Noob question (setting up) for international users

Discussion in 'iPad' started by passingapple, Sep 20, 2015.

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  1. passingapple, Sep 20, 2015

    passingapple macrumors member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2012
    #1
    Question: does setting up your ipad for the first time in a country lock up your ipad/account to that country's app/itune store?


    I'm giving my ipad air 2 to a relative who lives overseas when I am visiting her in November, but as she is not that great with technology, I thought about setting it up for her after the reset (i.e. installing it under her apple account, downloading a few free apps that she could use, tweaking setting, etc, just basic stuff).

    But I think each country has its own app/itune store region, if I am not mistaken. I remember trying to access itune store while I was overseas and couldn't due to region restriction with my macbook air a couple year back. So I am not sure if it is ok to set up the ipad while I am still in the U.S and whether doing so would lock it and/or her apple account to U.S. app/itune store. As she will use it in her country, I wouldn't want to do that.

    FYI, I helped her to create her apple id and I think she did so in her country. But she hasn't really used it for anything yet. Don't know if that makes any difference here.

    I'd appreciate feedback from those who know more about this. Thanks.
     
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  2. pol0001, Sep 21, 2015

    pol0001 macrumors 6502

    pol0001

    Joined:
    Apr 15, 2008
    Location:
    London
    #2
    You can change the app store country, if you have a valid credit card for the new country. In the past, I used the Dutch and German iTunes Stores, when I was living in those countries. When I moved to the UK, I simply updated my address and payment methods in iTunes.

    But I have to give you a warning. Your purchase history will NOT transfer to the new store. If the app, song, book etc. also exists in the "new" iTunes store, you can still download them for free. (e.g. I bought the "Things" to do app in the German store. The UK store doesn't know this. So it shows my the "buy now" button and not the "download" button. But once I click on "buy", I get a message, that I can download the app for free, because I purchased it in the past.)

    But if the item is not available or only available in a different version, things aren't so smooth. If the item is not available at all, you can't download a new new copy from the iTunes store. And if the item is different in the new store, you have to purchase it again. (e.g. I bought the "Star Trek: Into Darkness movie in the German iTunes store. The German version has a German and English audio track. This makes it a different product from the movie in the UK store, as that has only the English audio track. Therefore I can't download the movie for free from the UK store.)
     
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  3. passingapple, Sep 21, 2015

    passingapple thread starter macrumors member

    Joined:
    Jul 7, 2012
    #3
    Excellent. Thanks!
     
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