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Installing LiveContainer+SideStore from start to finish.
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Installing LiveContainer+Sidestore.md

A Guide to Setting up Sidestore + LiveContainer

Works on the latest iOS versions, including iOS 26 db8.

Hello r/sideloaded!

After the mass revocation wave I decided to make this guide to help people sideload apps using an alternative method. A method that is 100% revoke free, costs nothing, and requires a computer only one time (for initial setup)!

After following this guide you will not need to worry about the 3 app limit OR refreshing every 7 days. You will be able to install as many apps as you want and they should not ever expire. This is a completely free method.

Here is what we will go over in this guide:

  1. Installing LiveContainer+Sidestore
  2. Setting up LiveContainer and Sidestore
  3. Setting up auto-refresh that actually works
  4. Installing Apps

————————————————————————

Prerequisites
Before starting this guide, please install the following applications for your computer platform. Any downloads are linked to their original source.

Windows:
iTunes (32x / 64x)
iCloud
Sideloadly or AltServer
idevice-pair

ℹ️ NOTE: If you already have iTunes installed from the Windows store, uninstall it. You need the .exe version from above.

Mac:
Sideloadly or AltServer
idevice-pair

iOS/iPadOS:
Download StosVPN (from the App Store) to your device.

LiveContainer+SideStore.ipa (from Github)

————————————————————————

We may now proceed with the guide.

1. Installing LiveContainer+Sidestore

There are two ways of doing this, this guide will cover both. Both require you to have the .exe versions of iCloud and iTunes installed if you are on a Windows machine.

AltServer • Recommended

Make sure you have AltServer installed and setup, detailed instructions can be found here for Windows and here for macOS.

Step 1: Plug your device into your computer. Make sure AltServer is running, click the AltServer icon found in the menu bar on macOS or the taskbar on Windows.

Step 2: While holding either Option (⌥) on macOS or Shift (⇧) on Windows, click the “Sideload .ipa” option. It will only appear if you are holding the key.

Step 3: Select the downloaded LiveContainer+SideStore.ipa to start sideloading it.

Step 4: If prompted, enter your Apple Account email, password, and 2FA code. If you’re concerned about this, use a burner account, you will be fine using your main account though. After this, you will see a notification that reads “Installing LiveContainer to [your device].”

Once you see another notification telling you that LiveContainer installed successfully, you can move onto setting up the app. Good job so far!

Sideloadly (NOT Recommended¹)

Make sure you already have Sideloadly installed and setup on your computer. The download can be found here for both macOS and Windows.

Step 1: Plug your device into your computer and open Sideloadly.

Step 2: Select your device from the dropdown manu, then click on the "IPA" button and select the downloaded LiveContainer+SideStore.ipa.

Step 3: If prompted, enter your Apple Account email and press start. You will be asked for your password and 2FA code. If you’re concerned about this, use a burner account, you will be fine using your main account though.

Step 4: Wait... eventually the log at the bottom of the Sideloadly windows will say "Done!', you can continue onto setting up the app. Great job!

————————————————————————

2. Setting up LiveContainer and Sidestore

Before we can open LiveContainer we need to both allow the app and enable developer mode on our phone, otherwise the app won’t open.

LiveContainer

Step 1: Open the settings app of your device, then go to General > VPN & Device Management.

Step 2: You should see the email of the Apple Account you use listed, tap on it, then allow app.

Step 3: Back out to the main settings menu, then scroll to Privacy and Security.

Step 4: Scroll to the very bottom, you will see Developer Mode as one of the last few options, turn it on then follow the directions given by your phone.

After your device restarts, you can now open LiveContainer! There are still a few more steps before we are finished though.

SideStore

Before setting up SideStore, open StosVPN. Add the VPN, enable it, then make sure you're connected to Wi-Fi.

Open LiveContainer and you will see an icon in the top left corner, it’s the SideStore logo! Tap on it to open SideStore (if the app just closes, open it again, it should take you to SideStore).

You will be greeted by probably a lot of popups, press allow to all of them and then when you see a screen asking for a pairing file, close the app. We will now load our pairing file into SideStore.

Step 1: Plug your device into your computer and open idevice-pair, select your device from the dropdown. Make sure it is unlocked, and trust your computer if needed.

Step 2: Press "Generate" to create your pairing file. You may be asked to trust your computer again, if you are, do it, then press "generate" again.

Step 3: You should see your pairing file on the right and some options on the left, scroll until you see LiveContainer and press the "Install" button under it. This will sync your paring file with SideStore within LiveContainer.

Step 4: Once your paring file is synced, open LiveContainer, then SideStore, and navigate to the "My Apps" tab. Tap on where it says "7 DAYS" next to LiveContainer to refresh the app.

Step 5: You will likely get a purple pop up screen, press "Refresh Now" and then authenticate with the same Apple Account you used to install LiveContainer. When you see a popup titled "App Contains Extensions", press "Keep App Extensions (Use Main Profile).

Now to complete setup, close SideStore and go to the main LiveContainer app. Go to settings and then tap "Import certificate from SideStore". After that tap "JIT-Less Mode Diagnose" and then "Test JIT-Less Mode". If you see "Success" then you are all done! Otherwise try following the SideStore setup one more time.

You now have LiveContainer and SideStore installed and ready to use! Great job! Almost done!!

————————————————————————

3. Setting up auto-refresh that actually works ~ (Being bug fixed right now! Sorry)

One of the main caveats of using AltStore/SideStore is the 7-day limit, and the "auto-refresh" that they have, admittedly, barely ever works. Let's get an actually working daily auto-refresh going. This means we never have to worry about refreshing.

Step 1: Add this shortcut to your device by opening/sharing the link to it.

Step 2: In the main menu of the Shortcuts app, naviagte to the "Automations" tab then press the "+" in the top right corner.

Step 3: Choose the following automation settings:

Trigger: Time of Day
When: (Pick a time your phone will be on and connected to Wi-Fi)
Repeat: Daily
Run Immediately (If this is not checked, your app won't refresh!
Notify When Run: Off

Step 4: Tap "Create New Shortcut", search for the "Run Shortcut" action on the next screen and add it to your automation.

Step 5: Select the imported "Refresh Sidestore Apps" shortcut, then press the checkmark to save the automation.

You now have LiveContainer and SideStore set up! Apps will be refreshed every single day and you can install as many as you want with LiveContainer!

————————————————————————

4. Installing Apps

There are currently two ways to install apps to LiveContainer, direct .ipa installing, or installing using LC-DL, which supports repositories, downloading tweaks, and more!

Installing .ipa files:
On the main screen of LiveContainer, tap the "+" in the top-left corner. You will see two options, you can either install an .ipa file you have downloaded or install an .ipa file from a URL, from Github, catbox.moe, or something similar.

Using LC-DL
LC-DL is actually a tool made by me, the same person who wrote this guide! I know this seems like an ad but LC-DL is completely free and comes with a repository of apps and games to get you started.

For detailed information, including setup, usage, and more, please go here. I hope you enjoy it. :)

————————————————————————

🎉 Setup Complete! 🥳

Yay! You can now install apps in LiveContainer without any worry of revokes or refreshing! This is a great and free alternative to a signing service so you may as well keep it on your device in case something like this happens again!

If you have any questions or concerns, please leave a comment and I will get to you ASAP. I hope this guide helped you out!

Thank you for reading, seriously, this took a long time to write.

————————————————————————

¹Sideloadly does not prompt to revoke previous certificates before installing an app, this causes issues when refreshing SideStore after installation, please use AltServer if you can for now.

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Nov 20, 2025

Corrected the shortcut also : https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/235047ef8a064b7aad36e627319f7be8
It is working in IOS 26

When I run that it still fails at Refresh All Apps saying, "Built-in SideStore failed to start in a reasonable time".

Unfortunately I have the same issue now. It was working before, I don’t know what changed and I didn’t find the response yet.

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Nov 20, 2025 •
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I have this issue, the action « Refresh all apps » is not working and throwing the error : Built-in SideStore failed to refresh in a reasonable time.

I can refresh manually, not just with the shortcut.

EDIT: I had to update my version of LiveContainer+SideStore, I took the last version from GitHub. Now it is working flawlessly ☺️.
https://github.com/LiveContainer/LiveContainer/releases/tag/nightly

EDIT 2: I spoke too soon

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Nov 24, 2025 •
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Hello !

Here is my shortcut to refresh Sidestore. I had some problems with VPN and WiFi sometimes, so here is my fix for the issue.

It consists of three steps:

-> First, it checks whether you are connected to a WiFi.

If not, it will try to connect. If it fails, it will throw an error and STOP.

If you are connected to a WiFi, we can continue.

-> Then, once you are connected to a WiFi:

It checks your device (iPhone/iPad, if you use only one, you can delete the other). Then it connects to the VPN of your choice (StosVPN or Stickdebug, just change it to the one you use). Then it refreshes Sidestore. If everything goes well without any error, it will send a notification telling you that everything worked fine. You can delete that if you want.

You will see that the actions in the iPad and iPhone sections appear as unavailable. That is completely normal. The way Sidestore works is that everyone signs their app with their own ID, so Shortcuts considers all those instances as different applications. Just search for “Sidestore refresh” in the search bar, find your action, and replace my broken action with yours. You can delete or keep the if condition. If you have multiple Sidestore instances, it can be useful.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Link: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/6b018a0e77fb403e965724c1d0c5c66b

Edit: I rewrote the post completely because I now have an easier shortcut, and it is easier to explain this way. Enjoy ! 😊

@Proaxel
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Proaxel commented Nov 27, 2025

@SoniaMalki I don’t see any link, did you forget it?

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Nov 27, 2025 •
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@SoniaMalki I don’t see any link, did you forget it?

Oups ! Added it

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Nov 30, 2025

Please see my post where I discussed a lot of things :) LC+SS discussions

@passportpowell
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passportpowell commented Dec 7, 2025 •
edited
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Hello !

Here is my shortcut to refresh Sidestore. I had some problems with VPN and WiFi sometimes, so here is my fix for the issue.

It consists of three steps:

-> First, it checks whether you are connected to a WiFi.

If not, it will try to connect. If it fails, it will throw an error and STOP.

If you are connected to a WiFi, we can continue.

-> Then, once you are connected to a WiFi:

It checks your device (iPhone/iPad, if you use only one, you can delete the other). Then it connects to the VPN of your choice (StosVPN or Stickdebug, just change it to the one you use). Then it refreshes Sidestore. If everything goes well without any error, it will send a notification telling you that everything worked fine. You can delete that if you want.

You will see that the actions in the iPad and iPhone sections appear as unavailable. That is completely normal. The way Sidestore works is that everyone signs their app with their own ID, so Shortcuts considers all those instances as different applications. Just search for “Sidestore refresh” in the search bar, find your action, and replace my broken action with yours. You can delete or keep the if condition. If you have multiple Sidestore instances, it can be useful.

Let me know if you have any questions!

Link: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/6b018a0e77fb403e965724c1d0c5c66b

Edit: I rewrote the post completely because I now have an easier shortcut, and it is easier to explain this way. Enjoy ! 😊

Trying to use your shortcut but I get this message

The request was denied by service delegate
(SBMainWorkspace).
The request to open
"com.kdt.livecontainer. EA5KK68NE3" failed.

I am using the Refresh All Apps action I searched for

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Dec 7, 2025

Hello !
Here is my shortcut to refresh Sidestore. I had some problems with VPN and WiFi sometimes, so here is my fix for the issue.
It consists of three steps:
-> First, it checks whether you are connected to a WiFi.
If not, it will try to connect. If it fails, it will throw an error and STOP.
If you are connected to a WiFi, we can continue.
-> Then, once you are connected to a WiFi:
It checks your device (iPhone/iPad, if you use only one, you can delete the other). Then it connects to the VPN of your choice (StosVPN or Stickdebug, just change it to the one you use). Then it refreshes Sidestore. If everything goes well without any error, it will send a notification telling you that everything worked fine. You can delete that if you want.
You will see that the actions in the iPad and iPhone sections appear as unavailable. That is completely normal. The way Sidestore works is that everyone signs their app with their own ID, so Shortcuts considers all those instances as different applications. Just search for “Sidestore refresh” in the search bar, find your action, and replace my broken action with yours. You can delete or keep the if condition. If you have multiple Sidestore instances, it can be useful.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Link: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/6b018a0e77fb403e965724c1d0c5c66b
Edit: I rewrote the post completely because I now have an easier shortcut, and it is easier to explain this way. Enjoy ! 😊

Trying to use your shortcut but I get this message

The request was denied by service delegate (SBMainWorkspace). The request to open "com.kdt.livecontainer. EA5KK68NE3" failed.

I am using the Refresh All Apps shortcut I searched for

That’s super weird. Try to open my gist and read my tutorial please ? It is a few comments above

@passportpowell
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passportpowell commented Dec 7, 2025 •
edited
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Hello !
Here is my shortcut to refresh Sidestore. I had some problems with VPN and WiFi sometimes, so here is my fix for the issue.
It consists of three steps:
-> First, it checks whether you are connected to a WiFi.
If not, it will try to connect. If it fails, it will throw an error and STOP.
If you are connected to a WiFi, we can continue.
-> Then, once you are connected to a WiFi:
It checks your device (iPhone/iPad, if you use only one, you can delete the other). Then it connects to the VPN of your choice (StosVPN or Stickdebug, just change it to the one you use). Then it refreshes Sidestore. If everything goes well without any error, it will send a notification telling you that everything worked fine. You can delete that if you want.
You will see that the actions in the iPad and iPhone sections appear as unavailable. That is completely normal. The way Sidestore works is that everyone signs their app with their own ID, so Shortcuts considers all those instances as different applications. Just search for “Sidestore refresh” in the search bar, find your action, and replace my broken action with yours. You can delete or keep the if condition. If you have multiple Sidestore instances, it can be useful.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Link: https://www.icloud.com/shortcuts/6b018a0e77fb403e965724c1d0c5c66b
Edit: I rewrote the post completely because I now have an easier shortcut, and it is easier to explain this way. Enjoy ! 😊

Trying to use your shortcut but I get this message
The request was denied by service delegate (SBMainWorkspace). The request to open "com.kdt.livecontainer. EA5KK68NE3" failed.
I am using the Refresh All Apps shortcut I searched for

That’s super weird. Try to open my gist and read my tutorial please ? It is a few comments above

Hmm I tried that gist and I get the same error. Using the same Id on ipad and iPhone. Currently only testing refresh on ipad.

Edit: the one from the comments in this page works for my Iphone 11 just fine. It's the ipad that go es the error

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Dec 7, 2025 via email

@passportpowell
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passportpowell commented Dec 8, 2025 •
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I would tell you to remove everything and try the tutorial from my gist one more time, with everything removed.
…

Itried to remove everything i could as you sugested but but now i am getting this error "SideStore
Could not read data from file!
file:///var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/FD78582F-BC1F-45A6-9566-E05C70D1D338/Documents/SideStore/Documents/Account.sideconf"

edit: I deleted all apps, i went into vpn and remoted all profiles , Ugh now it allows me to only install another livecontainer2, it also says i had 2 app id's remaining then when i closed an reopened the livecontainer > sidestore it went down to 1, then i closed and reopened it and now it says 0 app id's remaining....

There is literally only livecontainer and livecontainer2 as i could not install any other apps, ive checked in vpn & device management. i am very confused. still getting an error similar to "SideStore Could not read data from file!
file:///var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/xxxxx/Documents/SideStore/Documents/Account.sideconf"

the xxxx has changed from above as i tried again

edit 2: I also have this installed on my iphone using the same icloud login. it workes fine on my iphone and shows 3 app id remaining. using the same shortcut to refresh works fine too. I don't get why it is not working on my and why they are showing a different number of app id remaining.

@SoniaMalki
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SoniaMalki commented Dec 8, 2025 via email

@passportpowell
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passportpowell commented Dec 8, 2025

Can you tell me the step you followed ? Did your remove everything, the apps, live container and started from scratch ? Use iloader as suggested in my gist please
…
________________________________ De : passportpowell @.> Envoyé : Monday, December 8, 2025 6:12:12 PM À : passportpowell @.> Cc : Comment @.***> Objet : Re: sinceohsix/Installing LiveContainer+Sidestore.md @passportpowell commented on this gist.
________________________________ I would tell you to remove everything and try the tutorial from my gist one more time, with everything removed. … Itried to remove everything i could as you sugested but but now i am getting this error "SideStore Could not read data from file! file:///var/mobile/Containers/Data/Application/FD78582F-BC1F-45A6-9566-E05C70D1D338/Documents/SideStore/Documents/Account.sideconf" — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHubhttps://gist.github.com/sinceohsix/688637ac04695d1ff38f844acc8ba7f3#gistcomment-5896956 or unsubscribehttps://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ADZD3UPP366ZEMYLAMMXV7D4AWWO3BFHORZGSZ3HMVZKMY3SMVQXIZNMON2WE2TFMN2F65DZOBS2WR3JON2EG33NNVSW45FGORXXA2LDOOIYFJDUPFYGLJDHNFZXJJLWMFWHKZNJGE2DANJQGQZDMMNKMF2HI4TJMJ2XIZLTSOBKK5TBNR2WLKJRGAYTONJQGI4DBJDOMFWWLKDBMN2G64S7NFSIFJLWMFWHKZNEORZHKZNENZQW2ZN3ORUHEZLBMRPXAYLSORUWG2LQMFXHIX3BMN2GS5TJOR4YFJLWMFWHKZNEM5UXG5FENZQW2ZNLORUHEZLBMRPXI6LQMU. You are receiving this email because you commented on the thread. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOShttps://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Androidhttps://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub.

When i try to download iloader my brower says its a virus so it wont even let me keep the file even when i click keep so i used plumeimpactor to install on my ipad and iphone.

Yes i removed everything (apps, live container, vpn and management profiles for everything)

is the gist you are reffering to this one? https://gist.github.com/SoniaMalki/2b34cfeba427a75e53659cb25fd0289d

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