Background#
A lot of software is priced much better in the Indian App Store, so I looked into setting up an Indian Apple ID. What pushed me to actually do it was needing to make a cross-region payment through Google recently.
My first thought was simple enough: just register an Indian account directly, right? Turns out it wasn’t nearly that straightforward.
Registering an Indian Apple ID directly isn’t actually “direct”#
Trying to register an Indian Apple ID outright turns out to demand a fairly specific network setup and device configuration. Whether I tried it in a browser or on my phone, the registration kept getting stuck.
“We are unable to create your account at this time.”
After a few attempts, it becomes clear the problem isn’t necessarily anything you’re doing wrong — the registration flow itself has fairly aggressive risk controls.
A more reliable approach: start with a Chinese account first#
I ended up switching to a more reliable method. Instead of going straight at the Indian region, I first registered a Chinese Apple ID with no proxy or VPN involved at all. That step went smoothly:
- No special network setup needed
- Verification worked fine with a domestic phone number
- The registration flow basically never got blocked
The whole process felt just like registering an Apple ID used to feel, years ago.
After the domestic account is set up, switch regions#
Once the Chinese account was registered, I turned the proxy back on and logged into that already-created Apple ID.
Before making the switch, there are a few things that have to be sorted out first, or the system just refuses the change outright:
- The account can’t have any balance (including App Store balance)
- There can’t be any active subscriptions (Apple Music, iCloud, TV+, etc.)
- Family Sharing needs to be turned off first
- It’s best to log into the App Store on an iPhone or iPad beforehand, to avoid glitches on the web version
The steps go roughly like this:
- Open the App Store
- Tap the profile icon in the top corner to open the account page
- Go to Apple ID → Country or Region
- Tap Change Country or Region
- Select India from the list
The system then asks for Indian billing information — I looked up an address in India on Google Maps and filled that in.
After that, the Indian-region services become available. Worth noting: you can only join an existing Indian family group — you can’t make purchases directly yourself, since an Indian Apple ID has to be tied to a local bank card.
