Buying iPhone apps in another country?

February 29, 2012 3:30 AM

How do I buy an iPhone app for a friend in another country? also Travel & Veggie growing apps you can recommend would be very welcome.

I found some great Travel apps for iPad in this recent AskMe and I will see if they are available for iPhone, but I really don't know how to buy someone an app as a gift when they live in a different country. I have a UK iTunes account and they have a Spanish iTunes account. All the Google-able info I've found relates to buying someone in the same country a gift, so I'd like this first time to go as smoothly as possible.
Recommendations for anything relating to Travel (this is someone who will probably have all the obvious apps as she is a Travel agent) and growing your own vegetables would be really welcome!
Thanks in advance, mefites!

posted by Wilder to Computers & Internet (1 answer total)

My understanding, from trying to do this a few months ago, is that it's very difficult. Apple provides no easy way to exchange gifts between customers of different iTunes stores.

However, if you want to try it, you would need to do the following:

a) Create an account on the Spanish iTunes store. It will probably ask you for a Spanish address.

b) Attach a credit card to the account. You cannot gift apps with gift card credit.

c) Follow the prompts to gift an app. This is the simple part!

It might be easier to purchase your friend a Spanish iTunes gift card and a give them a list of apps. Or even just PayPal them the money? Less gifty, I know, but much less fiddly, too.
posted by Georgina at 3:25 PM on February 29, 2012