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March 31, 2009

Simon Fodden

No Skype for iPhone… in Canada

Pity.

I was all set to see how I could shave some points off my various phone bills, only to discover that Skype is available for the iPhone today in every country in which Apple has an iTunes Store except Canada. The CBC had the story yesterday, but I missed it. According to a Skype spokesperson, the problem has to do with patents relating to the Skype application. This means that when Skype is released for the BlackBerry in May, it will be for those in every country except the one in which the thing was created.

Simon Fodden is the founder of Slaw. He taught law at Osgoode Hall Law School for more than 30 years before he retired to focus on writing, publishing, and IT and law.
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10 Comments on “No Skype for iPhone… in Canada”

  1. JP says:
    March 31, 2009 at 11:49 am

    Just installed Skype on my canadian iPhone (Fido, Quebec).

    Easy and no hack (well, just a bit) required. All you need is a US AppStore account. The tricky part is that normally a US credit card is required to create an AppStore account but this can be easylly bypassed.

    Here is the recipe :

    - switch the iTunes to USA (at the bottom of the home page of iTune app store you can sitch store location)

    - apply some coupon code (you can get one here = http://www.tunecore.com/freealbum )

    - redeem it (in the Quick links section of the app store home page, upper right)

    - only THEN register for an account — it won't ask you for any credit card information and you can use a bogus address (Beverly Hills, LA, 90210…).

    - search for Skype, download it and sync you iPhone!

    Voilà and enjoy!

  2. markus says:
    March 31, 2009 at 2:05 pm

    It worked!

  3. freethenerds says:
    March 31, 2009 at 3:33 pm

    I saw JP's method on the CSMonkey Blog, and decided to give it a go. Kept getting timeouts when I tried to redeem the coupon code.

    On a whim, I tried just making a straight account in the US store, and skipping over the credit card part. Got a warning that I would be prompted for credit card info at the time of my first purchase. Since the Skype App was free, I never got prompted for the info.

    I now have the app installed on my Canadian iPhone (Quebec, Rogers Wireless), and everything appears to work just fine.

    Thanks for the workaround, JP.

  4. almir.r says:
    March 31, 2009 at 9:59 pm

    is there any way to do all this and still keep my purchased apps? or after i sign up for a us account, can i then give it a canadian credit card and keep skype so i can re-purchase my curent apps???

  5. Anthony says:
    March 31, 2009 at 10:59 pm

    Jean Paul, you are magnificent.

  6. JB says:
    April 1, 2009 at 12:26 pm

    I second the question – will i lose my existing apps in itunes purchased through the Canadian iTunes store if I do this? or does this simply add Skype into my existing apps? Thanks!

  7. CanAussie says:
    April 1, 2009 at 2:03 pm

    Hi,

    To those asking about already purchased apps in iTunes based on Canadian credit cards, and whether dloading skype from US-based iTunes will do anything unwanted to your existing apps…..the answer is no.

    I did same workaround, though used aussie store as i already have one of those (just moved here from there), and apps from both stores are listed when i then log in to iTunes under my Canadian account.

    it does suck though, that skype only works thru wi-fi….thus making it of limited use at best.

    I reckon that by the time 'they' get this 'patent issue' thing sorted out, and skype is available on the Canadian iTunes store, most every Canadian iphone user will have already installed it via the workaround. there aint no better way to ensure ppl get something than to tell them they cant have it!

  8. Tim says:
    April 1, 2009 at 7:07 pm

    Hi, Just wanted to say thanks . workaround worked like a dream :)

    Cheers

    Tim

  9. Hans says:
    April 1, 2009 at 9:16 pm

    Tried the same as freethenerds, got the free tunes code, hit the quick links redeem for code, created the US account, downloaded 3 free tunes and Skype. Tried to sync with my iPhone and the choice was keep existing apps or sync with new library and lose existing apps. iTunes message was that iPhone can sync with only one library. Canadian library uses Canadian credit card. This appears different than CanAussie's experience. Any insight on topic would be appreciated. Regards.

  10. relaxeddevil says:
    April 1, 2009 at 9:53 pm

    It worked.. thanks

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