Rob de Jonge

Q: Changing country

I’m looking to change from using an Netherlands (NL) registered Apple ID to a Thailand (TH) registered Apple ID. I left my native Netherlands a decade ago, and really would prefer to have everything charged to my Thai credit card, etc. I know that if I change the country on my Apple ID, I lose all the purchases. So instead, I am thinking I keep the NL account and start using the TH account.

 

iCloud - paid storage

I have an iCloud account tied to my NL account. I would probably clean it out and desert it, and just re-upload everything into an iCloud account which is tied to my TH account. This doesn’t seem to be a problem.

 

Apps - hundreds of euros spent

I think that on both my Mac and iOS devices I can simply change the App Store country and download applications from multiple accounts (& countries) onto the same device. My Mac could run applications purchased in my NL account as well as applications purchases in my TH account. No problem there either.

 

Movies, TV shows and music - not much money spent

When I switch my devices to using the TH account, the very few albums that I have purchased I guess will no longer be available. I don’t really care, I’ll either re-purchase them or just leave it be. Not a problem either.

 

Books - hundreds of euros spent

I have just tried to purchase a book on the Thai iBookstore. This works just fine, and iBooks on my Mac now shows the dozens of books I have on my NL account together with the book I ‘bought’ (it was a free book, but I don’t think that matters) on the TH store. It seems there is no real concern here.

 

What am I missing here? Yes, if I register my devices to the Thai account, then I will have to authenticate every time I want to download an app or book from my NL account. But once downloaded, I think I wont have to keep doing that. So, it doesn't seem too much of a hassle really?

 

One possible risk I see is that apps purchases on the NL account might only use iCloud store tied to an NL iCloud account? Does anyone have any experience in this?

MacBook Air, OS X Yosemite (10.10), 2GHz i7, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD

Posted on Sep 27, 2015 7:28 PM

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Q: Changing country

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Phil0124,

    Phil0124 Phil0124 Sep 27, 2015 7:40 PM in response to Rob de Jonge
    Level 7 (27,681 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 27, 2015 7:40 PM in response to Rob de Jonge

    Rob de Jonge wrote:

     

    I know that if I change the country on my Apple ID, I lose all the purchases.

    If you change countries, the Apps, Movies, Music etc.. may not be available there, but if they exist on your devices you can continue using them just fine.  They do not disappear or cease to function just by changing countries. Same for the rest of the content. Nothing will disappear or stop functioning.

    What you need know before you change your country or region

    When you change your iTunes Store country:

    • You need to update your billing address to one in your new country. When you change your billing address, the primary address in your account at My Apple ID and your other Apple services, such as the App Store and iCloud, automatically updates.
    • You might need to update your payment method. For example, only German credit cards can be used to buy content from the German iTunes Store and App Store.
    • You won't see the items that you purchased from the previous country’s store in your Purchased section.
    • You won’t see the items from your iCloud Music Library that you matched, uploaded, or added from the previous country’s store.

     

    Change your iTunes Store country or region - Apple Support

     

    If they aren't available in the Thai store, you ill not be able to download them again, if you delete them, but anything that already exists on your devices will continue to work just fine.

  • by Rob de Jonge,

    Rob de Jonge Rob de Jonge Sep 27, 2015 7:47 PM in response to Phil0124
    Level 3 (515 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2015 7:47 PM in response to Phil0124

    Hi Phil, thanks for the quick response. The purchases will remain on the device, but I will no longer be able to download them again or receive updates to the application when released. To me, that is the same thing as losing the purchases.

     

    That is why instead of changing country, I want to just start using an Apple ID associated with another country while the original account remains intact.

  • by Phil0124,

    Phil0124 Phil0124 Sep 30, 2015 8:17 AM in response to Rob de Jonge
    Level 7 (27,681 points)
    iPhone
    Sep 30, 2015 8:17 AM in response to Rob de Jonge

    Not really. Updates should still be delivered. Though it may ask you to change stores to perform the update.

     

    You will continue to see, and be able to access all your downloaded purchases on our devices. You just won't be able to see them online and re-download them.

    Other than that, you should be always keeping a backup of your purchases locally, since Apple does not in any way guarantee the downloads after purchase.

     

    If you maintain a backup, then your purchases will always be available.

     

    Now, if you create a  new Apple ID, then yes, there will be no way to merge them, and all your purchases would remain intact on the other Apple ID, but still trapped in the same scenario, since you can only be logged into one Apple ID at a time.