How To Fix Cannot Download App from Apple App Store

Most of the iOS and tvOS apps are now region restricted and this requires you to use the App Store Store to the correct region to download the app you wanted.

If you can’t download apps on iPhone / iPad / Apple TV, read more below on how to bypass this error.

Why Can’t I Download Apps On My iPhone / iPad / Apple TV?

If you’re getting an Item Not Available error when you try to download an app on your iPhone / iPad / Apple TV, they are Geo-restricted and continue reading below.

If you’re getting other errors, please try the solution given by Apple.

What Are Geo-Restricted Apps?

Region or geo-restricted apps are known as geo-blocked apps, region-locked apps but it basically boils down to the same meaning.

For example, if you are in the United States, Australia, Cyprus or anywhere outside of the UK and try to download the BBC iPlayer App from the Google PlayStore, this is the error message that you will be getting: “The item you’ve requested is not currently available in the (Country) store.”

Why Are Apps Geo-Restricted On iPhone / iPad / Apple TV?

The most common reason is licensing. For example, BBC iPlayer programmes are only licensed for viewing in the UK and therefore, anyone outside of the UK would not be able to access it via the BBC website or app.

To download UK apps such as Sky, you will need to ensure that your device is linked to a UK iTunes account. From the error you’re getting, it seems you’re using a non-UK iTunes account to update/download Sky UK app.

How To Download Geo-Restricted Apps On iPhone / iPad / Apple TV?

Please note that Apple does not restrict app downloads by IP address, and only does so by the app store region you’re trying to access.

What this means is you can be physically located anywhere around the world, and as long as your app store region is set to the location the geographically restricted app is available, you can download it without any issues.

To resolve this, we would suggest that you create a new UK (or the country where the app belongs to) App Store or iTunes account with Apple and linked it to your device. If you’re unsure how to do this, you can refer to the instructions at the link below:

Create or use an Apple ID without a payment method

Note: You can use a name/address generator to fill up the details.

Once you’ve linked it, you can search and download region-restricted app(s).

Conclusion

Downloading Geo-restricted apps on iPhone / iPad / Apple TV is easier if you want to compare it with an Android device as Apple doesn’t restrict download on location/IP level.

The only downside is you’ll need to switch stores to get access to those restricted apps.