Foreign Play Store: Accessing Region Locked Apps

News: Added info regarding payment errors, such as "DF-RPC-01" in the payment section.

What is an .apk?
An .APK is like an installer. Just run it on your device and it will install the app. APKs allows you to install apps from any region and possibly install apps on unsupported device.

What is an Xapk?
XAPKs are compressed zip files containing an APK and additional data. Some installers are able to utilize this, like APKpure's app manager, or you can do it manually by renaming the .xapk to .zip, and extracting the APK and data files. Install the APK, then drop the data or obb file in the correct directory.
/sdcard/Android/obb
/sdcard/android/data

Installation Method: Easiest and recommended.
Installing via APKs

0: Enable USB debugging, 3rd party apps, unknown sources, etc in your device settings. Use Google if you're unsure on how to do this on your specific device.
1: Download the .APK file.
If downloaded with the device, it should be in your downloads folder.
If on PC, just transfer the file to your device with any method you prefer.
2: Locate the file with a file explorer.
3: Open the APK and let it install.

Where to get APKs
Qoo App
http://qoo-app.com/
An app website that covers news and contains a large selection of manually selected apps for download. Newest apps usually updated, with older apps falling into obscurity until requested.
Contains most apps released in Asian territories. Sorting is pretty amazing as well.

Qoo App also offers their own app manager. It will allow you to download and install apps with ease, as well as update existing apps if they have an updated version.

APKpure
http://apkpure.com/
Library that appears to use a bot to pull from the Playstore, so apps are almost always up-to-date. This app pulls from many regional stores allowing you to easily access apps outside of your region.
Sorting is horrendous, so you'll need to search for the game's name. If the game name is in Japanese, use Japanese, etc. You can easily copy and paste the game's title from the play store.

APKpure also offers it's own app manager. It will allow you to download and install apps. This is the easiest way to deal with .xapk files.

APK Downloader
http://apps.evozi.com/apk-downloader/
Sends a request to the sever, and it'll download the app for storage on their own server, which you and others can download. Works best with apps released in the U.S.. Outdated apps must requested via a special option. Foreign apps usually fail due to quota issues.

APK Mirror
http://www.apkmirror.com/
If you're paranoid, this might be a good place to look for English apps. It's run by Android Police and offers clean rips of various free apps from the store, including tools and utilities.

Google
http://google.com/
Just type, or paste, the name of the app followed with .apk.
Best way to find apps not in the store.
May be risky, so be cautious.

Friend Method
Get someone to get the apk for you.

This is the end of the guide. The following section is for installing through the store directly.

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What is the purpose of this section of the guide?
This guide is to help you access regional stores to download their apps.

Advantage of installing apps through the store.
By installing through the store, you're able to revisit the page and redownload or update your app with ease without having to rely on third party websites or APKs. You can also revisit the store from other regions and redownload/update without unsupported device errors.

"This app isn't compatible with your device."
There are two reason why this occurs.
1: You're device really isn't supported.
2: You're located in an unsupported region.
After reading this guide, you should be able to bypass some of these restrictions. Do note that you are unable to download an app from the store if your device isn't physically supported. In this case, you may want to try installing it with an APK.

Do I need to root my phone?
No.

Do I need a VPN?
Yes.
Please visit http://www.vpngate.net/en/ if you're new to VPNS. This will help you get started from start to finish.
If you know of other VPN services, those will may work too. A private, usually paid, VPN is recommended.

Do I need another account?
It's highly recommended.
This new account will be used to access foreign stores.
Do NOT attach a payment method to this account. Doing so will lock the account to your regional currency.

Account Creation Guide
Go to www.gmail.com
Set country to whatever (foreign country preferred). Set other options to anything else you see fit.
After account creation, add that account to your phone/tablet/device.
Anytime you're asked to add a payment option, skip it.
Optional: Turn off all sync options.
After adding the account to your device, go into the Google playstore APP and switch to that account.
Accept terms and download something free.
This will quickly associate your new account with your device.

This new account is reusable and can even be used for multiple regions.
Example: You can download stuff from China, then Japan, then Singapore and so on. You can revisit the app's webpage from Europe and still be able to redownload those apps.

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Installing via Browser on a computer.

0: Prepare a Google account. See above.

1: Activate a Software VPN of your choice on your computer. Select country of interest.
http://www.vpngate.net/en/ will help you get started if you haven't found a VPN.

2: Activate Private Browsing/Incognito or your browser's equivalent.
Or use a clean browser with cookies and cache cleared.

3: Go to the Play store. https://play.google.com/
If VPN is active, the page should show foreign apps.

4: Log into your prepared Google account.
Follow the most convenient authentication method if asked.

5: Explore.
Apps can be sent directly to your device.
By visiting the page again with that account, you can redownload apps with the VPN off.

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Installing via Device

0: Prepare a Google account. See above.

1: Activate a VPN APP.

2: Clear Play store's data.
SETTINGS > APPS > GOOGLE PLAY STORE > CLEAR CACHE and CLEAR DATA

3: Open the Playstore and accept terms.

4: In the upper left, open the menu and switch to the new account. Accept terms again.
The store should now show different apps.

5: Explore.
You can browse and install apps. Be careful about the data limit when the VPN is on.
It's possible to turn off the VPN and browse the foreign store once accessed, even download. You might be kicked back into your regional store after a while, however.

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ERROR: Verification failed, you may not have purchased this app.
The app is trying to verify the license with Google. This usually happens if you're trying to run an app that was installed with an APK. This is most common with premium apps, so you won't have to worry too much about this if you're playing freemium apps.
You can get a valid license if you install from the store.

BUYING IN-GAME:
If you got the game through an APK, then you don't need to do anything. Just pay like you normally would.
If you got the game from the store, it's recommended that you do the following:
Remove the prepared google account from your device. Attempt to buy something again and it should ask you to pay with your main account. Once you are done with payment, re-add the prepared Google account to your device.

ERROR DF-RPC-01
This occurs if your account is not properly synced with Googleplay or out of date. Clear your Googleplay service data and cache and enter the store. Accept the terms and condition and/or update. This should resync your settings and allow you to pay using that account again.
This errors also occurs if that account was newly added to service. In that case, you must wait a week.
If all else fails, you will have to contact Google support directly as for you account may have been locked out from paying.

Why should I avoid paying with the prepared Google account?
After spending x amount of dollars, the account will be region locked to the currency attached to the account. This prevents the prepared Google account from accessing regional stores through VPNs.

BUYING FROM PLAY STORE
Not worth the effort. Easiest method is to just make a throwaway account and then use that to buy from the foreign store.
The other method, which preserves your account, requires you to fiddle around with foreign currency and cards. Please look elsewhere if you're serious about this, there seems to be multiple methods.

Questions?
Concerns?
Alternative methods?
Post in the mobile general and someone will get to you.
Or, send me a PM through pastebin. I'll read it a month later.

I am not responsible for any damages caused through the use of this guide.