How To: Create a US iTunes Store / iPhone AppStore account without a credit card (from outside the US)

Click to zoom. Posted by Cyprian on February 22nd, 2009 at 11:22pm Comments

So, you reside in Canada, Europe, Latin America, or anywhere else in the world. By now you might have noticed that not all iPhone apps are available in your local iTunes AppStore, so you cannot download some of them although American iPhone owners can. Annoying, isn’t it?

But did you know that there is a very easy fix for that? It’s a little known fact, but there is a loophole that allows you to create an American iTunes / AppStore account regardless of where you live. This will allow you to download apps that are only available in American AppStore — and there’s quite a few of those.

Below is a short and sweet step-by-step guide that will tell you how to create an American iTunes / AppStore account without giving out any personal information. This method was tested and found to be working with the latest iTunes version, although it should probably work with older versions as well.

iphone appstore usa

This process is pretty easy with one little trick you need to do.

1- Open iTunes

2- Click on ‘iTunes Store’ on the left hand menu.

3- Scroll to the bottom where it says ‘My Store’ and select ‘United States’

4- Find a free application (ie. Remote) and click ‘Get App’

5-iTunes will prompt you for your user id and password, but instead click ‘Create New Account’

6- You’ll get a welcome message. Click ‘Continue’

7-Check off that you’ve read Terms and Conditions and click ‘Continue’

8- On the next page enter your email information and click ‘Continue’

9-The next page is a payment/information page.

Here is the little trick:

10- First of all you need to choose ‘None’ as your payment method if you’re not planning on paying for anything. Otherwise enter your regular information

11- Next you need to fill in your address. For this you can choose a random US city (ie. Chicago) and search for a business in Chicago such as McDonalds on Google Maps on your iPhone or touch. This will give you a valid street name, city, state, and phone number. For the zip code, all you need to do is a Google search for zip codes from the city you chose and pick one.

A confirmation email will be sent out and you just need to activate your account. Once activated, you’re done!! You now have access to the US iTunes Store from outside the US.

Source: Apple

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comments

pointless restriction

worked for me. thanks

laceysummers

is this even legal?

angel1701

it has everything about iphones and itunes but it has notin about how to make an account for your ipod on app store

gibbbo

I have had very good experience using http://iTunes-GiftCards.com they are fast and very nice to deal with. They even provide a FAQ if you have problems getting it up and running.

Martin

This actually does not work!! If you set up an account with a free app, then you can open a US account, but the first time you then go to make a purchase, it will ask you to verify your payment method, even PayPal will check you have a US Paypal account.

So this work around is flawed I am afraid

ImSoHappyThanks

MASSIVE THANKS!!

It worked great, i love apple, my ipod, and the app store.

But i can't find any good apps (paid or free) in my country, and that's just lame :(

Jason

You can always buy a U.S. iTunes gift card from www.braziliapilot.com. I've been buying from them for 2 years. They email the code fast, always within a few hours.

jacksonestera

Type your comment here.

Jon F

The problem with this is it only get's you a Free Download Only account - you can't actually buy anything. If you want to be able to buy, go to iTunes Access - http://www.itunesaccess.com. They can setup a valid US based iTunes account for you and sell prepaid credit so you can buy stuff from the US store even if you are outside the US.

vansky

not working

iphonew

Which part?

Henk

Hey annoy,
I have the exact same problem..
I didn't get a verivication email either..
Did you solve the problem? It's really annoying me cuz now I cant download any apps at all!

iphonew

Check your spam folder?

annoy

did all that but didn't get the verification email until now, tried with couple of different email accounts but itunes never sent the verification emails :S

Dean

What if you have already chosen your store in italy, how can u change it to U.S? please help i can't change it.

Mahmood

I cant find were it says none in the payment!!!!!! which iTunes verision r u tlkin about

robert james marsland

i just got and iphone andn i love it

ali

account

someone

If you want to buy stuff, find a seller with a good reputation on eBay selling iTunes US gift cards, and buy one of those. They generally send the card code via email in a day or so. There is a surcharge - usually $5 - but if you buy a $50 card for $55 it's not so bad as a $10 card for $15. I've done this a couple of times.

HBKitty

If you're in Canada I recommend getting the Vanilla Mastercard Gift Card you can buy everywhere like Shoppers Drug Mart, 7-11, Money Mart and many other places. The $50 and $100 are your best value for money as there is an initial activation fee from $4 to $6 but after that there is no transaction fees for US dollar transactions like many others. Costs me just $1.29 for a song in the US iTunes store. Not bad eh. : )

Flug Thailand

Wow; thanks a lot for these tips. I am searching for a possibility like this one for month now and the ITunes Store really drives me crazy...Thanks thanks thanks. This was so helpful for me!!!

danola

i have been trying to download stuffs from your web but i t has not been easy

james

huh?

Scott McKinley

Yes this works just fine for 'free apps' but if there's an app you want to buy, then we're right back where we started! If there's a way to also purchase from the app store with a non US credit card, please let us know!! - thanks Scott - Lugano, Switzerland

james

I suppose you could look into some Virtual Credit Card I am guessing.

james

Hopefully this will be useful for some folks. I mean, there's so many more apps in USA AppStore than there are in the Canadian one that it's not even funny.

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