In Pokémon GO, GPS spoofing is prevalent mostly because it provides access to region-locked Pokémon and even gives huge benefits for those living in rural areas. But it appears that this method will likely become a relic of the past as new security updates will vanquish GPS spoofing across all android devices.
Pokémon GO: Android Update Eliminates GPS Spoofing
In the previous versions of Android, myriad of apps can effectively alter and hide the user's exact location and bypass the security of Niantic's servers. As the apps prevent the disclosure of the user's GPS location, Niantic simply could not pinpoint those that are using such apps.
But today, as reported by Go Hub, a new update in Android changes a code within the phone's system, which now prevents these apps from entirely masking the user's GPS location. To view the exact code that was altered, click here.
The change in this code is effective on Android 7.1 and above, which means that GPS spoofing will no longer be made possible on new devices. However, for those that are using earlier versions, they can simply disable the security update to prevent the system from upgrading. As of the time of this writing, there are already reports that on Nexus 6P/5X, GPS spoofing is now effectively disabled.
The patch update is part of Google's March security update and there are hints that the system will also patch older Android versions including 6.0.1 and below. This article will be updated as soon as new updates occur.
Impact Of The New Update
Although this is good news to some, this update simply does not entirely eliminate GPS spoofing in the game as only a handful of users are currently using Android 7.1. Here is the complete statistics on Pokémon GO Android users:
Version | Installed |
Android 7.1 | on 0.4% devices |
Android 7.x | On 2.4% devices |
Android 6.x | On 31.3% devices |
Android 5.x | 32.5% devices |
Android 4.4 | 20.8% |
*Note: the rest is installed in version 4.3 or lower.
Clearly, this change only affects a fraction of the overall Android users in the game but it is a great step towards eliminating GPS spoofers in Pokémon GO. It's still unclear whether or not Niantic will limit their support on Android in the future. Check back for more Pokémon GO news and updates!
