About: MarketPlaceRegionSwitch
Posted by Chainfire on 28-10-2009 at 22:00:00 - Comments: 14 - Views: 15407
Project: MarketPlaceRegionSwitch - Tags:
Project: MarketPlaceRegionSwitch - Tags:
As stated on XDA:
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" :P
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.
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
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. I could have preloaded the software with a number of preset values in a selectbox, but obviously I didn't (so there!). Aside from plain being lazy about it, this allows the user to visit markets I may not have listed.
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.
Make sure the country code and language ID match!
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!
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
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)
Visit the thread on XDA here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=577627
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" :P
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.
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
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. I could have preloaded the software with a number of preset values in a selectbox, but obviously I didn't (so there!). Aside from plain being lazy about it, this allows the user to visit markets I may not have listed.
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.
Make sure the country code and language ID match!
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!
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
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)
Visit the thread on XDA here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=577627
