Installing and Updating NOOP on iPhone

Installing and Updating NOOP on iPhone

A plain-English, start-to-finish guide to getting NOOP onto your iPhone and keeping it updated — even if you've never "sideloaded" an app before.

NOOP isn't on the App Store. This page explains why, walks you through installing it with a free tool, and shows you how to make updates automatic so you never have to think about it again.

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1. What is sideloading, and why isn't NOOP on the App Store?

Sideloading just means installing an app onto your iPhone without going through Apple's App Store.

NOOP is an anonymous project with no Apple Developer account (one costs money and ties the app to a real identity, which defeats the whole point of staying anonymous). The App Store and TestFlight both require that account, so NOOP can't be listed there.

Instead, NOOP ships an .ipa file (an iPhone app package) that is deliberately unsigned. iOS won't run an unsigned app, so a free tool signs it on your own iPhone, with your own free Apple ID. Nothing about this touches NOOP's identity or Apple's servers on our side — you are the one signing it, for yourself.

This is normal, safe, and the same method thousands of people use for open-source iOS apps. It just takes a few more steps than tapping "Get".

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2. Install a sideloader (AltStore or SideStore)

You need a free sideloading tool. Pick one:

• AltStore — needs a computer (Mac or Windows) running a small helper called AltServer, on the same Wi-Fi as your phone. Best if you have a computer you can leave on now and then.
• SideStore — runs entirely on the iPhone after a one-time setup, so it refreshes without a computer nearby. Best if you don't want to keep a computer involved.

Either one works with NOOP. Follow that tool's own setup guide once — it installs the app onto your iPhone using your free Apple ID. When it's done, you'll have AltStore or SideStore as an app on your home screen.

First launch trust prompt: the first time you open a sideloaded app, iOS may ask you to trust your Apple ID. Go to Settings → General → VPN & Device Management, tap your Apple ID, and tap Trust.

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3. Add NOOP's source (this is what makes updates automatic)

This is the most important step. Adding NOOP as a source means new releases show up by themselves — you'll never have to hunt for a download again.

Source URL — copy it exactly:

https://noop.fans/NoopApp/noop/raw/branch/main/altstore-source.json

In AltStore:

1. Open AltStore and go to the Browse tab.
2. Tap the ＋ button (top-left).
3. Paste the URL above and tap Add Source.

In SideStore:

1. Open SideStore and go to Browse / Sources.
2. Tap ＋ Add Source.
3. Paste the same URL and add it.

Common error: "given data not valid JSON"

If your sideloader says "given data not valid JSON", you almost certainly pasted an old GitHub URL. NOOP's old GitHub home no longer exists, so that address returns an error page instead of the source file — which is why the import fails.

Fix: delete what you pasted and use the noop.fans URL above, exactly as written. That's the only correct source URL.

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4. Install NOOP from the source

Once the source is added:

1. In AltStore/SideStore, open the Browse tab and find NOOP under the source you just added.
2. Tap Free / Get next to NOOP.
3. The tool signs the app with your Apple ID and installs it. After a moment, NOOP appears on your home screen.

That's it — open NOOP and pair your strap as usual. See Getting Started and Strap Support and Pairing to connect your WHOOP.

Prefer to do it manually once? You can also download NOOP-v<version>-ios.ipa directly from Releases and open it with AltStore/SideStore (Share → AltStore, or the app's ＋ button). But adding the source (step 3) is strongly recommended, because it gives you automatic updates and automatic re-signing.

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5. The 7-day re-sign reality (free Apple ID)

This trips people up, so here it is plainly: apps signed with a free Apple ID stop launching after 7 days and need re-signing. This is an Apple rule, not a NOOP one — it applies to every sideloaded app.

The good news:

• AltStore and SideStore re-sign your apps automatically in the background, before they expire. As long as the sideloader is still installed and able to refresh, NOOP just keeps working — you won't notice anything.
• AltStore: keep AltServer reachable on the same Wi-Fi (it refreshes when your phone and computer are both on). SideStore refreshes on-device.

If it lapses (e.g. you didn't refresh for over a week and the signature expired), NOOP simply won't open until you refresh it again:

1. Open AltStore/SideStore.
2. Go to My Apps and refresh (or pull down to refresh). It re-signs NOOP and it opens again.

Your data is safe through an expiry. A lapsed signature only stops the app from launching — it does not delete the app or your data. Refreshing brings it right back, history intact. (As long as you refresh rather than delete-and-reinstall — see step 7.)

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6. Updating NOOP

Because you added the source in step 3, updating is automatic:

• New releases are picked up on AltStore/SideStore's background refresh, and the update installs in place — keeping your data.
• Want it right now? Open AltStore/SideStore, go to My Apps, and pull-to-refresh. Any pending NOOP update installs immediately.

You never need to re-download an .ipa by hand once the source is added. The source always points at the newest release.

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7. Keeping your data across updates

Your NOOP history (recovery, strain, sleep, workouts, imported data) lives in a local database inside the app on your iPhone. Nothing is in the cloud — which is the point — so how you update matters:

• Updating in place keeps your data. When AltStore/SideStore re-signs the same install (an automatic update, or a refresh), your database stays put. This is the normal path, and it's why the source / auto-update route in step 3 is the one to use.
• Deleting and reinstalling loses your data. If you remove NOOP from your home screen and install it fresh, iOS wipes the app's local store along with it. Avoid this unless you've made a backup first.

Make a backup (built in)

NOOP has a one-tap backup so you're never relying on the install surviving. Inside the app:

1. Go to Settings → Backup & restore.
2. Tap Export… to save a single backup file (a .noopbak — everything: history, sleeps, workouts, settings) somewhere safe (Files, iCloud Drive, AirDrop to a computer).
3. To restore later — on this phone or a new one — open Settings → Backup & restore → Import… and pick that file. NOOP needs a relaunch (quit and reopen) for an import to take effect; your old data is kept in a side file just in case.

There's also Export CSV… in the same place, which writes a WHOOP-format .zip of your days, sleeps, workouts and journal that re-imports into NOOP on iPhone, Mac, or Android. The full .noopbak backup is the lossless one; the CSV is handy for moving between platforms.

Habit worth keeping: export a .noopbak every so often, and definitely before you ever delete-and-reinstall or move to a new phone.

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A note on Apple Health and widgets on a free-signed install

Under a free Apple ID, Apple won't grant certain entitlements to a sideloaded app. So on a free-signed NOOP install:

• Apple Health (HealthKit) read/write and the Live Activity / lock-screen widgets may not work — a HealthKit toggle can appear to do nothing.
• Everything else works normally: pairing your strap, live heart rate, recovery/strain/sleep, history, imports, backups, and the optional AI Coach.

This is an Apple signing constraint, not a NOOP limitation. If you build NOOP from source in Xcode with your own Apple ID, those entitlements are granted normally. For the full Apple Health picture (and the macOS import-only path), see the Apple Health section of the FAQ.

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A reminder on what works on WHOOP 4.0 vs 5.0/MG

NOOP on iPhone supports both straps, with the same honesty as every other platform:

• WHOOP 4.0 is the best-supported path — live HR, history offload, and NOOP's own recovery/strain/sleep scores.
• WHOOP 5.0 / MG — live HR and history work, but the deep on-device scores (recovery, strain, sleep) and an SpO2 percentage are not derivable yet (the strap encrypts that data on-band). We don't fake these — they're simply not shown until we can compute them honestly.

See Strap Support and Pairing for the full breakdown.

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Still stuck?

If installing or updating isn't working:

1. Double-check the source URL is the noop.fans one in step 3 (not an old GitHub address) — that's the cause of most "not valid JSON" failures.
2. If NOOP won't launch, open AltStore/SideStore → My Apps → refresh (the 7-day signature likely lapsed — step 5).
3. Still stuck? Open an Issue at noop.fans/NoopApp/noop. Tell us your iPhone model, iOS version, which sideloader (AltStore/SideStore), and the exact error text. If it's a strap or data problem rather than an install one, attach a strap log (in the app, Settings → Export the log) so we can see what happened.

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NOOP keeps everything on your iPhone, offline. The only thing the network is ever used for is the optional, bring-your-own-key AI Coach. Your strap, your data, no cloud. See Privacy and Security.