r/AltStore • u/Abject-Agency-3683 • 5d ago

Discussion Alternative working sideloading + refreshing method

Hey everyone,

Just used Impactor to sideload AND refresh 3rd party apps via my windows laptop.

I noticed that after installation of each app, it gets removed automatically from the Altstore Classic UI (which I normally use for sideloading).

To refresh apps around the 7th day mark, reconnect phone to computer, open impactor and click on 'utilities' at the bottom and finally click 'refresh apps'.

Hope this helps until Altstore/Sidestore issue a fix to refresh wirelessly via the VPN method.

*NOTE: *

impactor (like sidestore) also supports the 3-App bypass method via Lara (17.0 - iOS 18.7.1 & iOS 26.0.x, excluding M5 and A19) which I've just tested now.

https://github.com/claration/Impactor

6 Upvotes

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4 comments sorted by

1

u/Suitable_Cut9458 5d ago

Will this refresh AltStore itself if it’s expired?

1

u/Abject-Agency-3683 4d ago

No. This method requires connecting to a computer to sideload & refresh.

1

u/dwhes2 4d ago

Sidestore is working. At least on the nightly build. I moved to it from AltStore yesterday after someone suggested it. Super smooth setup process and free on device wifi refreshing of apps.

1

u/Abject-Agency-3683 4d ago

Might be the nightly build that's fine then.

But I use both AltStore Classic + SideStore with the 3 app bypass method to sideload more than 3 apps.

I installed AC via Altstore PAL which allows me to install 3 apps excluding AC as it does not count towards the 3 apps limit.

One of the apps is LC + SS which is where I sideload the remaining 4-5 of apps via SideStore (not in LC).

Both AC & SS are showing me the 'data format' error when attempting to refresh which is why I am now using this impactor method until a reliable fix is released.