Fast Links
Pokemon GO is still one of the most popular mobile games worldwide thanks to its uniquely active and social gameplay, practically forcing you to go out and meet other people. And while Niantic has made it easier to play Pokemon GO at home, geographical differences could still yield different results for your Pokemon hunting and trading experiences. Here are a few ways to change or spoof your Pokemon GO location using a VPN and other apps on Android and iOS mobile devices.
Before you start tinkering, though, you might want to refer to and consult the Android and iOS VPN spoofing guide on PokemonGoSpoofing and PoGoSpooferOpenCorner Subreddits for more discussions. Also, remember that you can be banned if you use the same account to reply to people on both PokemonGo and PokemonGoSpoofing Subreddits. Oh, and of course, do these hacks at your own risk!
How to Spoof Pokemon GO Location on Android
With Rooted Android Devices
If you have a rooted device, I assume you have more in-depth knowledge about your phone than the general users. Because of that, I trust you can check out PokemonGoSpoofing detailed guides yourselves on:
- Expert Mode (Android 8 and 9).
- And Smali Patcher (Android 10 and above).
Both have rather lengthy and complicated processes, so you should check and discuss it with the people on the PokemonGoSpoofing thread.
Without Root
If your Android device is not yet rooted, then you have two options:
With a GPS Spoofer and a VPN for Pokemon GO
- First, you need to enable Developer Mode on your Android device. Open Settings, then go to the About Device option.
- Look for the Build Number option and tap the text seven times.
- Go back to the Settings menu, and a new Developer Options tab should appear.
- Click on it, then check the Select mock location app option.
- Now you will need the Mock Mock Locations app to trick Pokemon GO‘s built-in detector. This app isn’t available on the Play Store, but you can get it from Xposed.info and then run the APK from your phone’s Downloads folder.
- Even when your locations have been spoofed, you will still be detected by Pokemon GO‘s system if your GPS doesn’t follow suit. For that reason, we’ll need a VPN.
- Try downloading paid VPNs instead of free ones since usually, most free VPNs use underhanded methods (like selling your personal information) to offset their free-to-use business model. Tons of them have good reviews from professional sites, such as Surfshark, ExpressVPN, and NordVPN, among others. Look for ones that give out free trials if you don’t want to spend any money yet.
- Once done, open the Mock Mock Locations app and pick the location that’s the same as your VPN server.
- Run Pokemon GO, and your location should now be spoofed.
Using Fake GPS Routes Go App
You need to downgrade the Google Play Services app for this method first. This should work on Android 6, 7, and 8. Nevertheless, PokemonGoSpoofing reported that some Android 9 and above devices don’t work, and several Android 8.1 versions with Google Play Services 12.8.x can’t be downgraded. Afterward, grab the Fake GPS Routes Go on the Play Store. After installing, set the app to:
- Enable No Root Mode.
- And Enable Wait Dialog.
- Also, set the Android location settings to High accuracy.
- Then pick the locations you want.
How to Spoof Pokemon GO Location on iOS
With Jailbroken iOS Devices
Having a jailbroken iPhone or iPad is pretty much the most hassle-free and 100% proven method to spoof your location with a VPN in Pokemon GO. If you do already have one, all you need to do is:
- Open the Cydia package manager/jailbreak app store.
- Get the TsProtector app to hide jailbroken devices and the Location Spoofer app.
- Open Location Spoofer, then open the Location menu.
- Select Protect and pick a location of your choosing on the map.
- Grab a VPN (as mentioned above, paid ones are usually safer than the free apps)
- Connect to the VPN and make sure you pick the same VPN location as the one from the Protect My Privacy.
- Run Pokemon GO.
That should do the job. Nevertheless, spoofing GPS location keeps your character in that particular GPS spot, so you can’t just walk around to look for more Pokemon. You’ll need to switch your location first from the spoofing and GPS apps. Otherwise, you can also use the PokeGO++ app with a jailbroken device.
Without Jailbreak
The PokemonGoSpoofing community believes that instead of using a VPN, using an external Bluetooth dongle like the iTools is the “relatively safer way” to change your device’s GPS location. This method doesn’t interact directly with Pokemon GO‘s GPS system, so most of the time, it should be foolproof:
- Buy the iTools dongle from the official Discord server (hardware availability varies).
- On iOS 13 and above, your spoofing will be locked within 7 to 25km from your real location because of a system update. You’ll need to bypass this first.
- Get an RJ-45 ethernet adaptor, which is considered to be the one that’s most reliable for this trick.
- Connect your iTools Bluetooth dongle to your PC and ensure it’s working.
- Open up Settings on your iPhone/iPad, turn on Airplane Mode, then turn off the WiFi.
- Plug the ethernet cable into the RJ-45 ethernet adaptor.
- Plug the adaptor into your iOS device and plug the power cord into the adaptor.
- After plugging the adaptor, check if the Ethernet connection below WiFi (Off) shows up on your iPhone/iPad. Close Settings and open the menu again if it doesn’t appear.
- Now go back to Settings. Open the Privacy menu, and toggle location services Off and back On once.
- Now on the iTools PC app, spoof your location. You should see your device’s location and the time change.
And I repeat, do it at your own risk — there’s a chance that the method won’t work, and/or your account will be banned if caught.
Using iAnyGo on Unjailbroken iOS Devices
The loss of the iPokeGO app years ago hits the iOS player base hard. However, Reddit users Effective-Shelter865 and SingerTechnical4079 claim that instead of the standard VPN, iAnyGo GPS Spoofer can also work wonders to spoof Pokemon GO location if you use an iPhone.
- Download the iAnyGo Spoofer, then run the app on your PC.
- In the app, select Change Location to enter the map of your choosing.
- Connect your iPhone to the PC.
- Then select a location on the map and press Start to Modify.
To make sure it works, though, you need to turn off Adventure Sync on your Pokemon GO account, change the timezone to the spoofed location’s time, and disable every single motion tracking sensor on your iOS. To turn off the sensors:
- Open the Settings menu.
- Pick Privacy.
- Choose the Location Services option.
- Open the System Service menu at the bottom.
- You should be able to turn off all types of sensors on your iOS phone.
Spoof Your Location with a DIY App with Xcode
For the more technically-minded, Reddit user Jaegaarn also recommends creating a spoofing app using Xcode on a MacBook. According to Jaegaarn, all you need to do is generate a GPX geolocational file from Google Maps, import the file into a test app, then run the file as a test location for the test app. When you play Pokemon GO with the “test app” running in the background, your in-game location should be the same as the one you use on the test app. But you must have your iOS device plugged into the MacBook for this to work.