Setapp Mobile’s open beta adds more apps for European iPhone users

The Setapp Mobile alternative app store is now available in open beta for iPhone users in the European Union, featuring 50 different productivity- and lifestyle-focused apps at launch. While most of these apps, like the Tripsy itinerary planner and MindNode mind mapping tool, are already available on the official iOS App Store, Setapp creator MacPaw says its own platform provides a simplified user experience and a fair, performance-based compensation model for app developers.

Setapp was originally released as an app marketplace for macOS before the company launched a mobile version for iOS users. Setapp Mobile launched as a closed beta in May, shortly after the European Union’s Digital Markets Act forced Apple to start allowing iPhones to support third-party app marketplaces.

Joining the Setapp Mobile open beta requires iOS 17.4 or later and an EU-based Apple ID. New EU subscribers can get a seven-day free trial for the platform’s monthly $9.99 / €9.49 “iOS Advanced” plan, which allows users to download any iPhone apps they like from both the Setapp Mobile iOS app and Setapp’s desktop / web marketplace. Many of the apps it offers, however, are free to download via the Apple App Store. Users who joined the previous invite-only beta on other Setapp plans will need to upgrade, or they’ll lose access on September 17th.

The Verge found the process of actually installing apps using Setapp to be cumbersome in our initial hands-on review, but that’s fairly typical for these third-party iOS app platforms. By contrast, the separate Setapp Mobile service should be easier to use, as it allows users to download iOS apps directly from their iPhones without jumping through additional hoops.