# AppStorePlus-TrollStore and the business of downgrading an iOS app > AppStore++ is a TrollStore tweak that lets you install older versions of App Store apps on a device, ship them as IPAs you keep locally, and browse version history the App Store does not expose. The repository publishes binaries rather than source, and the author has built a credit system around the feature. **CokePokes/AppStorePlus-TrollStore** — AppStore++ tweak for TrollStore - Repository: https://github.com/CokePokes/AppStorePlus-TrollStore - Stars: 1,159 · Forks: 54 - Language: Unknown - License: not declared - Published: 2026-10-19 · Updated: 2026-10-19 · Language: en - Canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/cokepokes-appstoreplus-trollstore ## What a downgrade means on iOS in the first place The project describes itself in one line: an AppStore++ tweak for TrollStore that allows you to downgrade installed apps. That is the whole hook, and it is worth understanding why it is not a native feature. The App Store updates apps forward. When a developer pushes a new version, the operating system pulls it in, and there is no supported way to ask for the previous build back. A developer who shipped a broken patch, a user who needs a feature that was removed, or a tester who needs to compare behaviour across builds all hit the same wall. A tweak that can install an older signed build removes that wall, provided the older build is still distributed somewhere. The audience is therefore specific. It is people with a device they can modify, which in practice means a device where TrollStore is installed, and a reason to want a specific older build. It is not a general app store client and it does not replace the App Store, it augments what the App Store will not do. The relationship to TrollStore is the key to the whole design. AppStore++ is distributed as a tweak for TrollStore and is installed through it the same way. Everything about supported device versions, installation risk and permanence is inherited from that dependency rather than decided by this project. ## Three steps, and one of them is a file manager handoff The installation instructions are deliberately short. First, install TrollStore on the device, with a link to the upstream TrollStore repository. Second, download the AppStore++ package. Third, open the Files app, use Open in to hand the file to TrollStore, and the install is done. The detail that matters is the second step: the download is done from mobile Safari, not from a computer. The release artefact is a .tipa file, and the instruction to open it in Files and pass it to TrollStore is the standard flow for a package obtained on the phone rather than sideloaded from a desktop. The repository root holds the two published artefacts for the current version, an iOS package named AppStorePlus-v2.3.15-7.tipa and a Debian package named AppStorePlus_2.3.15-7_iphoneos-arm.deb for the same build. The .deb is for a jailbroken environment, which the changelog confirms by adding separate version and download links for TrollStore and jailbreak installations and by improving update link generation and release metadata for both .tipa and .deb packages. That is also where the first serious question for an adopter appears. The repository contains the compiled packages, a README, a version.md file and a .gitignore. There is no source directory. Whatever the tweak does to the App Store client on the device, you are being asked to run a prebuilt binary that you cannot read. ## The IPA library is a local archive of what you downloaded The second major subsystem is the IPA library, a local store of downloaded packages with its own browser, an install action and, in the newest release, a delete all button that empties the library. The library exists because the tweak can produce an installable package from an App Store download, and once you have that package on disk it is independent of the store. The changelog shows the library maturing along two axes. On one side there is reliability work: a fix for the case where an IPA download is cancelled during packaging and becomes corrupted, a safeguard against incomplete installation metadata, stale legacy download jobs, and checks for saved IPAs missing information required for App Store style installation. On the other side there is functionality: an option to download a complete copy again when an older saved IPA lacks required installation information, and expanded backup and management options for apps installed outside the App Store or no longer listed there. The version list behind those downloads is a third piece. Recent releases added compatible and incompatible labels based on the installed iOS version, minimum iOS information in cached version details, and recovery of missing version dates without forcing the user to delete the whole cache. Earlier releases added release note buttons and a viewer, favorite versions in their own section, and coverage of release notes across older App Store and iTunes Store histories, including versions no longer shown in Apple's current version history. Taken together, this is a version browser plus a package archive. The App Store shows you one version and hides the rest; this shows you the list and lets you act on it. ## Credits, ads and a metered downgrade The most surprising part of the changelog is the business model. The v2.3.10-17 release added an AppStore++ credit balance to the Installed Apps page, a dedicated screen explaining credits and continued support for AppStore++, video ads that let users earn credits, one daily credit for active users, additional donation options in Settings, and the rule that pending downloads and downgrades continue automatically once the required credit has been earned. This is a monetised tweak. A credit system in a tool that most people would assume is free, with video ads as the earning mechanism and a daily allowance for active users, is a design decision worth noticing before you install it. It also explains the change that moves IPA packaging onto a background thread so the interface does not lag, since packaging work now happens under a credit meter. The fairness of the arrangement is a matter of taste rather than defect. Earning one credit a day for being an active user is a small price, and the model funds the ongoing work of keeping the tweak working against Apple's endpoints. But it does mean the behaviour you get is partly a function of your credit balance, and it means a third party is being paid to show ads inside an App Store client on your device. The changelog credits the people who submitted logs, tested builds and reported issues, which suggests the author runs an active testing community around these builds. That is a good sign for the pace of fixes, and it is also an indication of how much of the work is community driven rather than funded by the author. ## Apple's endpoints are the real source of fragility A long stretch of the changelog is about coping with Apple's behaviour rather than adding features, and that is the honest picture of what this project is. There is work on recovering Apple version lookups when the App Store endpoints return incomplete or redirected responses, on handling stale App Store authorization and purchase cancellation, on falling back between the AppStore++ account and on-device Apple Account requests, and on restoring the native Double Click to Install and Face ID purchase experience when the device supports it. There is also a redesigned App Store style update page that shows the bundled icon, version, release date, download size, compatibility, description and changes. Compatibility handling is a separate theme. The v2.3.10-17 release added labels marking which available versions are compatible with the installed iOS version, kept incompatible versions in the list rather than hiding them, and added automatically scrolling compatibility messages when the full message does not fit in the search results. Another release added native installation of saved App Store IPAs on older versions of iOS and a fallback to the native App Store installation path when newer interfaces are unavailable. Taken together, these entries describe a client that has to impersonate the App Store closely enough to satisfy Apple's servers and the operating system's own installation checks, on a device whose iOS version changes what is even possible. That is why the project needs a release every few days rather than every few months. ## An iPad redesign and the long tail of iOS 12 The v2.3.15-1 release leads with an iPad redesign, and it is a substantial rework. A new split-view layout for Installed Apps, App Store Search, the IPA Library and app data backups, dedicated detail pages with app information and actions while keeping the selected app list visible, and improvements to spacing, icons, section navigation and overall App Store style presentation, with Chinese translations for the new interface. At the same time, the release restores AppStore++ notifications on older versions of iOS, improves on-device Apple Account version lookup and compatibility handling on iOS 12, adds the appropriate native App Store installation path when the newer interfaces are unavailable, and adjusts the cloud download icon on iOS 12 to match the native appearance. The coexistence of a modern iPad split view and iOS 12 support in the same release is the clearest signal about the user base. The same people who want the tweak are spread across old devices that cannot be upgraded and new ones that can, and the project has to serve both without the modern path breaking the legacy one. It also explains the release naming, where the build suffix after the version, as in v2.3.15-7 and v2.3.10-17, appears to carry the build sequence rather than a semantic version. Other user-facing work in the same period covers the update flow, with the update page now showing the currently installed AppStore++ version alongside the available one, installation progress that appears on the action buttons in search results and product pages, and progress that survives navigating away and returning to a product page. ## Binary releases, no stated licence The repository carries a .gitignore, a README, a version.md and the two release artefacts for the current build. There is no source tree, no build script and no contribution guide, and the repository's own metadata lists no licence and no primary language, which for a project of this kind means the code is not published at all. That has a straightforward consequence. A user cannot review what the tweak does to the App Store client on their device, cannot rebuild it, cannot fix a problem themselves, and cannot tell whether the binary in the release matches any source. It also means the usual open source protections do not apply here, whatever the intentions of the author. The maintenance record, on the other hand, is healthy. The repository is not archived, the last push was on 2026-09-17, and the recent releases are v2.3.15-7 on 2026-09-17, v2.3.15-1 on 2026-09-16 and v2.3.10-17 on 2026-09-10. Two releases on consecutive days, and a third a week earlier, is a brisk pace that matches a project chasing changes in Apple's endpoints. Two risks are worth naming. The first is supply chain: you are installing a binary from a release page, produced by someone you cannot audit, that modifies a system component, on a device that may hold your Apple Account credentials. The second is durability: the tweak depends on the behaviour of Apple's servers and on your device remaining in a state where TrollStore can be installed, and both of those can change without notice. ## Conclusion Adopt AppStore++ if you run TrollStore on a device you control and need to roll an app back to an older build, or want a local copy of an IPA you already have access to. Do not adopt it as an audit subject, because the repository publishes the compiled .tipa and .deb artefacts and no source tree, and it states no licence, so you cannot inspect what the binary does before running it. Verify three things first: that your device can install TrollStore at all, since the tweak inherits that constraint entirely, that the IPA you want is one your App Store account is entitled to install, and what a credit costs you in practice, because downgrades and IPA downloads are metered. The last push was on 2026-09-17 and the newest release is v2.3.15-7 from the same day. ## FAQ ### What does the AppStore++ TrollStore tweak actually let me do? It allows you to downgrade installed apps, that is, install an older build than the one the App Store currently offers. It also adds version browsing with compatibility labels, a local IPA library of downloaded packages, and an app data backup view. ### How do I install AppStore++ on a device? Install TrollStore first, then download the .tipa package from the releases page using mobile Safari, open the Files app, use Open in to pass it to TrollStore, and the install completes. The repository also publishes a .deb package for jailbroken environments. ### What are the AppStore++ credits? A credit balance is shown on the Installed Apps page, active users get one credit a day, and video ads let users earn more. Pending downloads and downgrades continue automatically once the required credit has been earned, and there are additional donation options in Settings. ### Does AppStore++ work on iPad and on older iOS versions? The v2.3.15-1 release added a split-view layout for iPad across Installed Apps, App Store Search, the IPA Library and app data backups, with Chinese translations for the new interface. The same release restored notifications on older iOS and improved version lookup and installation paths on iOS 12. ### Is the source code of AppStore++ available? No. The repository contains the compiled .tipa and .deb artefacts for the current build, a README, a version.md and a .gitignore, and it states no licence. The tweak is therefore something you run without being able to review or rebuild it. ### What are the latest AppStore++ releases? v2.3.15-7 published on 2026-09-17, v2.3.15-1 on 2026-09-16 and v2.3.10-17 on 2026-09-10, and the last push to the repository was on 2026-09-17. The project is not archived. ## Sources - [CokePokes/AppStorePlus-TrollStore on GitHub](https://github.com/CokePokes/AppStorePlus-TrollStore) - [Issues](https://github.com/CokePokes/AppStorePlus-TrollStore/issues) - [README](https://github.com/CokePokes/AppStorePlus-TrollStore/blob/main/README.md) - [Releases](https://github.com/CokePokes/AppStorePlus-TrollStore/releases) --- Hysen Labs editorial analysis, written from the project's own repository and release notes. Cite the canonical page: https://hysenlabs.com/projects/cokepokes-appstoreplus-trollstore