I hate how google pay interacts with Play store. I want to, but cant pay for Sync pro. (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by dumbfuq@lemmy.world to c/syncforlemmy@lemmy.world

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Context: I have 2 google accounts on Play store, one whose location is set to my home country and the other one I use to download apps which are available in the US only. My home country account is my primary one which has my cards and payment details.

Problem: Unknowingly I downloaded the Sync for Lemmy app with my US google account, and when I went to pay for Sync pro, Google pay showed me options to pay from my US account. I uninstalled the app, went to play store and switched to primary account and installed Lemmy again. However everytime I try to pay for Sync pro, it still shows me options from my other account. No matter what I do, I'm unable to pay for this from my primary account. I've tried to uninstall-reinstall multiple times. I've deleted the app from the play store's manage apps section and reinstall using my primary account and it still doesnt show me my primary google pay options. It is not the case that the app is unavailable in my home region play store.

I hate google pay.

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[-] MrGG@lemmy.ca 25 points 1 year ago

I'm amazed that this is still an issue years later, but here we are.

You can (or at least you used to be able to) get around this issue by going to the play store in your web browser (logged into the account you want the app installed under) and using the "install to my phone" tool. It'll eventually install the app on your phone, and it should display the correct payment options.

I have to do this myself soon as I'm having a similar issue with a different app, but it's such an annoyance that I haven't bothered yet.

[-] dumbfuq@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

Thanks a lot, it worked.

[-] MrGG@lemmy.ca 11 points 1 year ago

Glad to help, dumbfuq!

[-] dumbfuq@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago

I'll try this out. It just amazes me how adamant and inflexible with its pay functionality.

[-] ElBarto@lzrprt.sbs 5 points 1 year ago

You'd think that considering they want our money, they would make it as easy as possible for us to give them our money.

[-] shashi154263@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

Google has never been smart about money.

[-] limerod@reddthat.com 2 points 1 year ago

Would this get around the in-app purchases not getting recognized issues, too? I had a particularly stubborn app that had no backup(accubattery) option. To use it seamlessly, I had to repurchase from my secondary account for good measure as it did not recognize my purchase from my primary account.

[-] MrGG@lemmy.ca 2 points 1 year ago

I'd bet it would. Apps seem to randomly decide they want to be associated with the wrong account (particularly their Google Pay association), so I'd bet re-associating it to the correct account using the browser trick would fix in-app purchase associations as well. But I've not tried it for IAP, so I can't say with any certainty that it would work.

[-] coys25@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I also am trying to purchase Ultra but can't. Different issue, I think - I am USA based - but I keep getting this error message:

[-] limerod@reddthat.com 2 points 1 year ago

You need to update the app. He added remove ads and lifetime to ultra tier.

[-] coys25@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago

This screenshot is from earlier today, but i still get the error on the most recent beta. Was able to buy ad-free though, oddly enough.

[-] afa1425@ani.social 1 points 1 year ago

you'll have to remove the other account from your device then install again with the primary account

[-] limerod@reddthat.com 1 points 1 year ago

This is one option. But, it will hit amnesia eventually down the road and ask to remove ads again. I had this issue with another app of mine. The fix I used is to remove the app from that account in the Play Store and install the app from my current Google account.

[-] redcalcium@lemmy.institute 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Usually, simply killing the app and clearing Google Play data is enough to fix the issue without reinstalling the app, at least on my phone

[-] limerod@reddthat.com 1 points 1 year ago

I don't want to risk losing any data or do setup once more. So, I never tried that.

[-] redcalcium@lemmy.institute 2 points 1 year ago

Clearing google play data is safe though. Google even recommends doing that if you have any issue related with the play store: https://support.google.com/googleplay/answer/9037938?hl=en

[-] dumbfuq@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Thanks, I'll try this as well.

[-] NotSoNaturalRed@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Is sync pro/Ultra only available in the US right now? I'd love to get it but it doesn't seem like an option right now (Canada)

[-] dumbfuq@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

No, I tried from my non-US account, I could pay for all the options, Sync Pro, Ultra subscription & Ultra lifetime.

[-] MrGG@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 year ago

I'm also in Canada. Are you looking for separate apps? There's only a single app, with in-app purchases and subscriptions within it. There used to be separate apps (Sync for Reddit, of course) but apparently Google didn't like that, so now everything is bundled into a single app.