5 ms·

If I buy a phone in the EU can I keep this ability everywhere even with a UK Apple ID? Seems pretty nice having everything separate like this. I hope it forces

If I buy a phone in the EU can I keep this ability everywhere even with a UK Apple ID? Seems pretty nice having everything separate like this. I hope it forces them to allow different browser engines than Safari too.

space_oddity 2y ago
Theoretically this ability should remain active regardless of using a UK Apple ID, as it's tied to the device's region
- yurishimo 2y ago
  After staying in one region consistently, all the big tech companies will automatically switch your region for you. Some might take longer to force you than others, but it’s not certain that you can forever stay on another region. But what makes most people have to switch eventually is a bank/government app that is region locked and you need it to live your life without pulling your hair out jumping through stupid hoops. A VPN and two devices is the only way to stay truly separate from the region you live in full time over the long term.
  - kergonath 2y ago
    > After staying in one region consistently, all the big tech companies will automatically switch your region for you. I have been using an iPhone with a British Apple ID and the British App Store, and the UK regional settings on some devices despite not living there anymore for a couple of years now. I am fairly confident switching countries requires the user to do it consciously. [edit] for this feature specifically, they are more aggressive: https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093437/apple-iphone-third-party-app-store-dma-eu https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093437/apple-iphone-thir... I don’t think they change anything about your accounts or device settings themselves, though.
  - rahimnathwani 2y ago
    Both iOS and Google Play allow you to install apps from two different accounts (each in a different region) on the same device. So you can have a single iPhone with both US and UK banking apps. Same for Pixel.
    - yurishimo 2y ago
      How does this work on ios? In my experience, a phone can only have one apple ID at a time.
      - rahimnathwani 2y ago
        Sign out of the app store. Sign in with a different ID. Install the app you want. Sign out again. The apple ID used for the app store doesn't have to be the same as the apple ID for Facetime, Messages etc. You don't even need to be signed in to the app store to use an app that's already installed.
        yurishimo 2y ago
        Oh cool. I didn't realize that was possible. I have most of my apps still from when I lived in the US in my history, so downloading them again isn't an issue, but if I need another one, I will definitely try this out!
fragmede 2y ago
Sorry if it's a sore question, but is the UK in the EU (For the purposes of Apple's DMA compliance)? Edit: best I could find is "no", according to techcrunch from August 2024 https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/21/uks-competition-authority-ends-probes-of-apple-and-google-but-will-use-incoming-powers-to-resolve-app-store-concerns/ https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/21/uks-competition-authority-...
- pests 2y ago
  It used to be, it's not anymore.
- firecall 2y ago
  No, it is not! Brexit meant leaving the EU.
  - andy_ppp 2y ago
    Look at all the freedom we gained in the UK!
- ryandrake 2y ago
  I wonder, if another country were to leave the EU in the future, would Apple actually go in and modify the code (or enable a server flag) to remove the feature from all of those country's users' devices? It just seems so wrong to own a device, but still have the manufacturer dictate what that device is allowed to do, AND they have the ability to change those capabilities at will. It feels like buying a physical calculator, where the manufacturer can one day wave a magic wand and I lose the "divide" button. I'm generally an Apple fan and I get that people like Apple's "walled garden" but even to me this seems like an abuse.
  - kergonath 2y ago
    They need to do that anyway, because the laws depend on the country. There is no other option: different sets of laws are often incompatible, there is not always a common subset that works everywhere. So the behaviour of the device has to change depending on the location. But yes, it is silly in this specific case. I’d like someone to explain credibly why letting users delete apps is wrong. In the worst case it’s a minor pain and the user has to re-download it from the store. These apps are thin UI layers over system frameworks anyway.
josephcsible 2y ago
No. Apple spent a lot of time and money building a service called "countryd" with the sole purpose of making sure that people outside the EU can't use any of the features that they already did the work to develop anyway.
- Pesthuf 2y ago
  How wonderful of Apple to make sure non-EU citizens are protected from the terrible dangers of freedom to choose, forced upon EU iOS users by the tyrannical EU government /s
- kmlx 2y ago
  this one? https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/Filesystem:/usr/libexec/countryd https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/Filesystem:/usr/libexec/countr... > countryd determines the user's physical country based on multiple characteristics. It is used by the eligibility system to ensure it is difficult to spoof the user's true physical location. It was introduced in iOS 16.2 and macOS 13.0.
  - andy_ppp 2y ago
    Creepy that they feel the need to know exactly where you are IMO...
    - kmlx 2y ago
      i'm guessing it's an indirect requirement from governments (e.g. "on our territory it's illegal to use the internet/device for X").
      - xp84 2y ago
        Meh, if they were really doing favors for governments they'd do something to nerf VPN software for places like China. I'm pretty sure this was created to serve Apple's intere$t$ first and foremost
- jorvi 2y ago
eptcyka 2y ago
I'm sure if you jailbreak the phone, you'll be able to enable this capability natively.

space_oddity 2y ago

Theoretically this ability should remain active regardless of using a UK Apple ID, as it's tied to the device's region

yurishimo 2y ago
After staying in one region consistently, all the big tech companies will automatically switch your region for you. Some might take longer to force you than others, but it’s not certain that you can forever stay on another region. But what makes most people have to switch eventually is a bank/government app that is region locked and you need it to live your life without pulling your hair out jumping through stupid hoops. A VPN and two devices is the only way to stay truly separate from the region you live in full time over the long term.
- kergonath 2y ago
  > After staying in one region consistently, all the big tech companies will automatically switch your region for you. I have been using an iPhone with a British Apple ID and the British App Store, and the UK regional settings on some devices despite not living there anymore for a couple of years now. I am fairly confident switching countries requires the user to do it consciously. [edit] for this feature specifically, they are more aggressive: https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093437/apple-iphone-third-party-app-store-dma-eu https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093437/apple-iphone-thir... I don’t think they change anything about your accounts or device settings themselves, though.
- rahimnathwani 2y ago
  Both iOS and Google Play allow you to install apps from two different accounts (each in a different region) on the same device. So you can have a single iPhone with both US and UK banking apps. Same for Pixel.
  - yurishimo 2y ago
    How does this work on ios? In my experience, a phone can only have one apple ID at a time.
    - rahimnathwani 2y ago
      Sign out of the app store. Sign in with a different ID. Install the app you want. Sign out again. The apple ID used for the app store doesn't have to be the same as the apple ID for Facetime, Messages etc. You don't even need to be signed in to the app store to use an app that's already installed.
      - yurishimo 2y ago
        Oh cool. I didn't realize that was possible. I have most of my apps still from when I lived in the US in my history, so downloading them again isn't an issue, but if I need another one, I will definitely try this out!

fragmede 2y ago

Sorry if it's a sore question, but is the UK in the EU (For the purposes of Apple's DMA compliance)? Edit: best I could find is "no", according to techcrunch from August 2024 https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/21/uks-competition-authority-ends-probes-of-apple-and-google-but-will-use-incoming-powers-to-resolve-app-store-concerns/ https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/21/uks-competition-authority-...

pests 2y ago
It used to be, it's not anymore.
firecall 2y ago
No, it is not! Brexit meant leaving the EU.
- andy_ppp 2y ago
  Look at all the freedom we gained in the UK!
ryandrake 2y ago
I wonder, if another country were to leave the EU in the future, would Apple actually go in and modify the code (or enable a server flag) to remove the feature from all of those country's users' devices? It just seems so wrong to own a device, but still have the manufacturer dictate what that device is allowed to do, AND they have the ability to change those capabilities at will. It feels like buying a physical calculator, where the manufacturer can one day wave a magic wand and I lose the "divide" button. I'm generally an Apple fan and I get that people like Apple's "walled garden" but even to me this seems like an abuse.
- kergonath 2y ago
  They need to do that anyway, because the laws depend on the country. There is no other option: different sets of laws are often incompatible, there is not always a common subset that works everywhere. So the behaviour of the device has to change depending on the location. But yes, it is silly in this specific case. I’d like someone to explain credibly why letting users delete apps is wrong. In the worst case it’s a minor pain and the user has to re-download it from the store. These apps are thin UI layers over system frameworks anyway.

josephcsible 2y ago

No. Apple spent a lot of time and money building a service called "countryd" with the sole purpose of making sure that people outside the EU can't use any of the features that they already did the work to develop anyway.

Pesthuf 2y ago
How wonderful of Apple to make sure non-EU citizens are protected from the terrible dangers of freedom to choose, forced upon EU iOS users by the tyrannical EU government /s
kmlx 2y ago
this one? https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/Filesystem:/usr/libexec/countryd https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/Filesystem:/usr/libexec/countr... > countryd determines the user's physical country based on multiple characteristics. It is used by the eligibility system to ensure it is difficult to spoof the user's true physical location. It was introduced in iOS 16.2 and macOS 13.0.
- andy_ppp 2y ago
  Creepy that they feel the need to know exactly where you are IMO...
  - kmlx 2y ago
    i'm guessing it's an indirect requirement from governments (e.g. "on our territory it's illegal to use the internet/device for X").
    - xp84 2y ago
      Meh, if they were really doing favors for governments they'd do something to nerf VPN software for places like China. I'm pretty sure this was created to serve Apple's intere$t$ first and foremost
jorvi 2y ago

eptcyka 2y ago

I'm sure if you jailbreak the phone, you'll be able to enable this capability natively.