frustrating lack of transparency. Communication has been minimal, and even the AltStore PAL team, lending their support, has found themselves stonewalled. The issue, it seems, has been escalated internally within Apple, but progress remains agonizingly slow. Calls and emails to Apple from journalists attempting to solicit a comment have, thus far, gone unanswered, adding to the growing sense of unease.

Echoes of the Past: Mini vMac and a Pattern of Control

This isn't the first time Apple has flexed its notarial muscle. Last year, a similar fate befell Mini vMac, an emulator capable of running classic Mac operating systems. Apple's rationale then was that the app's name, design, and its ability to run macOS on non-Apple hardware violated the company's software license agreement. While Apple's stance on emulators is somewhat understandable from a proprietary standpoint, the iTorrent situation presents a murkier picture.

The exact grounds for iTorrent's notarization revocation remain unclear. Is Apple extending its long-standing ban on torrent apps within its official App Store to these alternative channels? Or is there a genuine security concern that Apple has identified? If it's the latter, the company technically possesses the right to intervene. However, the abrupt and opaque nature of the action has fueled suspicions among developers and the tech community, who view it as a deliberate attempt to stifle competition rather than address legitimate issues.

The Spirit of Competition Under Threat

iTorrent was among the vanguard of apps available through AltStore PAL following the EU's regulatory shift. Its year-long availability before this sudden blockade only amplifies the community's consternation. Many see Apple's actions as a perversion of the very principle that alternative app stores were meant to uphold: developer autonomy and freedom from the stringent, often inscrutable, rules of the App Store. This latest move suggests that while Apple may be compelled to open its doors a crack in the EU, it's determined to keep a tight grip on the doorknob, using its notarization power as a formidable gatekeeping mechanism.