If I buy a phone in the EU can I keep this ability everywhere even with a UK Apple ID? Seems pretty nice having everything separate like this. I hope it forces them to allow different browser engines than Safari too.
https://theapplewiki.com/wiki/Filesystem:/usr/libexec/countr...
> countryd determines the user's physical country based on multiple characteristics. It is used by the eligibility system to ensure it is difficult to spoof the user's true physical location. It was introduced in iOS 16.2 and macOS 13.0.
Edit: best I could find is "no", according to techcrunch from August 2024
https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/21/uks-competition-authority-...
Brexit meant leaving the EU.
It just seems so wrong to own a device, but still have the manufacturer dictate what that device is allowed to do, AND they have the ability to change those capabilities at will. It feels like buying a physical calculator, where the manufacturer can one day wave a magic wand and I lose the "divide" button. I'm generally an Apple fan and I get that people like Apple's "walled garden" but even to me this seems like an abuse.
But yes, it is silly in this specific case. I’d like someone to explain credibly why letting users delete apps is wrong. In the worst case it’s a minor pain and the user has to re-download it from the store. These apps are thin UI layers over system frameworks anyway.
That wasn't the case in a previous era. A country could make a decision that says division is illegal and ban new 4-function calculators, but all the calculators made before that would still work the same. Banned books could still be read if you already had them. Today thanks to the double-edged sword of constant connectivity, it's plausible that Apple can just add and delete features when you pass over physical borders, meaning that the set of functionality you buy is increasingly ill-defined. You don't own a phone, you just own a conditional license to the iPhone experience, which they'll tweak over time to comply with various governments on the most limited geographic scale possible while maximizing their revenue.
None of this is that shocking or interesting now that we're used to it, but it's annoying that we don't own or control the devices we buy and can't even guarantee they keep a certain feature set.
But what makes most people have to switch eventually is a bank/government app that is region locked and you need it to live your life without pulling your hair out jumping through stupid hoops.
A VPN and two devices is the only way to stay truly separate from the region you live in full time over the long term.
I have been using an iPhone with a British Apple ID and the British App Store, and the UK regional settings on some devices despite not living there anymore for a couple of years now. I am fairly confident switching countries requires the user to do it consciously.
[edit] for this feature specifically, they are more aggressive: https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/7/24093437/apple-iphone-thir...
I don’t think they change anything about your accounts or device settings themselves, though.
So you can have a single iPhone with both US and UK banking apps. Same for Pixel.
The apple ID used for the app store doesn't have to be the same as the apple ID for Facetime, Messages etc. You don't even need to be signed in to the app store to use an app that's already installed.