Epic vs. Apple: The iPhone Store's Install Gate

In 2026, an Australian judge ordered Apple to allow rival iPhone stores from March 1, 2027, even as Epic Games' Fortnite was back in Apple's App Store worldwide. A 2024 account had counted roughly 12 screen interactions to install one such store, AltStore, in the EU. Epic could get its game onto the iPhone; a competing store still had to get onto the phone.

Courts and regulators are creating distribution routes, but device owners still shape the installation journey, operating cost and review process. A viable alternative store needs customers willing to install it and developers willing to support it.

Fortnite's return left Epic's store fight unfinished

In 2020, Epic added direct payment to Fortnite to bypass Apple's 30% cut. Apple removed the game, and Epic sued Apple and Google for changes to their rules rather than damages. Epic could build a game people wanted and offer a different way to pay; Apple could still decide whether the app carrying that offer reached an iPhone.

Fortnite's global App Store return, after its US relaunch in 2025, did not end the litigation. The incumbent route already reached players, while Epic's lawsuits sought room for routes alongside it. A US appeals court later upheld a contempt ruling against Apple but allowed it to argue in lower court for an external-transaction fee below 27%. How much Apple could charge for that route remained before the lower court.

Courts have drawn different routes on different phones

Google told a US court in July 2026 that it was ready to add third-party stores within Google Play on July 22, after Google and Epic withdrew a settlement motion. A rival store inside Play would enter through an interface Google operates. In Brazil, Apple opened iOS to alternative marketplaces under a settlement with competition watchdog CADE. In Australia, a federal judge ordered Apple to permit third-party iPhone stores beginning March 1, 2027; Apple plans to appeal.

A store operator has to plan for different rules in each country. Australia's deadline has yet to arrive, and Apple's appeal remains unresolved. The EU's earlier opening offers a measure of what happens after legal permission.

AltStore's downloads did not settle the business case

A 2024 account of AltStore's EU installation counted roughly 12 screen interactions. By May, AltStore had topped 100,000 EU downloads. People made it through the flow; the count does not show how many stopped along the way or whether those who arrived could support the business.

Apple also required prospective EU marketplace operators to provide a €1 million letter of credit to guarantee developer and customer support. That made entry a financing decision before an operator could learn whether enough users would install its marketplace. Setapp Mobile, an early alternative iOS store, later planned to shut down, citing still-evolving and complex business terms. Setapp's decision does not establish that every rival will fail; AltStore's downloads do not establish that every rival can last.

Apple planned to notarize apps distributed through third-party stores, including malware scanning and basic platform checks. Customers have reason to want those protections. Store operators still have to know how review works, what it costs and who bears responsibility when it fails.

A link away from a store can still carry its price

Google's EU program let Play developers direct users outside their apps while retaining fees of 5% to 17%. Google later proposed US charges of $2.85 per app and $3.65 per game when a user followed an external installation link and installed within 24 hours. A developer could pay the incumbent for a user who left its store.

Apple added red-exclamation warnings to EU App Store listings for apps using third-party payments. Apple presented its own payment system as private and secure; a developer asking a customer to take another route had to make that case beside the warning. A fee reduces the margin on a successful transaction. A warning can affect whether the customer attempts it.

Epic is building reasons for players to follow it

Epic has not confined its response to a rival checkout. It agreed with Unity to let Unity-made games publish directly in Fortnite in 2026. Epic, Nvidia and Discord also tested Fortnite demos in Discord servers that users could try without downloading the game or signing up. Neither experiment replaces an iPhone installation path. Both let Epic put a playable experience in front of someone before that person chooses a store.

Australia's order names the day a rival store can enter. AltStore's roughly 12 screen interactions measure how far a customer may still have to go.