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Q: Can I use my Android phone in China?
I've been out of China for a couple of months and I'm going back very soon, recently I've read Google is blocked in China, so what kind of problems or limitations face those who hav an android phone?
11 years 36 weeks ago in Web & Technology - China
no problems...
there are alternatives to everything...
alternatives that don't even require a vpn
You have no access to Google services, incl. Google Search and Gmail, unless you get a VPN that works. A time waster really. I just use Bing as an alternative.
hunny797:
so there's no need to associate google problems with android...
let the guy bring his Android...
there is no problem in having an android...
Robk:
Well, yes there is.. you can't connect to Google Play without using a VPN or some other route...
which means you can't download new applications... have to get them another way.
Scandinavian:
I think what RobK is hinting at is that in China, after a while, people resort to Baidu apps and other spyware infested crappy app stores rather than bothering with Play. A sliding slop straight to hell. My MIL is constantly battling with her phone being "wierd". Her and the wife has identical phones, but the MIL is installing crap app after crap app, and her phone can do everything by itself now, like dialing, installing apps, sharing QQ login etc.
hunny797:
alternatives my dear.. ALTERNATIVES..
its not equal to Chinese BS...
how many of you have tried 1mobile market app???
I ve been using it for so long now that I dont even remember what's google playstore...
the biggest advantage I feel of using 1mobileapp over playstore is that playstore shows a hell lot of applications which are not even supported sometimes by my phone. But in 1mobile app this is not the problem...
suggest you to try it and then share ur views...
Google being blocked doesn't affect Android. You don't need to access Google online for your Android phone to work. I don't understand this question.
Download your map tiles and translate language packs before you leave.
I would also remove twitter, FB, Flickr etc, or at the least remove your login details. Otherwise your phone can get hung up trying to get updates from sites that are blocked. At the very least doing this saves your battery power.
I had an issue with the BBC news app on my phone. It was forever trying to update and was working away in the background whenever I was in wifi. It was sucking my battery empty.
I am in Nanning and have a Samsung phone made for the Chinese market, it was bought from Samsung and so is not a cheap copy. It runs on Android 4.1.2. I use Gmail and Google Maps without a VPN and absolutely no problems at all. However Google Translate does seem to be unworkable now, it used to be fine as well for about a year. I cannot get Google Play but I use Amazon.com and Apsapk.com and get all the apps I want. Do not be tempted to use Chinese aps or aps sites, too many of them are infested with adware, spyware, viruses and all kinds of crap.
hunny797:
camdictionary is the app when google translate is not working
