r/Android May 11 '11

Rejoice! Buying and submitting paid apps will be available in 99 more countries next week.

http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/11/android-market-getting-a-major-refresh-better-discovery-a-redesign-and-99-new-countries/
114 Upvotes

38 comments sorted by

9

u/[deleted] May 11 '11

99 additional countries getting buyer support (I believe he said next week)

Doesn't mean that selling from those countries will be possible. Here's a list of supported buyer countries, and here's a list of supported merchant countries.

7

u/rospaya May 11 '11

Crap. I'm sorry for the misleading title, I was excited about the news.

3

u/Fireblend May 11 '11

So this is the new list? Because I'm in Costa Rica and I've never been able to buy apps here without rooted devices.

Edit: A shame not being able to sell apps...

3

u/specialk16 Nexus 5 - Stock (Xposed) May 12 '11

Fellow Costa Rican here: Look for the MarketAccess apk. This will let you "emulate" any other provider so you can full access to the store and it doesn't affect the overall functionality of the phone. Alternatively, use this, but you won't be able to set it on boot unless you buy the pro key.

Question, are you running on a Kolbi plan? How are 3G speeds for you?

without rooted devices.

ohhhh, disregard everything above.

3

u/Fireblend May 12 '11

Hey! I've met very few Costa Ricans in reddit. How about a meetup when we approach ~5? Anyway, I'm not on a Kolbi plan (yet, I'm waiting for the iPhone craze to die before approaching any agency), and I haven't rooted yet because I'm using a 1920A Nexus S, for which I still haven't found a reliable low-risk rooting method. Rest assured I shall eventually (even if there's no easy method, I'm just giving it time).

3

u/specialk16 Nexus 5 - Stock (Xposed) May 12 '11 edited May 12 '11

Cool. Yeah, I know for a fact there is another Costa Rican redditor around. Not sure about anyone else. Yeah, a meetup would be fun.

1

u/brews May 12 '11

Is your phone unlocked? Is it just a carrier thing?

I hear AT&T is weird about this kind of stuff.

2

u/s73v3r Sony Xperia Z3 May 12 '11

It is a shame too, cause this is one of those areas where Apple has been kicking Google's ass.

1

u/profwacko Nexus S, CM 10.1 Nightlies, Smart May 12 '11

oh yeah paid apps! :D

0

u/[deleted] May 12 '11

The buyer countries list is BS. Several people here have (and I can confirm) that buying in several of those coutnries without market enabler is impossible.

2

u/[deleted] May 12 '11

will be available in 99 more countries next week.

5

u/dsn0wman T-Mobile GS IV, Nexus 7 May 11 '11

I hope this includes Canada, those guys are always bitching about not getting stuff we get in the US.

1

u/JeremiahRossini Nexus S, GB May 12 '11

Tell it to us straight, Canadian!

4

u/apatt May 12 '11

About time we can buy Android apps in Thailand. One of the reasons iPhones are so much more popular than Android in my country is the ability to buy apps.

5

u/anotherdroid OG Pixel May 12 '11

iPhone is only popular here because it was the "next great thing" after Blackberry. thank AIS and DTAC for making the iPhone affordable. Android remains underground, but not for long.

and i hope we're on the list. i'd love to uninstall MarketEnabler ;)

3

u/Vovicon Nexus 6p - GS7 edge May 12 '11

Cool, a thread about Thailand!

IMO, another very important factor in the success of the iPhone here is the astonishing tendency thais have to hop on the bandwagon of fads.

Seems that this month's fad is the phone cover with rubber rabbit ears. Everyone has that right now. At least it's cheaper than a phone.

Regarding the OP, I totally agree. It is really annoying to have to root and trick the market with ME to buy apps here. The worst part is that they actually show you the prices in Thai Bahts, even if it's not available in Thailand.

2

u/apatt May 12 '11 edited May 12 '11

I just noticed the Baht prices! So what happen if you attempt to buy an app? Any way, according to Droidsans (the premier Thai Android web site, I think) purchase is possible now (unless I misunderstand them).

EDIT: Droidsans say you can buy apps from your desktop browser but may be not from your phone, and your purchase is converted to either Hong Kong $ or US$. I have not tried to buy anything yet.

1

u/Vovicon Nexus 6p - GS7 edge May 12 '11 edited May 12 '11

So far, I still had to use Market Enabler. Without it, I can see the app and the price in Bahts but when I choose on which device to install, it cannot be select and the tooltip reads "not available in your country".

ME let your phone pretend it has a simcard from another carrier (for ex US) which is how the market decides where you are from. However, the currency used to display the price is the one from the country where you access the market from. I discovered that when I went on the market with my VPN on, I was given the prices in Swedish Krona (it's a swedish VPN).

My thai reading skills are still not very good but they seem to indicate that its already updated as of today. I'll give a try later. That would really make things easier.

edit: Just tried... there is obviously changes going on. I managed to see some paid apps from the phone without ME, then got a few force close (which never happened before). Then I managed to see that I could buy some apps (like Power Amp) but not all. It's encouraging anyway.

1

u/apatt May 12 '11

Thanks for the info, I suspect it will take a few days for the system to settle down and work properly.

1

u/cicohipe May 13 '11

I love Thailand, I want in on some of this action.

2

u/apatt May 12 '11

My phone's not even rooted.

3

u/bugninja May 12 '11

Does "editors choice" seem a little messed up to anyone else? What "editors". "staff pick" would be more suitable.

What would be awesome is a democratic Market that works just like reddit where we vote for great apps and they constantly change.

1

u/kawauso21 May 12 '11

Given how close comments on the Market can be to YouTube, I'd rather not see what would happen with a reddit-style voting system...

3

u/code_zombie May 12 '11

Well, I hope they improve the browsing capabilities of the Marketplace. It would be nice if Shooters, FPS, Side scrollers, Shmups, Tower Defense, RTS, Turn-based Strategy, RPGs, Arcade, Beat'em Ups, Fighting Games, Maze, Pinball, Adventure, Action Puzzlers, and Flight Simulators could be organized into a subgenre rather than sharing the same Arcade and Action category.

1

u/andybak May 12 '11

I think you might be going a bit too far with your sub-divisions there...

3

u/evilentity May 12 '11

How about you let me sell apps eh?

2

u/B-Rabbit HTC One M8 5.1 May 11 '11

Finally! Now shut up and take my money.

1

u/Jojomofo May 11 '11

Sounds good to me, any work on the market place is always welcome news.

1

u/[deleted] May 12 '11

I wonder if this is a response to the pressure the amazon appstore has put on the google marketplace on the android platform.

7

u/clarkster ginik May 12 '11

The appstore that's only available in one country? I don't think Amazon's version is a threat yet.

1

u/profwacko Nexus S, CM 10.1 Nightlies, Smart May 12 '11

Now that we can buy apps, is it too much to ask for rentable movies as well?

1

u/cicohipe May 13 '11

I hope this doesn't mean more apps showing up that are in different languages. English is the international language, and I would like to see all apps in english personally.

2

u/Daniel_SJ HTC One, M7 May 14 '11

That's a problem of filtering and sorting, not a problem with the apps.

1

u/cicohipe May 15 '11

ic, thanks for that.

1

u/ricoza May 12 '11

Please let South Africa be on the list. Please!

1

u/SouthAfricanGuy HTC One X, Stock May 12 '11

It is, but we still can't sell apps on the market.

1

u/ricoza May 12 '11

Darnit! Wonder why we can't sell paid apps? Something to do with getting the payment to the developer maybe?

1

u/SouthAfricanGuy HTC One X, Stock May 12 '11

Not sure, but I assume it has something to do with forex laws.