Foreign Apps in iOS 10

[mspman]

So, is anyone here from another country and/or care enough about another country to go download some apps.. like a newspaper app, or a radio app, from that country?

iOS 10 has blocked several apps that I had on my old phone and I cannot download them. I tried resetting the region to Italy, but I get denied because "My account doesn't allow me to download from the Italian apps store." BTW, all these apps are free, no paying for anything.

This is actually a big enough deal that if I can't get my Radio 105, Corriere Della Sera, and La Repubblica apps on my new iPhone I'm going to consider returning it. Is there a way to get my apps from my 6 onto my 7 without doing a complete restore? The apps themselves work fine with iOS 10.. I just can't download them on my new phone.

 

[jhfenton]

I've always had to create separate Apple IDs for other countries to get access to the App Stores in those countries. I have one in France (for French stuff), one in Ireland (for UK/Ireland only stuff), and one in New Zealand (a common early testing ground for apps). If I want to download a new France-only app, I need to temporarily log into that Apple ID for the App Store on my iPhone or iPad. I can download the app, and then switch back to my U.S. Apple ID. The app will stay and be updated, as long as I don't delete it.

The same is true of iBooks content. (Amazon is worse. If I switch my Kindle account to my French Amazon account to read a French book, all of my U.S. content is removed. And then vice versa when I switch it back. So I gave up and get French books through iBooks.)

I don't believe any of that has changed in iOS 10.

 

[C DM]

So, is anyone here from another country and/or care enough about another country to go download some apps.. like a newspaper app, or a radio app, from that country?

iOS 10 has blocked several apps that I had on my old phone and I cannot download them. I tried resetting the region to Italy, but I get denied because "My account doesn't allow me to download from the Italian apps store." BTW, all these apps are free, no paying for anything.

This is actually a big enough deal that if I can't get my Radio 105, Corriere Della Sera, and La Repubblica apps on my new iPhone I'm going to consider returning it. Is there a way to get my apps from my 6 onto my 7 without doing a complete restore? The apps themselves work fine with iOS 10.. I just can't download them on my new phone.

Are those apps still available in the App Store?

 

[mspman]

I've always had to create separate Apple IDs for other countries to get access to the App Stores in those countries. I have one in France (for French stuff), one in Ireland (for UK/Ireland only stuff), and one in New Zealand (a common early testing ground for apps). If I want to download a new France-only app, I need to temporarily log into that Apple ID for the App Store on my iPhone or iPad. I can download the app, and then switch back to my U.S. Apple ID. The app will stay and be updated, as long as I don't delete it.

The same is true of iBooks content. (Amazon is worse. If I switch my Kindle account to my French Amazon account to read a French book, all of my U.S. content is removed. And then vice versa when I switch it back. So I gave up and get French books through iBooks.)

I don't believe any of that has changed in iOS 10.

Interesting. I never had to do that. Up until I got my iPhone 7, I had the region set to Italy using the same iTunes account, and it was ok. I was able to download whatever I wanted. Can you use your US card with a non-US Apple ID?
[doublepost=1474382519][/doublepost]

Are those apps still available in the App Store?

Yes. They come up in internet searches, however when I try to follow the link from Google I get denied.

 

[C DM]

Interesting. I never had to do that. Up until I got my iPhone 7, I had the region set to Italy using the same iTunes account, and it was ok. I was able to download whatever I wanted. Can you use your US card with a non-US Apple ID?
[doublepost=1474382519][/doublepost]

Yes. They come up in internet searches, however when I try to follow the link from Google I get denied.

Denied on the phone? What about trying them on a computer to see if they come up there?

 

[Mlrollin91]

Interesting. I never had to do that. Up until I got my iPhone 7, I had the region set to Italy using the same iTunes account, and it was ok. I was able to download whatever I wanted. Can you use your US card with a non-US Apple ID?
[doublepost=1474382519][/doublepost]

Yes. They come up in internet searches, however when I try to follow the link from Google I get denied.

If you are following the link from Google and its rerouting you to iTunes/App Store, and the app is not there, more likely than not, it was pulled and is no longer available.

 

[Beavix]

This has nothing to do with iOS 10. Like jhfenton said, you need a separate account for the Italian store. You cannot use US credit cards there though.

 

[jhfenton]

Interesting. I never had to do that. Up until I got my iPhone 7, I had the region set to Italy using the same iTunes account, and it was ok. I was able to download whatever I wanted. Can you use your US card with a non-US Apple ID?

You can't use a U.S. card with overseas Apple accounts. I can with Amazon in both their UK and French stores, but with Apple I've stuck to free apps or books or purchased a French iTunes card somewhere that I put into the account. (It's been a while since I did that.)

The book thing really drives me crazy. It's sad that the easiest way to get a popular French novel--that they won't even sell in the U.S.--is undoubtedly to pirate it. But I try to jump through hoops to get it quasi-legally. (I'm still undoubtedly violating the fine print in Apple's App Store license agreements.)

 

[mspman]

If you are following the link from Google and its rerouting you to iTunes/App Store, and the app is not there, more likely than not, it was pulled and is no longer available.

These are all major media organizations in Italy and I can assure you their apps are available. I don't get an error saying "App unavailable" I get an error saying "App unavailable in your country".
[doublepost=1474388773][/doublepost]

This has nothing to do with iOS 10. Like jhfenton said, you need a separate account for the Italian store. You cannot use US credit cards there though.

But it does, because I was able to download those apps on iOS 6,7,8,9 however I am blocked on iOS 10. Perhaps it's an upgrade to the app store, I can go with that. But then your third statement would be false as I have never had a Euro-zone card of any kind.

 

[jhfenton]

These are all major media organizations in Italy and I can assure you their apps are available. I don't get an error saying "App unavailable" I get an error saying "App unavailable in your country".
[doublepost=1474388773][/doublepost]

But it does, because I was able to download those apps on iOS 6,7,8,9 however I am blocked on iOS 10. Perhaps it's an upgrade to the app store, I can go with that. But then your third statement would be false as I have never had a Euro-zone card of any kind.

All I know is that the behavior you describe is exactly what I've seen for years, through iOS 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Apple has always allowed app developers to place regional limitations on app distribution. And the same goes for media publishers, to my constant frustration. Most book, music, and video distribution deals are done on a regional basis, even in the 21st century. That is precisely why I've had to create 3 non-US Apple IDs.

I understand that it is frustrating. In many cases, there is simply no legal way for me to watch a current French TV show. My choices are (1) download it illegally or (2) wait at least a year and hope that they release the show in a multi-region format on blu-ray so that I can order it on Amazon.fr. At least with apps, you can create an Apple ID for the App Store in the desired country and grab the apps you want. You won't have to mess with it again unless you delete the app or wipe your phone (or get a new one). You can spend the rest of the time logged into your home App Store.

 

[jpn]

These are all major media organizations in Italy and I can assure you their apps are available. I don't get an error saying "App unavailable" I get an error saying "App unavailable in your country".
[doublepost=1474388773][/doublepost]

But it does, because I was able to download those apps on iOS 6,7,8,9 however I am blocked on iOS 10. Perhaps it's an upgrade to the app store, I can go with that. But then your u third statement would be false as I have never had a Euro-zone card of any kind.

if you actually did download those apps from the Italy app store, you did need to have an Italy store account. even for no charge apps. however, you can make app store accounts without a credit card at any store.
the proof that those apps did indeed come from a different store is the error message you are now receiving.
on the apps home page sign out of your current store. go to the italy store. sign in, if you don't know yr password it might be complicated. if you don't know the email address it will be more complicated. you can't have the same email id for 2 different stores.

 

[jpn]

All I know is that the behavior you describe is exactly what I've seen for years, through iOS 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Apple has always allowed app developers to place regional limitations on app distribution. And the same goes for media publishers, to my constant frustration. Most book, music, and video distribution deals are done on a regional basis, even in the 21st century. That is precisely why I've had to create 3 non-US Apple IDs.

I understand that it is frustrating. In many cases, there is simply no legal way for me to watch a current French TV show. My choices are (1) download it illegally or (2) wait at least a year and hope that they release the show in a multi-region format on blu-ray so that I can order it on Amazon.fr. At least with apps, you can create an Apple ID for the App Store in the desired country and grab the apps you want. You won't have to mess with it again unless you delete the app or wipe your phone (or get a new one). You can spend the rest of the time logged into your home App Store.

great summary of the current state of digital rights. or, maybe rights in general in a digital age.
can not get apple News app unless your preferences are set to USA, UK, or Australia.
its not subscriber based even. its just an information / news release aggregator service.
does Time or Newsweek really want to continue to sell paper magazines in Japan and Singapore?
why isn't apple's News app the way for Time and Wired and The Economist and Architecture Daily to get digital readers and paid subscribers in every country that won't put up an Anti-Info Great Wall of China around it.
really apple? have to set regional prefs to 1 of these 3 countries? why?
if apple really is about empowerment (as the original line of macs were advertised more than 40 years ago), then why not really have iBooks and News push boundaries to open up the world and change people's minds. give us the tools to do this, apple. not segment the world into DVD Regions again.