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[Q] A question about Play store and regions

Hey. I am planning to get an Android phone and have a question about Google Play behaviour regarding different regions.
How do regions work in Google Play? I know each region get different apps/books/etc and prices but there are several things I'm curious about (all things are compared with itunes because atm I own an iphone):
If you buy an app at the German (example) store will it be easily updateable/installable when I switch back to the UK store? On iTunes it's a huge ****ing pain in the ass dealing with apps from different countries. You can't update them without wasting 10 minutes at least.
Are ratings and reviews separate as well? I have to use the US itunes store just so I can read more opinions and see larger rating vote counts.
Unlike itunes google play determines your location automatically which is bad for me. Is it alright if I'm going to use a proxy to fool the Play store and install apps from 'another country'?
Sorry if it's in the wrong section.

That can be an issue, but if you plan to root your phone you can flash things that will enable you to view anything from any region. Being in the US I don't run into this issue, but it's something to look at depending on the phone.
Also, most apps you can download the APK (for free apps) or contact the developer on how to find the app.

There is an app " market enabler" aka "market unlocker".
Needs root.
Works for apps only.
You can get any apps, specific to a region by changing the location in the app.
Or as said above, you can get the apks
LIFE! Live it to the best!

Lifehacker7 said:
There is an app " market enabler" aka "market unlocker".
Needs root.
Works for apps only.
You can get any apps, specific to a region by changing the location in the app.
Or as said above, you can get the apks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well looking for and downloading apks every time some app is updated would be annoying. Is there a software which manages android phones like itunes? I'm having tons of problems with itunes and its handling of apps purchased in different countries, hope to avoid this with android.

Al Gore said:
Well looking for and downloading apks every time some app is updated would be annoying. Is there a software which manages android phones like itunes? I'm having tons of problems with itunes and its handling of apps purchased in different countries, hope to avoid this with android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I don't think " buying it from another country" thing is an issue.
Once you have paid and downloaded, there shouldn't be any issue.
Unless the app is region specific and wouldn't work outside that country.
LIFE! Live it to the best!

Al Gore said:
Well looking for and downloading apks every time some app is updated would be annoying. Is there a software which manages android phones like itunes? I'm having tons of problems with itunes and its handling of apps purchased in different countries, hope to avoid this with android.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you can access the Play Store online and download stuff just like iTunes does for iOS devices, then you can manage the apps on the phone.
https://play.google.com/store/apps?feature=corpus_selector
You can also use that Market Enabler app to see all regions from the Play Store app, but you must be rooted.

Amazon FireTV apps - Ripped for your pleasure

I've extracted the following apps from the Amazon FireTV for anyone who wants to tinker around and try porting them to other devices.
Bloomberg TV
Crackle
Hulu Plus
iHeartRadio
Netflix
Pandora
Showtime Anytime
TuneIn Radio
Vevo
Vimeo
ESPN
All the interfaces are pretty good, so we really get these working with other Android boxes (especially Netflix).
Get the whole 140MB pack here.

Thanks for the apps! thought I would try so I could make Netflix more remote friendly. First they failed due to no amazon app store, then fails because the app store says i don't own the app and I can't download the Fire TV netflix from there. I wish I could just spoof the check or disable it.

multiuse said:
I wish I could just spoof the check or disable it.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This. I'm sure it can be done. All dl'ed Amazon Apps associate with the app store...it's just a matter of decompiling the .apks and removing or altering some lines I assume. (Which lines? IDK...here I come google.)
EDIT: Last night I tried to change a couple setting in the build.prop to spoof as a Fire TV, no joy. The Amazon App store wouldn't even open. (Unfortunately, AppStore has closed) Also, it should be noted that this is on the latest nightly CM11 build.
Fire TV was shipped with the purchasers info already entered into the box. (Purchaser info in APpStore) My concern is that there is a tertiary check...like a serial number check in the build.prop, idk... I think that simply removing the checks from the .apks will do the trick...hopefully.
Mod edit: Please do not discuss Lucky Patcher or apps that rhyme with it

Can you tell me how to modify the build.prop? I want to try modifying it to try and fake GPS and location services by doing the following:
gps.enable=true
&
hw.nolocation=false

link
Hey DaveTo - I think we're after the same thing, location services on the fire tv. I sent you a message on reddit the other day about modifying the settings.db file, but that didn't work. Here's how to edit the build.prop. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1948558 Let me know if you get it working!

This is funny. I was just replying to your reddit message on how you should try what I'm asking above. Not sure this technique will help, I think its more suited for getting past Google Store restrictions, but give it a go if you want to try. I end up spending more time trying to figure this out than actually watching hockey games. Plus, it is truly frustrating that others with FireTVs have gotten this to work and you and I can't. I would love to get to the bottom of this, but I can't even get the checkboxes to enable.

Were you planning on adding these two lines into the build prop file? They don't appears anywhere in the file so I'm asking.
gps.enable=true
&
hw.nolocation=false

[APP][TV5.0+][2015.03.10] Sideload Launcher for Android TV v1.05

Easily launch apps you sideloaded to your Android TV
This is only for the new Android TV devices, like the ADT-1 and the Nexus Player, it is completely useless on other devices
Android TV requires existing apps to be updated and declare themselves compatible before they're installable from the Play store.
While certainly not as streamlined or seamless as the average user would wish for their TV, many apps can still function on some level on these devices if you sideload them, but they don't show up in the Leanback Launcher (the Android TV homescreen).
So for that there is this app, the Sideload Launcher. A simple app that shows you the normal app launcher icons that a phone or tablet would show you, but which are hidden on Android TV, allowing you to launch any sideloaded app!
PS. This is a rather silly small app, but it came in handy for me while messing around. I don't expect this to become even remotely popular even when Android TV takes off, but it only took two hours to write, and I learned some new APIs, so if anyone at all ends up using being happy it exists, I consider that a win.
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=eu.chainfire.tv.sideloadlauncher
Redistribution of the APK is not allowed.
(1.00: 1000 downloads; 1.02: 1140)

Thanks for this. This will def come in handy.

very cool. could this be modified or something similar for amazon firetv?

Excellent work as always.
Thank you!
Bert

I was one of the people who preordered the Nexus Player, so this makes the wait even harder now! Thanks for all the work you do man.

Don't know why but I just got my ADT today and it ain't working. Updating to lollypop

Do we have to sideload this to the Nexus Player through adb to get it on there?

Pilz said:
Do we have to sideload this to the Nexus Player through adb to get it on there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, it's need to be slightly updated before the Play store will allow it to be visible because of the new TV guidelines...

How do you sideload on this device? I got mine yesterday and just hooked it up.

I'm far from a newb when it comes to using adb, fastboot and doing pretty much anything on android but I cannot get sideload to work on the nexus player. I've tried it from PC and Mac, I've used the most recent ADB version and USB driver. ADB sees the player but if i try to sideload it says "error". I've tried in recovery, frmo within a normal boot (dev options enabled, ADB is allowed as well as unknown sources)

adb install filename.apk

Chainfire said:
adb install filename.apk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks
Sent from my Nexus 5

Icons and banners updated. Hopefully Play will allow it on the TV store now
EDIT: Approved by Google for TV distribution, yay! Now if only the Play store on my device would actually work, I could check it out...

This is so nice, using it on the nexus player . all my sideload apps are showing up , except for plex ver 3.6.2.267 , i find it in system, apps section.... thanks for making this ,great time saver....Thanks

[BUG] Menu Key Broken
I ran into a bug with v1.02.
I'm running this on the Nexus Player. I have the Amazon Fire TV stick remote paired with it. That gives me access to the menu button.
When I hit the menu button, Sideload Launcher hangs - no button presses except for the back button or the home button are recognized.

This app, Viaplay, does not show up in Sideload launcher. Any idea why?

Some Apps Not Showing
I sideloaded Plex (because the Android TV version of Plex is still too buggy for me) and it does not show up in Sideload Launcher.
As a workaround I tried to use Tasker and Autoshortcut to create an app with Tasker App Factory to open Plex. Thinking if I named the app something different it would show up in the Launcher. Well, that didn't work either as that app isn't showing. Is there a reason why certain apps aren't showing in the Sideload Launcher?

Plex development version v3.8.2.294 is not showing on the Nexus player. Earlier dev versions worked fine in the v3.5 ranges.

Is chrome preinstalled in sideload ?

Updated to v1.05: should make some of the missing apps show up. The app wouldn't load the title of apps that weren't properly localized (bad developer!), and in turn would fail to display them.

Market Helper works with Nexus Player

Market Helper is an application for rooted android devices developed by redphx. The application allows you to spoof the Google Play Store into thinking you are using a different device, with the key benefit of allowing the user to download applications that the Play Store flags as "not compatible with device." The application does not alter the build.prop file. More information and a download link can be found at the link below:
codekiem.com/2013/02/13/market-helper
I was able to successfully use this application on my rooted Nexus Player. This is noteworthy because the latest posts in the support thread for the application say that it does not work with Android L, and that the dev is retired, such that an Android L compatibility update is unlikely. The Nexus Player runs Android L, and the application worked perfectly to spoof my NP as an Asus Transformer tablet.

Thanks for sharing this is a great news... do you see all the apps using NP's Play Store ? and how about paid apps ?

inwisso said:
Thanks for sharing this is a great news... do you see all the apps using NP's Play Store ? and how about paid apps ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To be clear, this opens up app availability in the web version of the Google Play store. So you can sideload any app from the web Play Store. I did not see an expanded app selection in the Android TV Play Store app.
Yes, this absolutely works for paid apps. The whole reason I tested this was to get the Slingplayer for Tablets app on my NP. I was happy to pay $15 for the app, but became extremely frustrated that I could not legitimately download the app because I do not own any other android device besides my NP. By rooting my NP and using the Market Helper app, I was able to spoof the Play Store into thinking my device was an android tablet and bypass the restriction. Slingplayer for Tablets 3.5.2 works well on NP as long as you have a mouse.

Awesome I think you have achieved something today, so far I think this is the best method to get paid apps to the NP... I will give it a try today
Edit:
It works like a charm yay

kaess said:
Market Helper is an application for rooted android devices developed by redphx. The application allows you to spoof the Google Play Store into thinking you are using a different device, with the key benefit of allowing the user to download applications that the Play Store flags as "not compatible with device." The application does not alter the build.prop file. More information and a download link can be found at the link below:
codekiem.com/2013/02/13/market-helper
I was able to successfully use this application on my rooted Nexus Player. This is noteworthy because the latest posts in the support thread for the application say that it does not work with Android L, and that the dev is retired, such that an Android L compatibility update is unlikely. The Nexus Player runs Android L, and the application worked perfectly to spoof my NP as an Asus Transformer tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks for this app!!
I want to try it in the other way, I mean, install especific apps for Nexus Player in my HDMI Android Stick Like the Android TV Launcher, wich is only available for the Nexus Player. You think this is possible?

badass
this is badass thankyou

How do I get it to activate?
It's allowing me to pick what I want and all but once I try to activate it, it force closes.

The status of Android without a Google Account

Hi everyone,
I have been researching and I've compiled a list of all the options available to use an Android device with Cyanogenmod without a Google account and I was wondering if anyone has a better solution considering the options I've found are all lacking.
Here is what I found including the issues for each option:
- Amazon web store (Not every app is available)
- Third party repositories, like apkmirror (Security implications of running apk that anyone can upload)
- F-Droid (Not every app is available)
- Getting the apps I need from the play store once and then backup the apks with a file manager (No updates) or I am going to need a different phone with a Google account and the play store.
Moral of the story, it's not easy to run an android phone without a google account.
Ps. A solution that I think could work (but I wasn't able to find a project that works) is an open source apk downloader (maybe on github) that get the apps straight from google via command line but all the projects I've seen are either out of date or not working...
Any suggestion is really appreciated! Thank you all!

Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.

surfinpika said:
Keep an android device with google play installed, then move the apks of things i really want, or bought already.
But honestly, after some choices I've made (running my own dropbox-like service on my server) I could definitely live with just F-Droid. Of course I'm not using some stuff like facebook or snapchat, so my needs in terms of apps isn't as extensive as others. Sometimes it does feel like i'm hamstrung when the next new fad comes and goes, but I'll live without them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.

_polymar said:
Hi surfinpika,
thanks for your input, I am starting to feel like your solution (of having a separate device with just the google account setup) is the cleanest option.
I am not into facebook or snapchat or the next fad either... but f-droid wouldn't cut it for me, stuff like keepass2android or some of the other apps I use are definitely not there. I wonder what are the security implications of using F-Droid compared to getting the apks from apkmirror. Considering my level of paranoia I wouldn't feel safe with either option.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...

_polymar said:
One issue I can think of with this approach is that both the device with google play store and the device where the apps are going to be installed will require the same CPU architecture.
Won't be able to download the apk on a cheap android (most likely ARM) and install it on ARM64...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah, luckily my back up is the same architecture as my non-gapps phone.
And there are also ways of getting some of the apks straight from the sources, like keepass2android from the project's website. but even if it is google, they sort of give a sense of security in that the apk won't be messed with.
It's such a mess though otherwise, hard to separate the google from the android, and no other viable OSs are any better. hope some competition at least makes a nice little niche to get away from the big G.