The innovative methods from various players varied from using drones, to remote-controlled cars, automated vacuum cleaning systems, smartphone cases or just trying to sell accounts outright. We have also seen maps filled with Pokemon, players cheating their way to the max level of 40, and even hacks that require jailbreaks, which did not require the gamer to take a single step out of their home’s premises. If all the above was not enough, earlier this week, a video was released from YouTube channel jdsika that featured one-of-a-kind hardware-based solution to deal with the problem of having to step outside the comfort of their homes and take to the road to catch Pokemon.
With this method, the smartphone simply needs to be placed on a radio-frequency-shielded box. The hacker then utilizes a signal generator to create fake GPS signals that the device receives and adopts as its “location.” Then, custom software uses Google Earth and a joystick to slowly change the signal to the smartphone, mimicking walking by changing the faked location of the device. The result: a player can kick back and virtually “stroll” around town without ever leaving home. However, this easy way to cheat the system has its flaws too. For instance, an average Pokemon Go enthusiast may not even have the tools needed to reproduce this setup in their own homes – a RF-shielded box, signal generator, and a slew of other electric pieces of hardware. Even if they could, in order to control the avatar in the app to move around, they would still need to develop the software. Before you begin using any such GPS fooling tricks in Pokemon Go though, ensure that you are aware of Niantic’s guidelines. If the company finds any such devices and applications against its policy, the players’ account might get banned permanently. Nonetheless, the hack is quite impressive and the solution developed by these players is likely the most amazing GPS hacking tool for Pokemon Go so far. This is an indication of the kind of efforts the Pokemon Go community is willing to put in to play the hit augmented-reality game without having to actually play the game. This is how it works: Firstly, the user will provide coordinates to specify a starting point; along with their “Pokemon Go” accounts details for authentication process. The bot then starts looking out for nearby Pokemon and copies a walk to the closest creature by sending fake GPS coordinates to the Pokemon Go server at the right time. As soon as the bot is near a Pokemon, it can use a basic API call to catch the character, and rapidly moves on the next target, ArsTechnica reported. The “Pokemon Go” bots can also do other activities, like trading duplicate Pokemon for resources, evolving Pokemon, incubating and hatching eggs and prioritizing Pokemon to catch, and collecting new Pokeballs at Pokestops. Depending on their current needs and stats, users can set which Pokemon to ignore. Tests show that just by operating in the background, Pokemon Go can earn an average of 50,000 experience points every hour, allowing the user to reach level 15 in less than a day. The bot can continue playing nonstop and reach the higher levels of the game in just a few days. Having said that, “Pokemon Go” players are encouraged not to try this at home.
The availability of “Pokemon Go” bots will affect the game over a period of time, particularly by having the cheaters complete their collection much faster than their regular counterparts. On the contrary, they are also depriving themselves of exercise and the fun that the “Pokemon Go” creators intended in the first place.
