Pokemon GO: Can players trick the game into making it seem like they're walking?

Pokemon GO encourages walking through the app (Image via Niantic)
Pokemon GO encourages walking through the app (Image via Niantic)

Despite Pokemon GO’s emphasis on getting exercise, fans still look for ways to play the game without walking. Many of the game’s objectives involve walking long distances. Some players simply don’t have the time to spare but are still looking to hatch their eggs and grind buddy candy.

Fortunately, there are ways they can play the game without straining their legs too much. In this article, we shall look at some of these methods.


Methods Pokemon GO players can use to simulate walking

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There are two general ways Pokemon GO players can make the game think they are walking when they actually aren’t, they can either spoof their app or they can use a device to manually move the phone.

Spoofing is a very popular phenomenon among players. This is shunned by Pokemon GO, and players who are found spoofing will suffer a penalty from Niantic.

What spoofing does is manipulate the GPS of the phone to give the impression that the phone is in another location. With this, players can play Pokemon in faraway places, participate in different events, and more without even leaving their rooms.

Players can use spoofing to participate in events, like the Shinx Community Day, for longer than intended (Image via Niantic)
Players can use spoofing to participate in events, like the Shinx Community Day, for longer than intended (Image via Niantic)

With that being said, we do not recommend that players spoof from too far away. For example, a player located in Los Angeles shown to be playing from Dubai will certainly raise suspicions of spoofing.

Surprisingly, there are also several devices out there that can move the phone manually. By using these players can trick the game into thinking they are walking and use this to grind candy and hatch eggs.

Perhaps the most popular method for this is the use of shakes. Trainers can hook up their phones to these devices and rock the phone back and forth. As of now, there is no way to electronically differentiate between a phone rocking back and forth or a person walking.

Other ways that trainers can simulate motion include fixing their phone on a Roomba, a drone, a model train, a remote-controlled car, or anything of that nature. It is clear that diehard players of the game are not afraid to get creative in their search for a way to get the required steps without actually walking.

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