Here it is people, as promised, MarketPlaceRegionSwitch. What does it do? It allows you to switch MarketPlace to USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, etc. Whatever you want - without mucking with regional settings, soft-resetting, etc. "because I can"
I DEMAND you read the entire post before using it, because there are definitely things you should know before using it.
This app actually fools Marketplace into thinking you are from somewhere else. This method is not foolproof, and may be circumvented by Microsoft in the near future. It is not for the faint of heart either.
Why?
Because developers have been left in the cold for manually verifying their apps are in the correct markets. Microsoft have dropped the ball a few times with "published" apps seemingly not being published at all, or incorrectly. While I'm sure Microsoft will fix these issues in due time (and indeed provide the functionality this program offers) for now developers need to check this for themselves. So no, this app is not meant for end-users, but for developers. If you still want to use it, that's fine by me, but it's on your own conscience
Keep in mind this is a developer tool, for verification of Marketplace presence. I would strongly advise against using this to download apps from market regions that are not your own, and especially not buying them through this app. In fact it is likely the Marketplace will not allow you to purchase from another country than your CC's billing address in either case.
How to use
Now here come the important bits. When you start the application, you will see two text boxes in front of you. MCC (mobile country code), and Lang (language ID). By default they have settings for the USA entered.
You will want to fill these values with the correct values for the market you want to visit. You should have matching country codes and language ID's, but see the note below about that. In 1.1 I have also added a select box with presets that mostly work.
Now, how to find the values you need to enter here:
MCC Go to this page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Country_Code. You want to enter the numeric, 3-digit code.
Lang Go to this page: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/goglobal/bb964664.aspx. You want the values from the LCID hex column.
Hit go, wait a few seconds, and you should be in the market of your choice.
Please note that unlike the other region switching tricks, this one is supposed to work through your CELLULAR connection specifically! Please make sure you do NOT have USB/ActiveSync or Wi-Fi connected!
Notes about the "preset" selection box
While many of these presets work, I have noticed some strange behavior. Often the 'expected' codes do not work if a region is combined with a language, but that language is not from that region.
Take for example, Luxembourg. The preset uses the correct LangID and MCC for French/Luxembourg, but it usually wont work. If you keep the Lang from French/Luxembourg but use the code for France in the MCC box, it usually will work and you will end up in the Marketplace for Luxembourg, not the one for France. You will have to play with it if you want to test for these less common markets. If you have specific notes about which codes work for which specific Markets, please do post them here.
If you are having trouble connecting to the USA marketplace, try using 311, 312, 313 or 314 instead of 310 in the MCC box.
How it was done
The entire thing is done by runtime patching. Functions used to figure out which locale you are in are patched by the app, returning the value you entered in Lang. Accompanied with that, the IMSI is patched and the MCC part is replaced by the value you entered in MCC. This all is a lot more complicated than it sounds
Obviously the app does it's best to restore original behaviour on exit, though I would still advise soft-resetting when you're done with it.
Random notes
The UI sucks, deal with it. I spent less than 5 minutes on it. I did spend many hours on the actual functionality, though.
The app should remain running while running Marketplace! It will (should) automatically exit once you exit Marketplace. Be sure to use the menu->exit function, instead of the X (the latter will usually just hide Marketplace, not close it).
The method used to patch may cause issues that will not disappear until you soft-reset, chances are slim but things can go wrong.
Changelog
29.10.2009 - v1.1
Presets added
Having to restart Marketplace twice without this app to get back to your "home" market should be fixed
If you are a developer for Marketplace and you make use of this app, it would be much appreciated if you would DONATE to me for my time (the link to donate is at the bottom of my signature)
Download: (+24)
--Reserved--
Great job bro!
Thanks for the great util. Much appreciated bro!
nice, thx, finally a marketplace with more then 5 items and in a language i understand
Nice work!
Now to find me some US applications!
Figures, trying to add presets to this, and just as I want to start testing the whole data network craps out... *taps foot and waits for T-Mobile to fix things*
Chainfire said:
Figures, trying to add presets to this, and just as I want to start testing the whole data network craps out... *taps foot and waits for T-Mobile to fix things*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll test it if you want.
(Drop me a PM or something if you want)
Kudos, Chainfire.
1.1 released... most importantly it adds presets. Not all of them work right, see the notes.
Also, some mod please add an empty post at the top please (I always forget to do that, hah!)
sweeeeet.. going to try it straight away
Update : Cold beer coming your way
Great work, wish I had a data plan...
Chainfire said:
Also, some mod please add an empty post at the top please (I always forget to do that, hah!)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice one, post #2 is your's .
Dave
Hi,
Great tool, but it doesn't work for me. After hitting the go button the app closes completely down.
Chainfire, you are a god!
I have to say, a great app, but it doesn't work for me.
I applied the standard settings (being the US one) but after this when I start Windows Marketplace I still get the dutch one.
I have Wi-Fi turned off, so what am I doing wrong? (I have the Marketplace version where you can select the location to save your app)
For those of you it doesn't work for, I'm not sure what the cause of this is. I actually had the same problem on one of my phones, it wouldn't switch away from Dutch (my "home" marketplace), and then suddenly it did - and I have been unable to reproduce the problem since.
All I can say is try uninstalling Marketplace, deleting HKCU\Security\Software\Microsoft\Marketplace, soft-reset, reinstall Marketplace. That might do the trick - or it might not.
@Sanderjohan: device/rom ?
Chainfire said:
For those of you it doesn't work for, I'm not sure what the cause of this is. I actually had the same problem on one of my phones, it wouldn't switch away from Dutch (my "home" marketplace), and then suddenly it did - and I have been unable to reproduce the problem since.
All I can say is try uninstalling Marketplace, deleting HKCU\Security\Software\Microsoft\Marketplace, soft-reset, reinstall Marketplace. That might do the trick - or it might not.
@Sanderjohan: device/rom ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll try it when I get home!
Congrats on your thread at Tweakers.net
Also, it seems to work more reliable if you make sure you have a cellular connection before you run the app.. Also make sure you are NOT signed in with your LiveID
Thanks for this great app, it works flawlessly.
I have already tried to buy a product but it did not accept my credit card information at the last step. May be there could be a work around for this also.
Regards,
Chainfire said:
For those of you it doesn't work for, I'm not sure what the cause of this is. I actually had the same problem on one of my phones, it wouldn't switch away from Dutch (my "home" marketplace), and then suddenly it did - and I have been unable to reproduce the problem since.
All I can say is try uninstalling Marketplace, deleting HKCU\Security\Software\Microsoft\Marketplace, soft-reset, reinstall Marketplace. That might do the trick - or it might not.
@Sanderjohan: device/rom ?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi Chainfire,
My device is a HTC Tytn II with the following ROM Kaiser_HyperDragon_IV_Mega_6.5_WWE.
I already had Marketplace installed so I will try the thing you suggested by uninstalling and reinstalling Marketplace. I let you know if this works.
Hi,
I thought maybe you guys, if anyone, would know. I am looking for an app that can:
- make a log of all the other apps, including stock ones, that make attempts or actual connections to the internet, and at what time
- be able to intercept those connections
- preferably I would create a white list of apps that are allowed to connect, but others do not have permission.
Purposes include:
- saving on bandwidth in poorer countries where internet is expensive.
- making sure apps or malware doesn't try to send off my data when it shouldn't be.
- prevent annoying background sync/apps from running when I don't want them
I find it strange that we either give all the permissions the app wants, or it doesn't work. Why can't we restrict their internet access?
Does this sound feasible? Does it already exist?
I'm rooted and using an Asus Transformer.
Thanks for any help
Try DroidWall. (root required)
It can block apps from connecting to the internet on an per-app based system.
But i don't think it has any kind of log or similar (haven't used it for a while, so might have been upgraded)
it looks like that does exactly what I needed, although I have to re-root my device for it to work again. Anyway, thanks for the tip
droidwall
droid wall definitely and yes it requires root.
I'm not interested in limiting the ability of an app to access the internet, there's enough ways to achieve that.
What I'm interested in is finding out if there is anyway to use an "online only" app while offline. Essentially is there a way to set up a fake access point using cached data to simulate being online? I'm looking to use a personal assistant such as google now without needing to blow through my extremely limited data plan that I'm grandfathered in on. Anyone know if such a thing is possible? I've not figured out the best way to phrase this question quite yet so let me know if it doesn't make sense.
Google Now simply won't work that way. I'd suggest you use something like utter! that doesn't actually send every command to Google (which requires internet access) to determine what to do with it.
Yeah I've been trying utter out of and on and I find it really drains my battery. That said its amazing for being in beta. I am actually keeping my fingers crossed for a more developed version of Indigo, I just like setting the cards on Google Now.
Hi,
I am a android (nexus 5) user. I dont have much idea of how that works. But, given that it uses linux kernel, i thought its safe from antivirus(AV).
Now, my banking app has a tag up with a antivirus(barclays and kaspersky). The AV makes my wi-fi drop frequently.
Though my banking app suggest I should use the AV, do I really need that, given the fact that, I only install apps from play store (but I do surf internet a lot, see pics and pdf from net)
I am confused.
Some advice is needed
Barud said:
Hi,
I am a android (nexus 5) user. I dont have much idea of how that works. But, given that it uses linux kernel, i thought its safe from antivirus(AV).
Now, my banking app has a tag up with a antivirus(barclays and kaspersky). The AV makes my wi-fi drop frequently.
Though my banking app suggest I should use the AV, do I really need that, given the fact that, I only install apps from play store (but I do surf internet a lot, see pics and pdf from net)
I am confused.
Some advice is needed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
antivirus is not necessary but good to use as a internet user you should use it which protect you from unauthorise access and viruses
This is a general question. I'm having trouble "forcing" a website to utilize my location. There's a site we use at work. It is built on a Google Maps layer. We can log work completed and other information for units that appear as features/layers on the map. That all works just fine. The trouble is with the "auto-follow" function on the map. The guys who have IOS devices are not having any problems. If I use the generic "internet" browser or the browser in LastPass, auto-follow works as expected. It pans/zooms the map to my current location and puts a blue dot wherever I am. The issue is that auto-follow does not function in Chrome browser.
I have tried many things so far, from the very basic like this: https://support.google.com/chrome/answer/142065?hl=en
To this: http://superuser.com/questions/591758/how-do-i-make-chrome-forget-a-no-to-geolocation-on-a-site
to this: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/...r-a-website-for-which-i-previously-refused-it
and this: https://buddypunch.freshdesk.com/su...tion-services-on-my-mobile-device-or-browser-
So far, nothing has worked. I'm beginning to wonder if there is something within the app/site that is not requesting location data in a way that Chrome either understands or wants to comply with. I have a line to the "developers" and if I can give them specific information, they can probably make some changes.
Yes, I could use other browsers. But Chrome is my default and is integrated with everything else on my phone (T-Mo Galaxy S7 with most current versions of everything) But I am not the only person experiencing this. I'd like to help out those guys (most of which are not very tech savvy) by cracking this nut.
Anyone have any thoughts or ideas?
I found the cause:
https://developers.google.com/web/fundamentals/native-hardware/user-location/obtain-location?le=en
Google went and changed things on EVERYONE without notice. They aren't evil, just not always real nice.