How to Register a Nigeria or Turkey Apple ID to Save on Subscriptions

To save on AI subscription costs, I have long used low-price App Store regions such as Turkey or Nigeria. Besides paying with gift cards, another issue is registering the Apple ID itself. A friend recently asked me about this, so I am summarizing the registration methods here.

There are basically two methods.

1. Directly register an account for the target country.
2. First register an account for your own country, do nothing else, such as adding balance, and then change the country/region directly.

Register an Account

I will not go through every detail of account registration, because the official website is already clear enough. Just follow Apple’s steps and fill in the information. One thing to note: when registering an account for a specific country, it is best to have a network environment from that country. For example, when registering a US Apple ID, it is better to use a US IP address. This can avoid unnecessary trouble. If you encounter strange errors during registration, the network may be the reason. For example, I had issues directly registering a Nigeria Apple ID, so I eventually registered with China as the country first, then changed the country to Nigeria after the account was created.

Change Country/Region

1. The account cannot have a remaining balance. So if this is a new account and you plan to change region, do not add balance during registration. Change the country immediately after registration.
2. If you already added balance, you need to use it up or contact Apple Support to clear it.

Apple ID Payment

1. Since you usually do not have a local payment method for the target country, you need to buy an Apple Gift Card for that country. After redeeming it, you can use the account normally. For my Turkey/Nigeria Apple IDs, I solve this by buying corresponding gift cards. In China, for example, you can buy them through Xianyu.

Turkey Gift Card

Nigeria Gift Card

Do Not Frequently Lend the Account to Others

1. Apple IDs also have risk controls. If the account frequently logs into different devices, or you lend it to others too often, Apple may consider it abnormal behavior and ban the account. If you already have subscriptions or purchased apps, that would cause losses. So pay attention to account usage frequency and avoid lending it out frequently, especially for accounts in different countries.

Final Thoughts

In short, I hope you can use the advantages of multi-region Apple IDs and regional pricing to reasonably register and use Apple IDs from different countries, saving on subscription fees and app purchases. It also gives you more app freedom, since some apps are only available in specific countries’ App Stores.