Why are some apps restricted by Region in Hong Kong?

I’m an Australian living in HK and have found that some apps are restricted by the region - why is this ?


We live in a global society with my grandparents from China, parents in Australia and son in the US and I am living in Hong Kong. I visit family often and spend a lot of time in each of these countries and what to use apps from those countries. My son is part of my family account and needs apps in the US. Is there a better way than having to switch regions back and forth everytime a family member needs to download an app?


[Re-Titled By Moderator]

iPhone 13 mini, iOS 17

Posted on Oct 25, 2024 7:47 PM

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1 reply

Oct 25, 2024 10:42 PM in response to Thomasc00

This may be a global society but there are still individual countries all with their own licensing and content laws. Apple works on a country by country basis. Developers get to decide where they want to offer their apps (unless prohibited by a law of a country). The standard approach is to send the developer a request to broaden distribution of their app.


There is no real solution. For those who reside in multiple countries and absolutely must use apps from each country, a solution is to set up separate account on multiple devices, then use the device for the country's services to which you need access. Yes, that is costly, but so are a bunch of other things associated with living in different places. You can save a bit by using an iPhone as an iPod by only using wifi and no cellular service.

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Why are some apps restricted by Region in Hong Kong?

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