App Catalog Geo-Restrictions a thing of the past? 23
WebOS device owners outside of the US will love the bit of news that GuyFromNam has brought to our attention in the forums. Apparently HP has sneaked out some kind of an update (server side maybe?) to the App Catalog (only for the Veer right now) to allow paid app catalog access for any country based on the language that you select when creating your webOS profile. Basically, if you live outside of the US, you can now get full US Paid App Catalog access.
The change is simple: rather than basing what access you have in the app catalog on which country your device was physically activated in, that access is now determined by the language/country that you specify in the profile creation process. If you set that language for the UK, for example, you'll see Pounds (£) listed for the price. If you change that to US English, however, the dollar sign ($) appears and your access to the full paid app catalog on US servers will now be granted.
There are still some downsides to this work-around: You can only access one catalog at a time through separate profiles, and you'll still need a credit card from the country that your app catalog originates (if you've set US English, for example, you'll need a US credit card). Lastly, there are actually some apps that are not available in the US App Catalog (like Spotify), but you can easily test each app catalog to see which one has the apps you want by creating a new profile on that device.
For a long time the only solution that we had for getting access to the full catalog (no matter where you lived) was by using the WebOS Internals homebrew app Impostah. While the official change has yet to be reflected on the Pre or Pixi of old (you'll still need to use Impostah), those of us that own a Veer can now easily get access to whatever catalog we desire. It's a great thing for users, and definitely a sure sign that HP is living up to its promise of no geo-restrictions on the TouchPad.
Source: PreCentral Forums (GuyFromNam); Thanks, Everyone!
23 Comments
thank go_ one less thing for developers to sop whining about.
Ah, I didn't realise this was an actual update. I assumed it was a server side change. Guess I just have to wait for the update for the Pre 2
Updated to clarify. It's not an actual app update.
Thanks. Hopefully whatever they've done will affect my Pre 2 soon. I need App Catalog :(
a possible solution to the credit card issue could be avoided by using serve.com ....its pretty much an american express prepaid card...or maybe any prepaid card obtained in the states could work, right?...i know visa, and american express is pretty much excepted anywhere.."visa, its where you wanna be"...
It's good that they are working on it but why not try to do it right? The obvious set up should be:
* have all apps by default be available on all devices and profiles
* make it possible to carrier (and perhaps geo) restrict special apps, like navigation software and spotify
* accept any universal card (visa, mastercard, amex) from any country PLUS paypal, like all other online stores (why do you make it complicated to allow us to give you money??)
* give the user the possibility to filter by language and geo, like "I don't speak french and am not interested UK specific apps (London subway etc)"
At least get rid of the notion that the user must choose one path or another at creation time. People do move.
Different regions have different laws and restrictions they must abide by.
The main difference is the following: If they would accept ANY credit card, I could choose the american app catalog and pay your american prices.
Maybe you people don't know it, but 99 cent Apps also cost 99 cents in Europe, just that these are $ 1,40 instead of $ 0,99 ;)
Also I guess it would be more complicated for the taxes etc.
Ye, different countries do have different laws. How stupid to expect HP to copy every aspect of android and ios devices: app listing, menus, app shop, front low res camera, tablet, price. But to exclude services that require real work: flexible payment, worldwide distribution, support for legacy devices, region adaption etc
Ever wondered why developers are dropping webOs like its a nuclear warhead, dated 1945 and heading for Hiroshima
except you still need an american credit card to make iOS purchases...
"visa, it's where you wanna be"... but if you wanna BUY something from country A, you gotta have a card from country A....
don't know, sounds like the more things change, the more things stay the same... :-(
YES!
I can't believe I waited so long for that to happen!
I hope the country and language will be independent, that I can select english and Germany. Now my profile has active english and UK, but prices are correct in Euros for my German credit card. I hope this combination will be still valid.
I'm with you... When the time comes I'd prefer the Dutch app catalog, but all my tech devices have their UI language set for English.
Let's hope they will make it so ;)
I hope there is more flexibility than that coming. People travel with phones - and if I am travelling to the US, or France I NEED access to the US and French App catalogues, both before and during my travels. Access to the App Catalogue should be by preference (user selectable). Tax policies have to be device location specific. Payment cannot be tied to a country - I only have Canadian credit cards. The three functions need to be distinct and separate.
I have been waiting for this. I have a Pre 2, activated in Australia, and only have access to free apps at the moment. Removing geographic restrictions on the app catalog will allow me to buy applications and improve the usability of the phone. At the moment, I am still using an iPhone as my main phone for this reason. Other people that I show webOS to have been quite interested in it, but will not buy until geographic restrictions are lifted. This is going to benefit webOS and increase the userbase.
You can also look at this from a developer standpoint
In 2008 ios added over 40 countries to the app store. I believe that the payed apps functions in over 90 countries atm
So if each country sells your app 1x at 1$, thats 90-30% 63 bucks for just trying.
Now imagine if your app is actually good, and you are selling multiple apps every day.
Now HP, markets only in US, and has limited support for like 3 other european countries and canada. One could say that native app development for WebOs is not worth the squeeze. Limiting developers, limiting users, limiting sales, limiting revenue, limiting brand growth.
Dont tell me that it takes 2 years to solve geo restriction. Applications is the reason you buy a smartphone in the first place
I agree.
I am completely disillusioned by the lack of apps for those in other countries.
As regards taxation, etc mentioned above, I have never had any problems buying apps for the Treo, so what's the sudden restriction on purchases?
In my humble opinion, someone buys your product in good faith, you give her/him equal opportunity to make the best use of it.
It is not like folks in the countries are asking for physical support that would entail setting up maintenance centers etc, not willing to pay by international credit card in whatever currency, etc.
Palm has really made life difficult for its loyal users. I cant do a thing with the Pre - cant transfer the data without USB, cant take a backup unless I go to Google, cant pay for apps unless I am in one of miniscule list of countries, etc.
oh this is again just a workaround. How is HP thinking this "create nother profile"-thing will work. I have one phone and don't want to switch to another profile and buy all the other again. I know that there are country based law problems in some app (music and encryption mostly) but most of the geo restrictions in the palm app catalog are just because the author forgot to include other countrys. So if there are special law reasons for country restriction put a special note into the app, that it won't work in other countries (cause perhaps they only stream to US IPs) and restrict the buy e.g. to a US credit crad only. But then let me have multiple CreditCards in one profile.
But really if it's that easy creating another profile and just pretent i'm from US select US/english and enter a US credit card to get it working, they could also have me enter a second credit card nomatter which language i want my phone to run. Btw carrier restrictions (nav/tv appa) will still be possible like now.
Is this stuff also that complicated on iOS or Android? Never heard of such things.
Too late for me, I live in Mexico, and we are still stuck in WebOS 1.4.0
Palm (now HP) has lost a lot of very loyal customers here in Mexico.
I'm getting a Windows Phone 7 device.
Goodbye PreCentral :D
Any idea when this will happen? I am a Touchpad owner in Sweden and can only see free apps.
I live in Honduras... and it's so hard to always been a PalmOS fan and see a great I mean GREAT! step into Palm webOS, but... no app catalog access! Wow! is like having the cure of a deadly disease and not sharing it with the world (more specific the needed ones). I would appreciate that the catalog would accept PayPal (as I buy stuff on ebay) and stop putting so much limits to our beloved platform. Just to probe my loyalty, I'm expecting an HP Veer this week, and a HP Pre 3 and 32G HP Touchpad next week even though they say our platform is dead. I think HP is on the verge of selling Palm/webOS and I hope they sell it to a company that will do webOS and us good! I would suggest to this buyer (hopefully Facebook) to resurrect PALM (as it is the brand we all love!) and support it (with money off course) to get the development they require in terms of software and hardware, and benefit from it.
I'm an enthusiastic like all Palm/webOS fans, and I say LONG LIVE WEBOS!!!