# Enabling alternative distribution app installation in a browser Add support for browser apps to install alternative distribution apps from websites. ## Overview To enable the installation of an alternative distribution app from a webpage, your browser listens for installation requests from the website visitor’s interaction with the page and hands off the request to [`MarketplaceKit`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit). The installation request uses a specific URL scheme ([`MarketplaceKitURIScheme`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit/MarketplaceKitURIScheme)) that the marketplace page assigns to a button. [`MarketplaceKit`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit) handles the request by presenting the app install sheet, in which the person can confirm and install the alternative distribution app on their device. [`MarketplaceKit`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit) requires a one-to-one mapping between an alternative distribution app and the domain of the website that distributes it. When a page visitor taps a button to install the app, your browser app passes the origin of the site’s main frame to [`MarketplaceKit`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit), which confirms that the owner of the domain also owns the app. > Note: The system requires that your browser app have a specific entitlement to call the ``doc://com.apple.MarketplaceKit/documentation/MarketplaceKit`` installation method. For more information and to request the entitlement, see . ## Respond to app installation requests using BrowserEngineKit Browsers that render using hand off app installation requests to [`MarketplaceKit`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit). Your browser listens for invocations to a URL with the scheme `MarketplaceKit/MarketplaceKitURIScheme`: ``` marketplace-kit://install ?alternativeDistributionPackage= &installVerificationToken= &token= &account= &appShareURL=; ``` The URL parameters are: |URL parameter |Description | |--------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |`alternativeDistributionPackage`|The app to install in the form of an alternative distribution package. | |`installVerificationToken` |A required JSON web signature (JWS). | |`token` |An optional authentication token. | |`account` |An optional user ID for the page visitor. | |`appShareURL` |An optional URL to a product landing page for the app on the marketplace website.| For more information about the parameters, see [`MarketplaceKitURIScheme`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit/MarketplaceKitURIScheme). To forward the navigation request to [`MarketplaceKit`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit), call the [`requestAppInstallationFromBrowser(for:referrer:)`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit/AppLibrary/requestAppInstallationFromBrowser(for:referrer:)) method to display the app install sheet and pass in the following parameters: |URL parameter|Description | |-------------|------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| |`url` |The unparsed ``doc://com.apple.MarketplaceKit/documentation/MarketplaceKit/MarketplaceKitURIScheme`` URL that triggers the installation request.| |`referrer` |The origin of the main frame that contains the alternative marketplace installation URL. | > Important: > To comply with operation system requirements, ignore the `marketplace-kit://` URL invocation if the navigation doesn’t result from a user interaction, such as tapping a button, or if the navigation results from a redirect. ## Respond to app installation requests using WebKit If your browser app uses , modify your app’s navigation delegate method. When the system calls the delegate method with a URL matching the `MarketplaceKitURIScheme` scheme, call the `decisionHandler` with a value of `WKNavigationActionPolicyAllow`. Don’t call the [`requestAppInstallationFromBrowser(for:referrer:)`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit/AppLibrary/requestAppInstallationFromBrowser(for:referrer:)) method directly. WebKit handles the interaction with [`MarketplaceKit`](/documentation/MarketplaceKit) after you call the navigation delegate’s `decisionHandler` with a value of `WKNavigationActionPolicyAllow`. Safari is an example of a browser app that uses . When a person taps on an `MarketplaceKitURIScheme` URL, it calls Safari’s navigation delegate method with a URL matching the `MarketplaceKitURIScheme`. Safari responds by calling `decisionHandler` with `WKNavigationActionPolicyAllow`, which then causes WebKit to pass the URL to MarketplaceKit and display an install sheet. ## Test web distribution during development In iOS 18.2 and later, development builds of browser apps with the default browser entitlement () can test the installation of web-distributed marketplace apps. A development build signed with a development or Ad Hoc provisioning profile can run on Simulator and all physical devices that the target region supports. For region-based caveats, see [Participating in alternative distribution for specific regions](/documentation/marketplacekit/participating-in-alternative-distribution-for-specific-regions). --- Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)