New in iOS 11.3: updating apps obtained from foreign App Stores without switching Apple IDs

Some iPhone and iPad apps are only available from foreign App Stores.

Thanks to an underreported tweak in iOS 11.3, users are no longer required to switch Apple IDs and/or App Store regions when updating apps obtained from local App Stores.

As noted by German blog Macerkopf.de (Google Translate), an app obtained from an App Store region other than your default country can now be updated without switching Apple IDs.

When you happen to live outside the United States, there’s a whole lot of apps you can only get from the US store. That’s why I have two App Store accounts.

TUTORIAL: How to stop in-app rating and review prompts

My primary account is for the American version of App Store. I created that because the US store features by far the largest selection of apps and games. The other one is for the local Croatian version of App Store, where I get my local banking apps and other software from, including apps for local transportation services and what not.

Before iOS 11.3, App Store would prompt me to sign in with the Apple IDs I used to obtain apps from foreign App Stores before I could download their updates. With iOS 11.3 and later, I no longer have to switch to the App Store region I originally downloaded the app from.

TUTORIAL: How to change your Apple ID

Now you simply hit the Update button and all your apps get updated no matter the country they were downloaded from, making it a lot easier to update all your apps at once. While you may still be prompted to confirm the password for your foreign App Store account, this is way easier than having to sign out of App Store and manually sign back in with the right Apple ID.

What do you think of this little tweak in iOS 11.3? And while we’re at it, do you use iPhone or iPad apps obtained from foreign App Stores?

Let us know in the comments!