Ever since Apple announced EU-exclusive features like third-party app stores, app downloads directly from the browser, and the option to uninstall Safari, I’ve been jealous. Well, it seems I’m not the only one who is desperate to get my hands on such features. There’s another enthusiast who is and he HAS managed to trick his iPhone into believing that he’s living in Italy while actually living in Australia.
Adam Demasi from kirkblog has successfully got a taste of EU-exclusive features on his iPhone but the process to get those features is convoluted and not feasible for many to try. With iOS 17.4, Apple rolled out a new system dubbed eligibility, which along with country (another system) determines the location of the user. Additionally, there are multiple other parameters that are analyzed internally to get the location before Apple allows users to access geo-restricted features.
To grant access to features, Apple downloads a file named plist that consists of individual features locked behind a geo-restriction. Demasi explains, “At the time of writing, there are 24 (although one is missing), and the file was last updated on the 5th of April. We weren’t tracking updates to it before this week, so I don’t know what changed exactly.”
The Complex, Non-Feasible Process
After figuring it out, Demasi took an old iPhone 12 Pro Max, reset the phone, disabled the location services and tried an Italian SIM card, and registered with an Italian Apple ID. However, this didn’t bore any fruit.
Then, he set up a WiFi router broadcasting as if it is working in a European country. He had to disable the 5GHz channel due to the differences in the regulations in Australia and Europe. However, the device’s logs and countryd config file still showed his location as Australia. Demasi even tried erasing everything and resetting the iPhone again but no luck!
Next, he went to his basement where there was no cellular reception, and reset the iPhone again. This time when he opened Safari, he was prompted to choose a browser. Then, he put the iPhone in the AirPlane mode to avoid catching mobile signals and went upstairs.
And he was successful in tricking the iPhone into believing that he was in Italy. Thus, he was able to access all EU-exclusive features.
However, the workaround and all the tinkering he did to get the features were nothing short of tedious. To keep using the EU features, his iPhone needs to be in Airplane mode and connected to the same Wi-Fi network which has been configured as per Europe.
Is the setup good enough to test out the features? Yes. Would you like to go through so much hassle for it? Probably not. But yes, there’s a way you can try the features.
Anshuman Jain
