iPhones and the whole Apple ecosystem boast the availability of a large number of apps on the App Store. That’s is just fine, until you require a specific app, only to find that it is localized to a country, and you’re not in it. While it is somewhat simple to install geo-restricted apps on an Android device, Apple’s strict security, and the “walled-garden” that is iOS, make it fairly difficult to download and install apps that are not available in your country. Really, you can change stores and view the app, yet Apple still won’t let you download an app from a store in another country.
[ad type=”banner”]How to Install Georestricted Apps on Your iPhone
This is basically a step-by-step guide, and one which you can follow easily, to download any app that is available on the App Store, regardless of what country it is limited to.
- Launch App Store on your iPhone.
- In the “Featured” page, scroll down to the bottom of the page. Tap on your Apple ID, and select “Sign Out”.
- Next, go to iPhone’s Settings -> General -> Language & Region and changethe Language and Region to the country where the app is available. If you are looking for Polaroid Swing, so you can choose English (US) and United States, respectively.
- Searchfor the app on Safari since searching directly inside the App Store will not work. Tap on the iTunes link of the app, and App Store will launch, asking you if you want to change your Store to the country where the app is available (US, in my case). Tap on “Change Store“.
- Tap on “Get” next to the app’s name in the App Store listing.
- The App Store will ask you to sign in with an Apple ID, tap on “CreateNew Apple ID”.
- Agree to the terms and conditions, and you will land on a page asking for details.
- Provide an email ID that you have access to, and that has not been used to create an Apple ID in the past.
- Provide a password, fill up the rest of the form, and tap “Continue”.
- In the Payment Method page,select “None”.
- Fill up a random addressin the details, and select a city and state. (I used NYC, NY).
- If you do not know the ZIP code for a city, it can easily be found on Google.
- For the phone number, enter any random numbers or google “Fake NYC phone numbers “, and you will get a list of numbers that you can use, pick one and enter it. Apple does not verify the phone number, so you can enter any number you want.
- Tap on “Continue”,and Apple will send a verification mail to the email ID you entered earlier. Use the link in the email to verify your Apple ID.
- Fine, that’s it. You can now download the app not available in your country by signing in with the new Apple ID on the App Store.
Install Georestricted Apps with Ease
Now we know how to install geo-restricted apps on your iPhone, just go ahead and install all the apps that you have needed to, but couldn’t, due to geo-restriction. The main issue with this method is that for each country’s store, you will require an alternate Apple ID, to be able to install apps that are localized to that country. However, most of the apps are available in the US store, so, if you have an Apple ID that is eligible for purchases from the US store.