4 ms·

Apple doesn't allow me to buy anything on my iPhone, as I got my phone in New Zealand, have a British Revolut CC card and phone number, then was in the Netherla

Apple doesn't allow me to buy anything on my iPhone, as I got my phone in New Zealand, have a British Revolut CC card and phone number, then was in the Netherlands for a while, and am now living in Ireland. I had to switch the region to Netherlands to install the (free) RyanAir app (why?!) which was rather annoying since then it started offering Dutch suggestions for stuff (which I don't want). I can't add my UK CC to my account though as it's not a Dutch one, so I switched to the UK region, and then it errors out with "your account is not valid for use in the UK store. You must switch to the Dutch store before purchasing". Why ...? I don't know. I had a similar problem with the RyanAir app: I switched to Dutch store and then got "your account is not valid for use in the Dutch store. You must switch to the New Zealand store". I forgot how I fixed that. The reason they have all these restrictions is presumably so I can't use a cheaper store to but stuff. While this isn't the sort of "broken" that the article talks about, effectively, the iOS store is broken for me. That's always the problems with these kind of restrictions: they also block legitimate use for people who don't fall neatly in your expected audience. I had similar problems ordering a new charger for my ThinkPad in NZ, as I had to use a NZ-based CC to get it delivered to a NZ address :-/ I find this kind of bullshit a super annoying way to waste my time. I never had these kind of problems with the Android store, and as soon as there's an updated Android phone that's not larger than some TVs I've owned (iPhone SE is good size) I'm getting an Android phone again (not that I have a particular love for Android, it's just "less bad").

reaperducer 7y ago
I can't add my UK CC to my account though as it's not a Dutch one, so I switched to the UK region, and then it errors out with "your account is not valid for use in the UK store. You must switch to the Dutch store before purchasing". Why ...? I don't know. Because content licensed for a particular geographic region. I mix regions, too. It's not rocket surgery. You just have multiple iTunes accounts, which are as easy to create as buying an iTunes card while you're in that country and loading it into a new account. I have US, UK, French, and Japanese iTunes accounts, and have no problems making purchases from any of them because each has an independent country-specific payment source. You can have up to five on a device. It's something Apple has supported from the beginning.
- Carpetsmoker 7y ago
  Nothing you said is easy; it's all a massive PITA and incredibly user-hostile. I do appreciate the advice, but I just want to do normal things without jumping through hoops. I don't even use iTunes; do I have an account? Don't know, and frankly don't care either (I've given up on it). Here's how everything else works: I see a price for something, I decide I want it, I fill in my CC number, and I have it. No need to go to a physical store and juggle accounts and credit cards and whatnot.
  - sbuk 7y ago
    It’s also an edge case.
  - reaperducer 7y ago
    Nothing you said is easy; it's all a massive PITA and incredibly user-hostile. 1: Scroll to bottom of iTunes screen. 2: Click the flag. 3: Choose new country. Doesn't sound that dramatic to me. I don't even use iTunes; do I have an account? If you don't have an Apple account, then what is it that you're complaining that you can't make a purchase from? iTunes and Apple accounts are the same thing. I can't add my UK CC to my account The account that you say you don't know you have? You're going to have to make up your mind when you rant.
    - Carpetsmoker 7y ago
      > 1: Scroll to bottom of iTunes screen. 2: Click the flag. 3: Choose new country. Doesn't sound that dramatic to me. Which doesn't fix anything since then it errors and says I need to use the Dutch store. > If you don't have an Apple account, then what is it that you're complaining that you can't make a purchase from? iTunes and Apple accounts are the same thing. I creates an Apple account; so that an iTunes account? iTunes is for buying music, no? I don't even have iTunes on my phone. You seem to think that it's normal that people know all this stuff like "Apple account is also your iTunes account", but that doesn't follow at all. > The account that you say you don't know you have? You're going to have to make up your mind when you rant. I can't add it if it's in the Dutch region, so I switch to UK region, add it, and then it says my account is only valid for the Dutch region when I actually try to make a purchase. The purchase I wanted to make were Irish ordinance survey maps for hiking, which is not tied to the Netherlands at all, so you tell me...
techdragon 7y ago
From what I’ve heard, much of that kind of awkward regional nonsense is left over from the origins of iTunes as a music store which required heavy amounts of country specific logic dealing with per region restrictions as a result of licensing deals.
- larkost 7y ago
  It is not leftover, it applies to applications as well as music and videos. Apps can price themselves per region, or even not be available outside of set regions. There can be multiple reasons for this including third party content licensing or support reasons.
lancepioch 7y ago
I could be wrong, but I think that's more because of restrictions from the countries themselves than Apple. I don't think Apple would put unnecessary restrictions in if not for the legal requirements from various countries.

reaperducer 7y ago

I can't add my UK CC to my account though as it's not a Dutch one, so I switched to the UK region, and then it errors out with "your account is not valid for use in the UK store. You must switch to the Dutch store before purchasing". Why ...? I don't know. Because content licensed for a particular geographic region. I mix regions, too. It's not rocket surgery. You just have multiple iTunes accounts, which are as easy to create as buying an iTunes card while you're in that country and loading it into a new account. I have US, UK, French, and Japanese iTunes accounts, and have no problems making purchases from any of them because each has an independent country-specific payment source. You can have up to five on a device. It's something Apple has supported from the beginning.

Carpetsmoker 7y ago
Nothing you said is easy; it's all a massive PITA and incredibly user-hostile. I do appreciate the advice, but I just want to do normal things without jumping through hoops. I don't even use iTunes; do I have an account? Don't know, and frankly don't care either (I've given up on it). Here's how everything else works: I see a price for something, I decide I want it, I fill in my CC number, and I have it. No need to go to a physical store and juggle accounts and credit cards and whatnot.
- sbuk 7y ago
  It’s also an edge case.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  Nothing you said is easy; it's all a massive PITA and incredibly user-hostile. 1: Scroll to bottom of iTunes screen. 2: Click the flag. 3: Choose new country. Doesn't sound that dramatic to me. I don't even use iTunes; do I have an account? If you don't have an Apple account, then what is it that you're complaining that you can't make a purchase from? iTunes and Apple accounts are the same thing. I can't add my UK CC to my account The account that you say you don't know you have? You're going to have to make up your mind when you rant.
  - Carpetsmoker 7y ago
    > 1: Scroll to bottom of iTunes screen. 2: Click the flag. 3: Choose new country. Doesn't sound that dramatic to me. Which doesn't fix anything since then it errors and says I need to use the Dutch store. > If you don't have an Apple account, then what is it that you're complaining that you can't make a purchase from? iTunes and Apple accounts are the same thing. I creates an Apple account; so that an iTunes account? iTunes is for buying music, no? I don't even have iTunes on my phone. You seem to think that it's normal that people know all this stuff like "Apple account is also your iTunes account", but that doesn't follow at all. > The account that you say you don't know you have? You're going to have to make up your mind when you rant. I can't add it if it's in the Dutch region, so I switch to UK region, add it, and then it says my account is only valid for the Dutch region when I actually try to make a purchase. The purchase I wanted to make were Irish ordinance survey maps for hiking, which is not tied to the Netherlands at all, so you tell me...

techdragon 7y ago

From what I’ve heard, much of that kind of awkward regional nonsense is left over from the origins of iTunes as a music store which required heavy amounts of country specific logic dealing with per region restrictions as a result of licensing deals.

larkost 7y ago
It is not leftover, it applies to applications as well as music and videos. Apps can price themselves per region, or even not be available outside of set regions. There can be multiple reasons for this including third party content licensing or support reasons.

lancepioch 7y ago

I could be wrong, but I think that's more because of restrictions from the countries themselves than Apple. I don't think Apple would put unnecessary restrictions in if not for the legal requirements from various countries.