Ivan Gerasimov
30.10.2023
The other day, Apple released iOS 17.1 with a rather predictable list of innovations: we knew about many of them back in the summer, but the Cupertino team held them back for a month. Moreover, they even managed to fix iPhone battery problems, so owners can definitely be satisfied and confidently upgrade to the new version. But there is a small surprise: it turns out that in iOS 17.1 you can install applications without the App Store! What is this – a bug or a feature with which Apple wants to suddenly turn the iPhone into Android? Checked How to install apps in iOS 17.1 and learned a lot of new things.
They say that the application can be installed on an iPhone without the App Store. What is it really like?
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The first in an unusual way replace App Store found by blogger iRobinPro. Its essence is extremely simple: you just need to download the application in .IPA format on one device, and then transfer it to another using AirDrop. You can even transfer from an iPad or Mac – the main thing is that iOS 17 is installed on the recipient iPhone, since this trick allegedly does not work on other versions.
How to download an application on iPhone without the App Store
After you transfer a file, the system automatically extracts it instead of saving it to the Downloads folder in the Files app. In fact, it’s similar to how a contact, link or image opens after sending – it’s just that specific files like IPA usually end up in a folder. As a result, when a notification about a successful file transfer appears, an application icon immediately appears on the screen. The program is actually installed, only after that the same “cloud” is displayed next to the name – you probably saw it after unloading the application, when there is no space on the iPhone.
The application actually downloads, but it cannot be opened
It would seem that the trick is in the bag: install Sberbank on iPhone without App Store won’t be difficult. In fact, the following error appears: “The application cannot be installed because its integrity could not be verified.” However, some bloggers (hello, iGuides!) reported that they still succeeded download SBOL for iPhone and even launch it.
The application does not open and displays an error on all devices
Unfortunately, our editors were unable to achieve this either on the iPhone 13, or on the iPhone XR, or on the iPad Air 4 and iPad 10, although we tried other applications. By the way, when reverse transfer IPA file from iPhone to iPad it completely disappeared and was not installed. But we found an explanation for this.
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Why are apps not installed on iPhone?
In fact, the function is as old as time: according to reviews from Reddit, it has been around since iOS 14. Moreover, you can transfer apps and install them if your Mac has an M1 or M2 chip. But there’s a catch: the IPA file must be extracted under your Apple ID. Therefore, the method really works, but for the average user it does not make much sense – it is only useful to those who want to roll back the application to an older version. This is usually done through Xcode and in developer mode, but there is an easier way.
The IPA file needs to be extracted yourself
In other words, install the application on iPhone in IPA format, will not work because it was used by another user. And if you yourself “got” it through iMazing, saving it for the future, even by extracting it from someone else’s Apple ID, then this is possible. In principle, this really makes sense if it is not possible to connect a smartphone to a PC and restore application to iPhone. It is extremely difficult to explain how IPA files work, since Apple does not talk about it anywhere. Most likely, everything is done using this method.
Download iMazing to your PC using this link and install it. Then we connect the iPhone via cable and unlock it.
It’s very easy to copy an application from iPhone to PC
Go to “Application Management” and select the one you need. Click “Copy to PC” and select where to save the copy. We wait for the operation to complete and check the resulting file.
After sending, the finished IPA file will be installed as an application
Then we transfer it to the iPad or Mac, and then send it to the iPhone using AirDrop.
Maybe this way installing applications on iPhone via AirDrop Is it also suitable for those programs that are not in the Russian App Store? For example, for Brawl Stars, which will be installed automatically when transferred to an iPhone with iOS 17? And here, by the way, the system shows exactly the same message.
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As you can see, everything is very simple here. This feature is not a hint at the appearance App Store analogues, it’s just that ordinary users didn’t know about it before. Thus, download the application without App Store indeed it is possible, but only if it has been extracted and installed on a device with the same Apple ID.
