During the weekend, I found a very cool piece of software, which lets you sideload .ipa files to the latest iOS version: SideStore, which is a community driven fork of AltStore. Let me shortly explain how I set it up and what problems I did face.
Installation
The process is quite simple, it is listed on their website. I did this on macOS, it is possible on Windows too.
You basically download and install the SideServer application. After this, you connect your iPhone to your Mac, trust it on your phone and install it via this button:
After this, you log in with your iCloud account and enable the Developer Mode.
Next you set up Wireguard with their Config file, you need to be connected to their VPN while reactivating your apps.
Finally I needed to copy the .mobiledevicepairing file, which I received after running the Enable JIT option.
I placed the file in SideStore's storage (I did move 2 versions of the file, because this GitHub issue suggested naming it to ALTParingFile.mobiledevicepairing):
And after I restarted the app and while being connected to the Wireguard VPN, I was able to add the Trusted Sources and to add https://apps.altstore.io.
Final words
I already tested some apps, like Flappy Bird, uYouPlus Extra and Delta, which installed just fine. I am really happy, that I got sideloading working on a current iOS version (I did this on a iPhone 12 with iOS 16.6), because I ordered a iPhone 15 Pro Max some weeks ago.
This is quite, ironically, because I prefer FOSS everywhere. But the main reason is, that I started to care about companies (like Tesla or Apple), that have a concise, high-quality product range, even if it's closed source. But this AltStore & SideStore topic is a good example why FOSS is still far ahead in community driven development. đ
I can recommend this video and this Subreddit to anyone, who is new to sideloading and who wants to dig deeper into it.
Additionally, I want to mention this, which should lead into official sideloading for anyone in the EU by March 2024! Most possibly it will come to iOS 17.3.
And finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to the European Union, which makes a iPhone useable for me in 2023! USB-C was a no-go for someone who did use Type C since 2016 with the OnePlus 3, but this has changed with the iPhone 15 lineup. đ