Dubbed as Cydia for Mac, a new app store known as ‘Hack Store’ will offer developers a more open and unrestricted way to sell their apps, so they don’t have to comply with Apple’s strict policies. While the new store only features free apps for the time being, priced apps are expected to be added in the near future.
The store’s layout is almost identical to the real thing, even though the functionality is slightly different. Hitting the download button only takes you to the download page, which is often Sourceforge based.
While this is a good concept, the Mac is a pretty open platform anyway – you are free to download any app you want, listed in the official Mac App Store or not. Apple’s policies are less of an issue on the Mac, nevertheless it will be interesting to see where they go with it.