Big ups to Uncle Jobs, the Apple app store was finally made available to us Third World folks in Nigeria. Not that i blame the guy for the delay, afterall, how much do we contribute to Apple’s bottom line, if at all.
The joy of this “immense feat” was however short-lived when a disturbing aspect of this multi-store arrangement began to unfold. For some unexplainable reasons, a lot of choice apps are not available in the Nigeria App store and stores of some other countries. It is unimaginable that popular apps like Google+ and Facebook Messenger are not available in the Nigerian store. What are they thinking? Barring all odds, the population of facebook users in Nigeria is quite sizeable.
Anyways, enough said. If you are interested in creating an Apple store ID for the United States store without a credit card or gift card, the steps to take is described below;
– Make sure you are signed out from iTunes application on your computer.
– Preferably, scroll down to bottom of your iTunes screen and click “Change Country”. Select United States.
– Click on App Store
– Scroll down to the section labelled “Free Apps” on the right side of iTunes
– Select any FREE app. I chose Facebook Messenger. Click on the “Free” icon.
The following screen pops up;
– Click on “Create New Account”
Ensure you are still in the United States store. Look at the portion highlighted in the image above.
– Select “None” as Payment Method. Notice in the image below that your Country/Region is still displayed as United States.
– Click “Continue” to get the screen displayed below. A verification email would be sent to your chosen email address.
The screen below would be displayed after verification has been completed, after which your selected app (Facebook Messenger) would commence download.
Hope this run down comes useful to someone out there.
6 comments
adeniyi anthony
how can i switch to nigeria apple store to make purchase.
MuyoSan
Only one tiny snag. I opened a UK account. Later I needed to buy a track, I entered my Mastercard details and they tell me it’s not valid in the UK. I already use this card to buy apps on the Google Play store. Any known workaround?
Zosita Aken'Ova
This is actually what I did last year and it’s been wonderful, Unlike muyisco I used my real address but a US based Zip code. 🙂 The beauty of registering with the US account is that you have access to all apps in the app store and other resources, you don’t need a credit card to register. I currently have over 300 free apps for the iPhone and iPad that I use and share with friends. To buy apps, songs or/and videos you can ‘beg’ your friend or relation residing in USA to help you get an Apple iTunes and/or App Store gift card that you can apply to your account and use to purchase apps, music and videos. I recommend this to every Nigerian at the moment and I think the store for Nigeria may be virtually ’empty’, but I’m sure there would be limitations.
Anonymous
Zosita, you “spoke” very well. The Nigerian app store is indeed empty. Have you heard of this app, “App Hits”? The app gives you a daily update of apps on sale or premium apps being offered for free.
Anonymous
Thanks for this. I did mine quite a while ago and I remember i was prompted to enter a valid US address. i had to do a google search for addresses in Newyork and enter some poor bloke’s address in there. :). glad to see the process has been simplified a bit.
Bosun99uk
Thats a nice 1