I was pretty excited when I first got my Android phone. Yeah, the Hero a bit sluggish, but that’s been fixed, and the Sense UI is even being updated to support the latest version of Android. So far, so good.
Starting about a month ago, however, I could no longer download anything from the Android Market (Google’s version of the iPhone app store). I figured it was a network glitch that would clear up soon. No, it’s not going to clear up soon. China has blocked all downloads from the Android market.
To be perfectly clear, then, this is what I lose out on, simply because I’m in China:
- No native Facebook integration (Facebook is blocked in China)
- No native Twitter integration (Twitter is blocked in China)
- No new apps of any kind (all downloads from the market are blocked in China)
I bought a phone that does some amazing things. But it depends on the internet working correctly in order to do them. By “working correctly,” of course, I mean not being blocked.
If I want to get around this, I have to pay for a VPN service, and I have to learn how to set it up on my Android phone (potentially complicated). Oh, and the Android phones have just hit the China market. (Not a coincidence.)
On a related note, I was once excited about Google Voice, hoping it could bring me closer to family and friends back home. Now I realize, though, that the idea of Google Voice’s revolutionary services extending to China are simply naive.
I still love living in China, but I have to say, the single most frustrating part of living here for me is watching this government shoot down every single new way the internet is connecting the world.
So yeah, I have a VPN. And yeah, it’s time to get geekier.
what about iPhone apps, are they blocked too?
amb ;)
November 12th, 2009 at 8:29 amDoes this mean a hacked iPhone is the king of all smart phones in China?
And how exactly does someone like you get geekier? Are you going to start wearing a Klingon forehead or something?
November 12th, 2009 at 9:50 amApple iPhone was only officially released in China on October 30th. The first model doesn’t have any Wi-Fi as the Chinese government said that wasn’t allowed. Once production began, they changed their minds. So the first iPhones will be crippled, expensive and undesirable. There are an estimated 2 million iPhones imported from elsewhere than do have W-Fi….so there has been and will continue to be a black market in full-function iPhones.
China is a mess. Good luck to anyone who tries to do business there. Unless you’re extremely lucky (and pay BIG bribes), someone else will almost certainly be getting the money you though you’d make there.
November 12th, 2009 at 9:55 amYou can still use free apps that you download from the web on your Android, can’t you?
November 12th, 2009 at 10:52 amJohn,
I’m in Hangzhou and running a jailbroken iPhone. I was initially really frustrated with the whole facebook, twitter, app store censorship, but now I just run everything through a VPN (even the slow ass 2G internet). It was cheap, and super easy to set up. I highly recommend doing so as it will allow you to enjoy your investment.
Julian
November 12th, 2009 at 12:18 pmIs setting up a VPN on Android as tough as that linked post suggests? I’ve still not gotten my hands on an Android device.
On iPhone it’s easy to use a VPN that supports PPTP & L2TP (see my site, where I’ve recently written about both free & paid-for VPNs), so Android is at a disadvantage if it’s so tough.
But I feel your pain, too: without a VPN, my iPod Touch’s Facebook, YouTube, and Twitterific apps are pretty much unusable, too. 烦死了!
I’m waiting for the day Google (et al) really gets pissed and complains to the WTO about loss of revenue through unfair trade barriers…
November 12th, 2009 at 12:41 pmYou don’t need to wait for Google to extend Google Voice. I use it outside the supported area using GUAVA. http://androinica.com/2009/07/24/android-google-voice-guava-sim-free-calling-options/
November 12th, 2009 at 12:50 pmas a chinese, i’m really grateful to those smugglers who have made it possible for me to own an intact & genuine n79 phone with wi-fi and umts. and thank those who developed kinds of proxy and vpn services 2.
November 12th, 2009 at 1:00 pmWelcome to the VPN club, I’m surprised it took you this long to find a need for one. I suggest Witopia, but make sure to get the SSTP not PPTP, its blocked in China or so they tell me. That and its faster. First you want to make sure your phone will be able to use the SSTP though, my iPhone only works with PPTP as far as I know.
November 12th, 2009 at 2:17 pmAmber,
Good to see a comment from you! :)
No, the iPhone’s app store is unblocked… for now.
November 12th, 2009 at 6:02 pmJonathan,
Ha ha, trust me, I can get geekier (even before going Klingon).
November 12th, 2009 at 6:03 pmpfmiller,
Yes, I can download the .apk files, transfer to my SD card, and then install that way, but it’s really a lot of trouble. It kind of defeats the whole purpose!
November 12th, 2009 at 6:04 pm@Julian: Thanks for the encouragement. I’m definitely going to figure out this VPN thing.
@Steven: I sure hope it’s not that complicated. I hear the new Android Android firmware natively supports VPNs, so that’s good news. (That post is old.)
@Carl: For the longest time, I had a VPN, but still considered it too much of a hassle to use a lot. I don’t really use Facebook much, and I could post to Twitter other ways. Plus Witopia tends to mess with my Gmail connection a lot (making it inaccessible), which is a hassle. Now I have more motivation to figure it all out, though.
November 12th, 2009 at 6:08 pmkylehase,
Thank you so much for that link! This is awesome! I have arranged a call from my family for first thing in the morning (their time). I’m psyched!
November 12th, 2009 at 6:09 pmBeat those stone-age bureaucrats with 21st century technology. It might be annoying some time, but mostly works. I always got my stuff while living there for a year. Witopia.org is a pretty neat and cheap VPN. They also support iPhones.
November 13th, 2009 at 6:38 amgizmo5 looks awesome….thanks for the link…..if only I could sign up :(
November 13th, 2009 at 7:05 amYea time to move to Taiwan
November 13th, 2009 at 8:17 amHey John-
As a fellow gator living in the mainland, I highly suggest the UFL VPN service. It’s A) Free, B) Super easy to use (way easier than the last VPN I paid for), and C) Fully functional. I haven’t yet run across a website it cannot access, and it starts in about 3 clicks and 15 seconds once I’m connected to the web. Plus, if you’re always connected to the web, it auto-connects. /And/ it’s not super slow, although obviously there will be a little bit of a drop in speed, especially if you bounce back to a Chinese website.
The one catch is that your gatorlink username must be still active. Mine still is a couple years after graduation, so I figure yours might be as well. If you can still access myUFL, then it’s probably still active.
The vpn page can be found here , although I’m not sure if it will support Android or not. It says nothing specifically about it in the FAQ, although this does not necessarily mean no. iPhones “have been known to work”.
If you moderate your comments, feel free to not post this one if you like, but if you end up using it let me know how it works out! Go Gators! (Especially ones in China!) ((Shameless plug check out my blog!))
November 13th, 2009 at 6:34 pmIm in hong kong and frickin chinesepod wont load…wtf?!?!??! talk about annoying!!!
November 15th, 2009 at 12:17 amHey John, just saw this post, are you able to connect to Market now anyway? If not, I’ll send you the solution. Actually I had the same problem, but just to substitute the host file in Android system will work again.
November 15th, 2009 at 3:55 pmso I’ve been away for many years now and haven’t had to use VPNs, but if China knows (and of course it does), that people can still circumvent the GFW, why do they even bother? (or is it as someone might have suggested, a way for some providers to make money? the poor in the meanwhile having to stay behind the wall!)
November 17th, 2009 at 6:50 am[...] my GFW Android Market rant, it looks like the Android Market may no longer be blocked. I’ve been able to access it again [...]
November 22nd, 2009 at 8:40 amHey, I just bought my hero and the market is working fine… I find a problem with some apps that once installedd they cannot connect such as Last.fm or Layar. Of course the social integration of Sense is useless as you mentioned…
could you confirm if you still having problems? by now I usually connect to the internet through wifi but I’m thinking on switching to China unicom to get 3G
November 23rd, 2009 at 8:33 amFernando,
I actually just posted an update (linked to right above your comment), stating that I can once again access the Android Market. Let’s hope it lasts!
November 23rd, 2009 at 9:15 am