Does Android/Google play work well in Europe?

[FWtf300]

My wife and I are Americans living in Europe. We are in the states right now and we are looking at getting a TF300 tablet. We are thinking that it would be really helpful for ebooks, magazine subscription, etc., and would help us to not have to lug books across the ocean in our luggage. I am not really keen on the Kindle due to it being locked down Android. Would a TF300 work ok in Europe? Could I use Google play? Or at least download ebooks, etc.?

If anyone has any experience/insight in this area I would be thankful for any input.

Thanks.

 

[funkylogik]

Yeah all the play services will work other than google music (subscription) and google wallet :thumbup:
Remember its gona have to be an international tablet if youre using cellular data but wifi will work fine on a US one

 

[El Presidente]

Do you have gmail accounts currently? I've heard of issues in the past where the accounts are registered in one country, but the device is in another. There are some regional restrictions put on apps/games/movies etc so some stuff might not work.

 

[mikedt]

Do you have gmail accounts currently? I've heard of issues in the past where the accounts are registered in one country, but the device is in another. There are some regional restrictions put on apps/games/movies etc so some stuff might not work.

You get the Play store and contents for the country you're actually in. I was using a device bought in Mainland China, but when I went to the UK, I was getting the UK Play store, same thing in HK as well.

If there's any stuff that's subject to geographic restrictions, like Google Music(US only), as well as e-books, magazines and some apps, you're not going to have access to them. e.g. if you're in France, you'll get the Play store and Google services for France, and it will all be in French. We've had posts along these lines before about Play.

I have tried to use a VPN to get around it, but according to Play I had "China Mobile Samsung i8552" that kind of gives the game away.


Apple on the other hand, doesn't do that, they base it on your registered address and credit card information. So I could still get full access to the iTunes Store for the UK, even though I'm in mainland China.

Samsung Apps seems to be different again. they apparently base it on where the phone was purchased and the account created. So I'm seeing Samsung Apps for Hong Kong, and can't see any way of changing it.

 

[funkylogik]

So what if you install these regional apps before leaving the US, what will happen mate?

 

[mikedt]

So what if you install these regional apps before leaving the US, what will happen mate?

The apps themselves will stay installed, unless you remove them or reset the phone to defaults. But if they're using on-line content they might not work, e.g. the Google Music app. I've found that Google can be aware that you're using a VPN to try and by-pass geographic restrictions. YouTube seems to give a "Viewing denied" message on any content that's US only, when I'm using a US based VPN. Same for Hulu as well.

Two examples I had recently. When I was in the UK, I installed the BBC iPlayer app on my Chinese phone, it worked fine, but when I came back to China, it still works for radio but not TV. Should I delete the iPlayer app, I wouldn't be able to re-install it from Play. I've got the free(ad-supported) Baidu Music app, which does legal free streaming and MP3 downloads in China. That didn't work in the UK, just gave a message about only being available in China.

 

[funkylogik]

What vpn u using bro? Id have thought youd be able to get iplayer using it. I use the Hideninja app to get US version of Netflix n it works well. It really throttles data speed but not so much jhat i cant stream. Havent tested it with youtube because i dont know any country specific vids to try it with lol

 

[mikedt]

What vpn u using bro? Id have thought youd be able to get iplayer using it. I use the Hideninja app to get US version of Netflix n it works well. It really throttles data speed but not so much jhat i cant stream. Havent tested it with youtube because i dont know any country specific vids to try it with lol

At the moment Astrill VPN, this is a paid $5 a month one, although I might try another one. Another thing I found in the past, if I tried to log into Google via a VPN from China, it seemed to think my account might be insecure and recommended changing the password. Although that hasn't happened since I've been using Authenticator. And Google Docs seemed to be read-only via a VPN. VPNs are a particular interest to me of course, because of where I am.

I'll give Hideninja a try actually, thanks for that one bro. I've got an app called USTV on my phone that came from Play, which is ad-supported. That's giving the free, but subject to geographic restrictions, US TV stations OK, as well as BBC News TV.

 

[funkylogik]

Hideninja pro was like

 

[mikedt]

Hideninja pro was like

 

[funkylogik]

When i bough Hideninja Pro it was a one off in-app payment using my google account so id guess u couldnt do that man
Have you tried Market Enabler to fool Play?