Filed under: App Store
Oh, Canada: App Store north of the border goes all Skype-y
Over the past day or so we've gotten a smattering of strange reports, starting with Derek on Twitter, of a bizarre 'takeover' on the App Store for users who are browsing for apps from their iPhones and iPod touch handhelds. These poor souls are faced with the scary image seen here: an App Store devoid of categories and filled with repeating copies of the Skype icon. The horror!A bit of detective work by the affected users sharing their stories on the Apple Discussion boards soon revealed what they all had in common: Canadian residency. According to the thread, conversations with Apple support folk have pointed to a database problem in the Canadian app store that should be sorted out in the near future.
One workaround suggested by a poster in the thread: try switching the App Store location preference (in Settings -> App Store on the phone) to USA from Canada, then switching back. If this works for you, chime in below or on the Apple support boards.
Thanks to everyone who sent this in.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Ross said 11:31AM on 9-13-2009
I had this problem with the iTunes app at one point where if you clicked top tens it would show somebodys album artwork and "iTunes" next to all of them (as in the iTunes top 10). It got fixed though and I also live in Canada so I too have the skype icon problem.
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robb said 12:54PM on 9-13-2009
Wait, before you fix the problem, does this mean we can download Skype now?
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Maxime Beaudry said 11:54AM on 9-13-2009
It didn't work for me! :(
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jc said 11:58AM on 9-13-2009
Workaround did not work. Catagories still showing Skype.
3Gs 3.1
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LAGal said 1:01PM on 9-13-2009
well it has been said that Skype is going to take over the world. guess they started in Canada.
iBearTouch said 4:17PM on 9-13-2009
@LAGal, started in Canada? Nahh we who couldn't be bothered to make a US iTunes account have waited a while for this. In fact I see that as MORE of a story that one page of the App Store being buggy. But that's just me...
iBearTouch said 4:20PM on 9-13-2009
Oops I mean, "more of a story that Canadians can finally use Skype on their iPod Touch and iPhones." sorry that was a big run on sentence there, lol.
Alain said 12:12PM on 9-13-2009
Call it irony.
We can't have Skype on iPhone in Canada.
The Gods of databases are laughing at us.
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Ross said 12:55PM on 9-13-2009
Yeah we can :p, it's number one in the free apps at the moment
deus said 3:12PM on 9-13-2009
Actually Skype on the iPhone went live in the Canadian store a couple of days ago...
ben said 12:05PM on 9-13-2009
I have gotten this a few times so far since updating, though all the categories get replaced with some random top application, like toolkit, some game, or whatever. Usually I just ignore it and come back in a few hours and it seems to work again.
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PSN: John-Paul-Jones (Led Zeppelin) said 12:10PM on 9-13-2009
Using iPod touch with firmware 3.0 and the switch did not resolve anything. I noticed the change ever since last midnight. Hmm..
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timrowledge said 12:24PM on 9-13-2009
I have skype on my Canadian iPhone; downloaded yesterday from Canadian app store
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Teranium said 12:40PM on 9-13-2009
I am in Canada and I too have this problem.
iPhone 3gs 3.0 jailbroken.
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Jeedee said 12:56PM on 9-13-2009
You can now officially download Skype from the Canadian App Store without having to jailbreak or anything.
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Tired_ said 1:05PM on 9-13-2009
Ironic, considering Skype wasn't available in the Canadian App Store until this week. Now it's all we can see.
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Shay said 5:20PM on 9-17-2009
I had a similar problem, appstore on the iPhone was in French. Setting the language to something else and switching it back fixed the problem.
See: http://www.sanshay.com/2009/08/26/strange-appstore-behaviour/
Shay
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chief said 2:30PM on 9-13-2009
Agent Smith is taking over!!!
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Mike Pro said 2:57PM on 9-13-2009
Seriously? This comment has been allowed to sit here for four hours, untouched?
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Devon said 3:21PM on 9-13-2009
Yeah, I think I noticed it first :)
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r23001717-iPhone-App-Store-gone-crazy
It went away and came back again, now with the Skype icon instead of the weird robot one.
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