DIY Hack 2017-2018 NBA App--Watch 2017-18 Season League Pass for only $15 USD

joeblow · November 18, 2017

TL;DR

This thread is to continue the discussion from the old 2016-2017 NBA App hack thread that got closed due to bickering and other unwanted stuff. To refresh everyone's memory or for those new to this discussion, here is what you need to do (note--jailbreak is not absolutely required):

1) Either sideload (for JB folks) or else install from iTunes non-US NBA app, at least version 70828 but preferably if you have a legit UK or other non-US iTunes account, better to simply use that and download the legit NBA app (latest UK app version 71109) from non-US iTunes app store. Once installed, do NOT open the app yet--it is important that you do not open the app until after you've completed steps 2-5 below.

2) Need to use VPN that offers India VPN servers; at a minimum you need VPN installed on your iPhone. Either paid VPN subscription or Google search for free download of India VPN mobileconfig file for you stingy folks. Optional VPN installed on PC/Mac if you feel more comfortable purchasing NBA League Pass via computer rather than from a browser on your phone, and to also watch LP on your computer (via web browser).

3) On your computer or phone, turn on VPN and make sure you're connected to an India VPN server; once you've done that, then open a web browser and go to NBA.com and find your way to the page where you can order NBA League Pass

4) Once on the League Pass purchase page you should see the option to purchase LP for the entire 2017-2018 season for 999 Rupees, which translates to about $15 USD, give or take a few cents depending on the exchange rate at time of purchase; go ahead and make the purchase (sorry, no free ride here)--during the purchase process you should be prompted to enter an email address and password; this is your login ID you will and must use to log into the NBA app to access your LP subscription.

5) Once you've received confirmation that your LP subscription is active, then on your phone turn on VPN, making sure you're connected to an India VPN server

6) Once you're on India VPN, then go ahead and open the NBA app; once the app opens, go ahead and log into your NBA account using the credentials you created in step 4. It is important that you are on India VPN before you attempt to open the NBA app--otherwise you will get locked out of viewing any games for around/at least 2 hours even though you have a legitimate paid LP subscription. Turning on VPN after you've made the mistake of opening the app first will most likely not save you from the 2 hour viewing lockout, even if you force quit the app after your mistake and then follow the correct procedure.

At this point, you should be able to watch live and archived games; for a better viewing experience, once you have the app open while on India VPN, go ahead and turn off VPN--you should be able to still watch the games. Note--this same trick can be done on your computer if you desire to watch games on your PC/Mac; i.e., on your computer turn on India VPN, go to NBA League Pass web site on your browser, once the game loads you can then turn off VPN. Optional--if you have a reliable and robust VPN you can choose to leave it on, but keep in mind that you are streaming through an India VPN server that's most likely somewhere in India.

Yet to be tested/proven--whether the NBA servers can detect that you're streaming from a non-India location once you turn off VPN after the app loads; the concern here is that if they can and do detect that you're no longer streaming from India, you could get locked out from watching any games for about/at least 2 hours--you will know if this has happened because you will see the Buy Subscription button even though you're logged in and then when you click on it you'll get a message saying that you already have a paid subscription. Oddly enough, if/when this happens apparently it will still let you stream games via web browser (on your computer).

YMMV but ideally you do NOT want to stream on multiple devices simultaneously with the same NBA account or share your account with someone else--otherwise at best you will get a nag screen saying that another device is using your subscription; if you click cancel you can still continue to watch but the nag screen will pop up again after a few minutes or so. At worse you may discover that your NBA LP account itself gets locked and you will have to go unlock it before you can watch games again.

I have successfully done all this (from California, I should also point out) and can watch all games using legit UK NBA app version 71109 on both a JB iPad Pro and on an iPhone X; games stream at full speed (depending on your ISP) once I turn off VPN after having loaded the app. IMHO $15 USD is not a whole lot to pay at all for an entire season, especially considering that the cost for the US NBA LP premium package is $250 USD--and with that you get blackouts, unlike the India LP subscription.

Again--it cannot be stressed enough that you must make sure you are first on India VPN before you open the NBA app; failure to follow this simple but important step will most likely result in disappointment from not being able to watch any games for 2 hours (or more).

Updated November 18, 2017 by joeblow

Xylla · November 19, 2017

Wow!

2677ea · November 19, 2017

Happy to see Joeblow made a nice summery!
Here's some other result from my previous testing, the NBA app should not be able to detect you streaming from a indian ip or not once you login successfully with a indian VPN and able to watch game. or maybe they can detect but they wont stop you from watching once you used indian VPN to login. As I have been using my ipad to watch games without any VPN used on this device, and every time I want to watch game on it, I first login my NBA account on my iPhone with indian VPN to "record" my ip as an indian one on the NBA server. Then i can watch games on every device I have with the same NBA account login. (except for apple tv, see if anybody can use this method and successfully watch on apple tv, please let me know)

Also, you can choose to purchase the LP from iap on the NBA app via itunes, not necessarily via a browser. But a VPN throughout the purchase process is a MUST.

Until now, I still can't figure out any method to fix the 2 hours "record" problem if you have non-indian ip recorded on their server. But patched version of NBA app do can bypass this and allow you to watch games with indian LP even you have a non-indian ip recorded. Personally I wont recommended using this as it may bring you some security problem.

It seems the web version of LP and app version are separated as I never encounter problem on web browser with indian LP and VPN. some users are emailing NBA and NBA replied that they do noticed the problem of the app. I am not sure will they fix it but just be careful to launch app with VPN temperately fix this problem.

joeblow · November 22, 2017

2677ea--I watched Sunday's Warriors-Nets game live; I made sure I was on India VPN first before I opened the app, then I turned off VPN once the stream started...so if they are indeed tracking/recording my *real* IP address while I'm in the middle of streaming and not on India VPN, they would/should have been able to detect me at that point. Fast-forward to today (Tuesday)--I again made sure I was on India VPN first, then I fired up the NBA app--everything looks good, no Buy Subscription button and I can watch archived games.

But yeah, at least with the latest version 71109, until someone can find a way to get around the VPN issue, best to just temporarily turn on India VPN before launching the app--a very minor inconvenience considering you can turn it off once the app finishes loading and authenticates your account and location. For just $15 for the entire season, having to temporarily turn on VPN is not a big deal IMHO.

Updated November 22, 2017 by joeblow

HotRainRider · November 27, 2017

@2677ea:

You wrote that with patched version you don't need to do the workaround with Indian VPN but when I tested it non of the streams started although I was logged in with Indian LP. Which iPad did you use to try and can you post it?

Thanks.

2677ea · November 27, 2017

16 hours ago, Columbo4Life said:

@2677ea:

You wrote that with patched version you don't need to do the workaround with Indian VPN but when I tested it non of the streams started although I was logged in with Indian LP. Which iPad did you use to try and can you post it?

Thanks.

well maybe there's some misunderstanding in between. Let me make it clear, no matter what version you are using, you need a VPN to make a record to fool the app that you are in india. This is needed for both patched or normal NBA app. What patched app do is that it can ignore the 2 hours lock of the app. With patched NBA app, you can watch live or stream much more easily, I personally use normal NBA app and wont recommend using the patched one.

HotRainRider · November 29, 2017

On 27.11.2017 at 6:03 PM, 2677ea said:

well maybe there's some misunderstanding in between. Let me make it clear, no matter what version you are using, you need a VPN to make a record to fool the app that you are in india. This is needed for both patched or normal NBA app. What patched app do is that it can ignore the 2 hours lock of the app. With patched NBA app, you can watch live or stream much more easily, I personally use normal NBA app and wont recommend using the patched one.

No, I understood... I asked you for the ipa of the patched version since the patched version I had I think ...50 version didn't let me use anything at all with VPN. Thanks

2677ea · November 29, 2017

I just tested from TTA No Advertising!, but i would not recommended you to use it.
if you really install that patched app, take your own risk

HotRainRider · November 30, 2017

Can you please post a link to the ipa (within the rules)... I tried NBA++ v7.0530 before we talked and no stream starts with Indian Sub and VPN or even with normal sub.

HotRainRider · December 1, 2017

On 29.11.2017 at 12:42 PM, 2677ea said:

I just tested from TTA No Advertising!, but i would not recommended you to use it.
if you really install that patched app, take your own risk

?