How to use multiple country iTunes stores - (need only apps)

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How to use multiple country iTunes stores - (need only apps)

Although my main address is in the US, I travel and spend extended periods of time in other countries. As such I need to get local apps for managing my mobile phone account, bank account, etc in countries other than the US.

Unfortunately I discovered that each country has its own iTunes store and that my iPhone whines when I try to purchase even a free app from those stores.

As ******** as it sounds, my research seems to indicate that I need to create a new account for each country's iTunes store. So before I start doing that I have a few questions:

1) Do I keep a single appleID (email) and open accounts in multiple countries with it, or do I start from scratch and create a new email, appleID, account and all that stuff for each?

2) How will iTunes and my phone handle the multiple accounts?

3) Since I will logout and login to the different accounts for the app downloads and then return to the US one, how will those apps get their updates... since I won't be always connected to the other countries accounts?

Looking forward to the answers, although I have the horrible feeling that Apple might have dropped the ball on this issue and there might not be a decent answer. If so, I have an additional question: Does Android have the same problem? In other words, has Apple decided to not support international travelers properly and would moving to Android make the problem go away?

iPhone 5s, iOS 8.4, Or iPhone 5c (have both)

Posted on Jul 31, 2015 4:50 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,150 points

Jul 31, 2015 11:21 PM in response to BrunoGenovese

1, each iTunes account has to have a unique primary email address. You can either create a different account (with a different email address) for each country (which you can only use when in that country), or update the country and billing address on your existing account each time you go to a different country (you won't be able to change country on an account if you have a balance on it, have any season passes that haven't completed, or have iTunes Match or Apple Music).

2, if you redownload an account's past purchases you may tie your phone to that account for 90 days : Manage your associated devices in iTunes - Apple Support. Buying/downloading new content shouldn't be affected.

3, you will be able to download updates to an account's apps when you return to that country.

It is not Apple's decision that each country has its own store, the content providers (app developers, record labels etc) license their content to Apple to sell on a country-by-country basis, each country therefore has to have its own store, and you have to be in a country (and have a billing address in that country) to use its store.

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Answer 2

Aug 1, 2015 4:23 AM in response to King_Penguin

Well, this whole Apple ID registration process is seriously messed up:

I created an Apple ID on the website for the new country. No problem.
I tried to purchase a free app, it told me to review my info. OK.
In the info it requested a Credit Card number. Stupid to ask that to download a free app, but OK, the page clearly stated that there would be no charges. The only card I have in the country is a Visa debit card. The apple registration declines it. Probably because this country has a severe credit card cloning problem and so cards typically come blocked from internet purchases and need to be turned on to authorize actual purchases. If Apple requests a card purely to verify the address, then it needs to work within the limitations and accept both Debit cards too and work even when the cards aren't internet-purchase-enabled. Upset about this stupidity I moved on to the other options...
Just in case the intent of asking for a Credit Card was for "future purchases" instead of verification of address I tried one of my US credit cards. Rejected too, probably because it is from a different country.
Searching for a solution I read that I might be able to get past this problem by buying an iTunes card and using the code instead of a credit card. I head to an iPlace (the Apple store franchise here) to buy one. Surprise! Apple doesn't sell iTunes cards in this country! Talking to a friend who had an iPhone in this country for years he tells me that when he wants to use an iTune card he needs to have it purchased and sent to him from the US.
The thing that puzzles me is that the iPlace employee told me I shouldn't need to enter the credit card into my account if all I am going to do is free purchases. But I don't see such an option.

So, what do I do now? I have a local account but I can't make free purchases. How do I get iTunes to stop asking for a local and internet-enabled Credit Card that I don't have (and most likely never will) for free purchases?

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Answer 3

King_Penguin

Level 10

334,150 points

Aug 1, 2015 4:38 AM in response to BrunoGenovese

What's messed up ?

Unless you are in the country you can't use that country's store - you will be violating the store's terms, terms which you agree to when create an account, Apple can permanently disable accounts used outside of its country.

For a credit card or debit card (not all debit cards still seem to be accepted, and my not be accepted at all in some countries) to have a change of being accepted it needs to be registered to the same name and address as on the iTunes account, and have been issued by a bank in that country.

Creating an account without giving payment details : Create an iTunes Store, App Store, or iBooks Store account without a credit card or other payment method - Apple Suppor…

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Answer 4

Aug 1, 2015 5:16 AM in response to King_Penguin

What is messed up?

I am currently in the country. I have a local address. I created the iTunes account. I tried to register in iTunes a debit card that has the exact same name and address as the ones I used in the iTunes registration. It didn't work. All of this when I was not even trying to purchase anything for money. So much for the iPhone being the "easy, no pain phone". This isn't a matter of complying with the content authors requirements, it is simply bad software design and coding.

After wasting over 8 hours of my life trying to figure out how to get a free local app that I absolutely had to have to manage my mobile phone account I finally came across the link you gave in your last message, a couple minutes before you posted it (I had to abandon the original Apple ID for this country and make a new one, but got it done). It worked, but it was buried so deep that even employees of the Apple local franchise could not figure it out. I would understand it in a backwater little town, but in a major international capital with over 8 million people such lack of know-how by the local franchise employees is unforgivable.

Frankly, Apple needs to streamline how its App stores work for free apps. I totally understand protecting the for-pay content, but the current system for free content is a complete nightmare.

If the matter is just to verify that the user is in country, how about making the "none" option for payment method always visible (the way it used to be years ago) and give an optional alternate verification mechanism via SMS to a local mobile number? Country code is trivial to verify and a local phone number can't be faked. Simple, even a beginner developer can do it, and since in every country you MUST have a local address to get mobile service... it accomplishes all that the registration process currently tries to achieve.

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