How to convince Google Play I'm in United States

whoknows

I've added a gift card to my Google Play account that can only be used in the United States, but whenever I try to purchase something, Play Store gives an error, saying my gift card balance can only be used in United States.

What I've tried:

I'm physically located in the United States, using a mobile connection (T-mobile), disabled VPN.

I gave both Play services app and Play Store app all permissions, including location and nearby devices. I'm not rerouting location through the OS (although I tried that too and it didn't work). I have WiFi and Bluetooth enabled, and under "Google Location Accuracy" I've enabled "Improve Location Accuracy." I've resolved all issues under "potential issues: Geolocation", so that the section doesn't show. I tried rebooting after setting all this up but still can't purchase.

How can I convince Google Play that I'm in the US, so I can use my gift card balance?

treequell

You would need to change your country in Google Play Store, but that's easier said than done, and worth thinking through beforehand.

The main issue is that you can only change the country associated with your Google account once every 12 months.

If you do manage to change your country to the US, you also potentially risk not being able to install some apps in the country where you do live (assuming it's not the US). Quite a large number of apps geo-restrict installs from accounts whose Play Store country matches the location of the organization (e.g. banks).

For more details see:
https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/7431675

whoknows

treequell Thank you, I didn't realize there was a country associated with the account.

However, I just checked and that country is already United States (which is where I live).

Any other thoughts?

treequell

Do you also have Google Services Framework installed with the network permission enabled?

I don't have any other ideas. I would suggest asking for support in the Google Play Help community: https://support.google.com/googleplay/community

whoknows

I think the issue isn't related to GrapheneOS, at least not directly. I tried making the transaction from a web browser on my laptop, and encountered the same error. So, seems like a false alarm.

treequell

It's absolutely fine to ask things here which aren't strictly related to GrapheneOS, it's just that we might not be the best placed to answer your question!