Google thinks I live in the country I purchased N4 in.. can't download apps!

[penthr0x]

Hi everyone!

I've poked around for some time now, and I just can't get any answers on this question.

I bought my device in Australia, but I live in Israel at the moment. I've encountered problems downloading local Israeli apps - GetTaxi and myOrange, so far - "incompatible with your N4" because it's "not available in my country."

Yes, I've cleared data/cache in the Google Play app. The apps simply don't appear in searches on the device, and when I try to install them from Google Play on the web, I get the "incompatible with your device" message.

• Why does Google think my phone is in Australia? Is it based on the credit card I used to purchase the phone? Is the phone region-locked to where you purchase it?
• How do I get around this without rooting? I switched from an iPhone and never really had this problem.
• Can't my phone's location tell Google that I'm good to download apps that are location-restricted?

One thing to note is that neither of these apps have anything to do with content. There's no good reason to restrict even someone overseas from downloading them - they just won't be useful to someone overseas (GetTaxi hails cabs locally in Israel and the UK; myOrange tracks my usage on my cell plan.)

Your help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Best
penthr0x

 

[marathone]

Hi everyone!

I've poked around for some time now, and I just can't get any answers on this question.

I bought my device in Australia, but I live in Israel at the moment. I've encountered problems downloading local Israeli apps - GetTaxi and myOrange, so far - "incompatible with your N4" because it's "not available in my country."

Yes, I've cleared data/cache in the Google Play app. The apps simply don't appear in searches on the device, and when I try to install them from Google Play on the web, I get the "incompatible with your device" message.

• Why does Google think my phone is in Australia? Is it based on the credit card I used to purchase the phone? Is the phone region-locked to where you purchase it?
• How do I get around this without rooting? I switched from an iPhone and never really had this problem.
• Can't my phone's location tell Google that I'm good to download apps that are location-restricted?

One thing to note is that neither of these apps have anything to do with content. There's no good reason to restrict even someone overseas from downloading them - they just won't be useful to someone overseas (GetTaxi hails cabs locally in Israel and the UK; myOrange tracks my usage on my cell plan.)

Your help would be GREATLY appreciated!

Best
penthr0x

Root it, install CM10.1 problem solved.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

[JeffDenver]

Root it, install CM10.1 problem solved.

This.

According to this article, the country is determined by the SIM card - Nexus 4 in other countries : nexus4

 

[JeffDenver]

Found this XDA thread. The SIM trick was disabled in February.

I've had the same problem since I moved back to the US.

I'm now in USA, on an HTC One from AT&T, using their sim, etc.
But.... rooted

I previously lived in Japan, for 13yrs, with many Android devices acquired there.

My Play store still shows Japan version.

After many calls to Google Play support, we came to the conclusion that I would have to reset my devices. (more later)

According to Google support, SIM based devices use the carriers signal ip to determine location for Play. However, since my One is rooted, they said it won't properly report to the Play store to send location.

I reset/flashed all my other devices, then revisited Google dashboard.
Funny thing, only a couple show in my Play store now.

Support said it could take about a week for my Play store to show up as US after resetting everything.

So about a week and a half later, my HTC One suddenly asked me to agree to terms when opening Play store... Boom! USA Play store showed up! Great!
Now, another week later... It's all reverted back to Japanese Play store.. Wtf.

Funny thing, I can still get to Google Music on pc but not search/buy anymore.

I will unroot my One for a week and see if the USA store comes back.

xda-developers - View Single Post - Play Store Now Only Allows Access Based on Country of Google Account, Not SIM or IP

 

[Fairclough]

I am Aussie - So I will flick through mine.
Is your location settings on?
Set to Automatic Data & Time via prodiver?
Changed language to your locale?
I'm presuming these will help google adjust your location.
Reading around apparently a purchase e.g an app will change your email Google Store account location.
Also "The settings you have to change are at wallet.google.com. Sign in with your account, go to Settings, and change "Home address" to your new address. You might also have to change your phone number, and your default "Billing and delivery address" in the second tab.

Note that this will not let you buy contents from a country you don't live in, since you need a credit card and an IP from that country"
You could attempt to change it on the website, not on the mobile that might correct things.

Apparently an APP called Market Enabler could fix it.
https://code.google.com/p/market-enabler/downloads/detail?name=MarketEnabler_v3113.apk&can=2&q=
^ Might require a root.

 

[penthr0x]

Thanks for the replies so far. I would prefer to solve it without rooting. I'll try a couple of these suggestions and see what comes up.

Seems very odd to me - didn't Google consider that someone might move countries, or perhaps wish to download a local app while they're traveling in a country? Bizarre that this process is so convoluted.

 

[marathone]

It doesn't really have much to do with Google per se as it has to do IP rights. In order to sell music and video, Google most likely had to agree to doing it this way.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta