A certain number of applications available on the Play Store are reserved for certain geographic areas and therefore inaccessible from France. It's so frustrating not being able to install a game or apps for geographic restriction issues. The tutorial presented today explains how to easily change your Google Play Store region and download apps originally reserved for the American, German, English, Australian markets…
Why Google implemented a geographic limitation on the Play Store
The range of apps offered on the Play Store in France is not the same in England, the United States or the United Kingdom. Each country has its own catalog of applications and not all apps are available in all regions of the world. This is particularly the case for tools dedicated to banks or streaming services..
You may have already seen the following error message appear on your smartphone screen: Sorry! This content is not available in your country at this time. We hope to be able to deliver the content you like in other countries very quickly.
There are many reasons for implementing this geographic limitation . First, the development teams did not have time to translate their application into the language of Molière and prefer to postpone its launch.
It can also be an infrastructure issue. When launching Pokémon Go, the Niantic publisher behind the game preferred to delay the release of its title in France so as not to overload these servers..
Change the Play Store region without using a VPN
Certain areas of the world, notably the United States, have the largest catalog of applications. What make many jealous of Android smartphone jealous. Indeed what could be more annoying than not being able to install the latest fashionable application on your smartphone.
Fortunately, it is quite possible to make your Android phone believe that you are physically located in another country and thus take advantage of the applications of your choice. To achieve this technical feat, you will need a VPN..
Problem, the manipulation requires to master a minimum of computer knowledge. These procedures risk putting off neophytes. But this is the price to pay to be able to use an incompatible application with your mobile.
Install an application unavailable in France
As we will see there is a second technique to overcome borders. In fact, the latest update from the Google Play Store has a new Country and Profiles function to allow users to easily change countries.
This option was set up by the American giant to facilitate the movement of users in other countries (moving, vacation or transfer abroad). In absolute terms, nothing prevents you from using it to download a film or application unavailable in your country.
- Launch the Google Play Store on your smartphone
- Check that you have the latest version of the Google Play Store namely 9.3.14 (or higher)
- Then press the Menu button on the left of the window
- Select the Account section
- You should see the new Country and Profiles option appear.
- Click on this function
- Select the country of your choice from the list
- Return to the Google Play Store home page
- Use the search module to find the application not available in your country
Now you just have to click on the Install button located on the description of the application. This should fill users frustrated at not being able to access geographically limited applications. Note that it is possible to repeat this process as many times as you want.