Why Canadians Could Not Buy Paid Android Apps at Launch

The situation at launch

Excitement was high when Rogers debuted Android phones, in large part because of the open ecosystem and the apps that came with it. Then buyers found a gap. Android Market’s support page listed 25 countries where developers could distribute free apps, Canada among them. The list of countries with paid apps was far shorter.

Where paid apps were available

Type of app	Countries listed
Free apps	25, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan and most of Western Europe
Paid apps	8: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States

The original post noted that Google had said very little about why Canada was left out or when that might change.

The workaround people discussed

The only route mentioned at the time was to root the phone, a process of gaining full administrator access by flashing modified system files. A forum guide covered the HTC Dream and the HTC Magic, the two Android phones then sold in Canada. It needed the Android SDK, USB debugging and fastboot tools, and it carried a real risk of bricking the phone. The post stressed that readers who tried it did so at their own risk. Rooting also tends to void a warranty, so the sensible choice for most owners was to wait for official paid apps.

How it ended

Paid app support did arrive for Canada, and the store later became Google Play. Nobody needs a modified phone to buy an app today, and the HTC Dream and Magic are no longer supported.