Samsung S24/S25 phone wrongly using eSIM location instead of phone's Language setting for Galaxy Store/Member apps

[WayOWestS]

On a recent trip to Europe (away from my home US cell area), I purchased a 30-day French (Orange) eSIM that was useable across all of Europe--that includes areas where Dutch, German, Austrian and Hungarian are the native languages. The Samsung Galaxy Store app & Member's app on my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra running Android16 (and spouse's S24 Ultra, also running Android16) switched its language from English to French, ignoring the "English" Language setting on my phone, so I couldn't read either app's info. There's no app-specific Language setting for the Samsung Store or Member's app.
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I noticed and reported this issue to Samsung, saying that they should use the user-set Language setting on the phone instead of using the eSIM's country. They responded:
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"Since you are in the European region and using a SIM card from that region, the language set on the app is the provider's language.
The app uses the default system language and the SIM card language.
Furthermore, there is no language setting specific to the Galaxy Store app."
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That may be what Samsung is doing now with its Galaxy Store and Member's apps, but it's OBJECTIVELY WRONG to do. I don't speak French. If I was traveling in South America I don't speak Spanish or Portuguese, and if I was traveling in China I don't speak Mandarin or Cantonese. But I might purchase a local eSIM for reliable & inexpensive cellular access in those cases also. And if a French speaking/Spanish speaking/Mandarin speaking person was traveling in the USA and purchased an eSIM, he/she shouldn't have English forced on them by the Samsung apps.
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Samsung is an international company selling its phones to international users -- act like it! You should be using the phone's Language setting for the Samsung apps, *not* a SIM location! Other non-Samsung apps used the Default Language setting and continued to work correctly in my set language.

[WayOWestS]

And as I replied above, a VPN didn't work around the French problem; I tried that. The Samsung apps just used the French (Orange) eSIM for that.

I could accomplish some things with a VPN to my home (and its USA IP addr) in the USA (watching a Netflix movie, a few subscription websites that wouldn't work outside of the US) but doing so didn't change the Samsung Galaxy Store or Members site from French back to English. It *may* have given me a different lists of available apps or apps it would update etc., but I couldn't get past the French to worry about that.

[Robin621k]

I was able to use the Members app while I was in Spain using Norton VPN, while using an Esim .

[WayOWestS]

I was able to "use" it (them = Galaxy Store & Members) too. It's just that most of it was in French instead of English. Looked them same to me with or without a VPN, as long as I was using the French eSIM, although I don't know if some apps were included or excluded w or w/o VPN.

That was more noticeable with the Galaxy Store app since more of text was in French instead of English. I did see a mix (e.g. Samsung-supplied text was in French while user comments were in their native lang/text, usually English).

[Robin621k]

Members apps and Google Play store were in English for me. Never needed to go to Galaxy Store.

[WayOWestS]

Also note that the Galaxy Store app, and at least part of the Members app, displayed in French even while I was in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria & Hungary. I was never in France (not even its airspace), just using an (Orange) eSIM from France purchased & installed from the USA a week before, activated in the USA the day before, and only enabled while my flight was in the air perhaps over Iceland.

And the French Galaxy Store continued even when I VPNed into the USA (California site to be specific).

So it was the French eSIM, not the location (GPS or WiFi), and certainly not the phone Language setting (English), in play.

[nullandvoid]

Everyone needs a VPN if they travel or use public wi-fi or foreign carriers.

[WayOWestS]

Probably, but VPN isn't the solution on this one. Samsung is using the eSIM origin to set the Galaxy Store app (and likely Member app) Language.

[WayOWestS]

Nope, not "shouldn't have to", but instead "I tried a VPN [to USA site] and it didn't work--Samsung apps remained in French."

Also, as noted elsewhere, I was never in or very near France (travel was Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Hungary) so it wasn't a matter of VPNing to a non-French area--I was only in non-French locations even without a VPN. The Samsung apps were just keying on the eSIM origin as France (Orange).

[nullandvoid]

Where, exactly, do you think France is in relation to the countries you were in?

[WayOWestS]

About 250km (150miles) away at my closet point. With my phone in countries where the official language is Dutch, German, Austrian German or Hungarian -- *not* French.

My point is that even if Samsung used my physical location instead of the eSIM source, it wouldn't (shouldn't) have forced their apps to French. I was never in France [French speaking location] nor on a french cellular carrier (e.g. I noticed roaming on Vodaphone in the Netherlands, Deutsche Telekom in Germany, a *hu carrier in Hungary) nor even briefly over French airspace.

The fact remains that Samsung is foolishly using the xSIM's home location to set (force) the language of (some of) their apps. I'm simply saying that the proper thing for them to do is use the (Android) phone's Language setting that the user has explicitly set as his preference. That would also apply to a French speaker in any of those countries or in an English-speaking country; he should expect the app to remain in French even if using a German or US xSIM or carrier.

* Geo-location (per GPS or WiFi etc.) doesn't matter and shouldn't be used to set an app language anyway.
* VPN use, with VPN (hub) location, doesn't matter/help (tried & failed, Samsung apps remained locked on French even with VPN to a site in USA-California).
* Clearing app(s) cache & data doesn't matter/help (tried & failed, Samsung apps remained locked on French).