It's disappointing they are pulling VPN apps that might help with escaping the GFW. I find it funny how large tech companies such as Google, Facebook, and Apple - try so hard to adopt a public image promoting western liberal values. However they all end up submitting to political censorship demands for a population of over a billion people.
I read earlier in the month even Google has caved in, despite being an example years ago by refusing to participate in censorship
But then I know their primary priority is to increase revenue/profits. Can't do that by being blocked out of such a massive market.
If a company wants to operate in a certain jurisdiction, it has to respect its laws, whether it agrees with them or not. There is simply no way around it. And you could argue, that Chinese democracy is better off with iOS devices even as they are today, than without them at all.
What do you mean? Switching the app store region was alway trivial (just click on a different region). What is difficult about switching the region is paying for apps. You need a region-specific payment method.
Actually, I don't think you can, or rather I can't.
I live in Austria, but I want a US iCloud account. I can't, use non-US iTunes gift cards with my US iCloud account. I have to buy US iTunes gift cards, which I have to get on eBay, or buy them when I visit the US.
It's a total PITA, as vendors selling these items are super-paranoid and often won't sell to you without some kind of "verification" that takes days/weeks to clear.
Btw, if anyone has any other workaround, I would be very grateful. Something like a US pre-paid debit card that permits non-US customers and that is also accepted by Apple. I haven't found one that satisfies both criteria.
I was in the same situation up until a while ago. Then I realized that an US account is a pain if I want to do family sharing on that account with the rest of my family with Austrian accounts, or use local apps that are not available in the US store. My solution is (for work related things that need to be country specific) to use https://www.pcgamesupply.com/ - they sent codes within a few seconds and you can pay with credit card. Very convenient and not as annoying as eBay. There are a lot of these shops though so not sure what’s the problem for you.
I can only recommend a local account if you plan on staying there for longer though, the more things you buy the harder it is to convert it into another country later and take your purchases with you. I had to go through that and it was annoying, as afterwards (on your account after the switch) you don’t see your purchase before your switch, but if you buy them you get a message saying “You already bought this one, this will be free” - but you are never sure if you get charged or not as this message comes at the step where you usually get your payment confirmation.
You can buy US gift cards via [0], at least it works for me. Also you can switch to Canada region without any payment method(while switching to US region requires a US credit card).
> You can buy US gift cards via [0], at least it works for me.
Unfortunately it requires a credit card with a US billing address[1].
> Also you can switch to Canada region without any payment method(while switching to US region requires a US credit card).
The US store also does not require a credit card[2][3]. It does require entering a US address, but the address is not validated in any way.
Edit: apparently you can't always chose "none" as a payment method when changing regions[4]. I can't remember what I did, I might have created the account while being in the US, or perhaps I used ssh port forwarding with an US server, but, as you can see it works for me.
I have no problems with my visa card which is issued by a Chinese bank and a US freight forwarder address(apparently not my actual address) for billing. Since I set my credit line to 0, I dont bother with risk of frauds.
Yeah, faking the billing address sometimes works, sometimes it doesn't work, depending on the issuing bank and all kinds of other factors. Believe me, as I am often in the US, I try this all the time.
Some systems don't check anything, most systems only check the numeric characters written in the address, but some systems also check the country and/or zip code.
I can't use my Austrian CC to buy from your Apple link, but I could use it at Lowe's with some US address (I used my Austrian address street but with country US).
Btw, I could not order a Macbook Pro from apple.com (online), even when I was in the US, and the online system allowed entering an Austrian billing address. The payment went through, but the order was cancelled a few days later with no explanation (and no money back either!). I had to plead with Apple support that I am not, in fact, some kind of scammer, and they made me come in person to an Apple store and only after I presented them with two separate types of government ID they returned me the money (and allowed me to place a new order there, in person).
Thanks for sharing your anecdotes, it seems Apple's online store is a lot trickier to deal with that I originally thought. Given the fact that there are almost none posts about having troubles with ordering US gift cards in the Chinese social media, I wonder if they are offering Chinese people some special care(like lowering credit card validation standards? We don't apply for a CC to make domestic payments). Life is strange, without ever been to the US, I have the account you've always wanted for years.
Exactly. Apple's like "The App Store is for your protection" but it cuts both ways: It's enabling government control of which software you can install on your device. Unexpected unintended consequences...
Don't know about this particular incident, but in general gambling is very culturally integrated in Asia is found in many contexts you wouldn't see gambling in other countries.
In China I often get spam iMessage texts from illegal gambling services advertising their apps. These apps are often disguised as something else. You download a calendar/video app etc hit the right button and it turns into a casino/sports betting app. During the world cup I was getting 4-5 texts a day.
FTA: "In China, Apple said it removed nearly 700 virtual private networks, or VPN, apps from its App Store last year in response to new local restrictions."
Not sure that outlawing gambling, which wrecks lives through addiction and has no measurable benefit, could be equated to outlawing letting you talk about the fact that your government slaughtered students in Tienanmen Square or simply that your ruler resembles Winnie the Pooh.
Most people in my country think that gambling is basically fine and handguns are a menace to society, so our laws reflect that. It seems bizarre to us that most Americans can legally own a handgun, but can't legally place a $5 bet on a football game. Our attitudes to guns and gambling aren't right or wrong, they're just different.
There are things I could say in this comment that would be a federal felony. No country has absolute freedom of speech. All countries draw a line somewhere. China draws that line in a different place to the US. It's not right or wrong, it's just different.
Being jailed for saying someone looks a bit like a cartoon character or stating simple facts about a government slaughtering students is definitively wrong. The only folks who might disagree are those brought up in brain-washy/authoritarian regimes.
Of course it is bad for censorship in autoritarian countries, but I'm glad for the extra customer protections in the EU vs the US.
edit: And I'm also glad that foreign companies need to comply with local laws in my country. Since about everything comes from China directly or indirectly, I would be living in a de-facto Chinese province right now.
The title deceivingly hides the word "gambling" and tries to make it sound like Apple censoring free press or something similar for the Chinese government.
No States allow broad gambling. Even Nevada only allows it in certain areas. So it's pretty safe to say that gambling is generally illegal, with a few exceptions.
No States allow broad gambling. Even Nevada only allows it in certain areas. So it's pretty safe to say that gambling is generally illegal, with a few exceptions.
By that logic performing surgery is illegal, should Apple remove an app that helps operate surgical equipment?
Also, many states allow private gambling anywhere as long as there is no house edge(vig/rake), which makes it more of an industry regulation.
>No States allow broad gambling. Even Nevada only allows it in certain areas.
Gambling is allowed everywhere in Nevada except for Boulder City. You might be thinking about brothels, which face broad geographic restrictions imposed by the state.
The only reason it's not allowed in Boulder City is because Boulder City was founded as federal government work camp while building what is now Hoover Dam. People who live there have since repeatedly voted not to allow gambling in their town.
I read earlier in the month even Google has caved in, despite being an example years ago by refusing to participate in censorship
But then I know their primary priority is to increase revenue/profits. Can't do that by being blocked out of such a massive market.