This tutorial will teach you how to catch Pokémon from the comfort of your home. All you need is the game, your computer and GPS locations of your favorite places. This will allow you to teleport anywhere in the world. Before you start hating, not everyone is lucky enough to live near a PokéStop or have Pokémon nearby. This allows everyone to enjoy the game. You’ll still have to catch ’em all yourself!
The whole process will take 10 minutes if you already have Xcode but it’s easy enough that anyone can do it eventually.
Disclaimer: As with any cheating, there’s a good chance you may get banned using this trick so please do this at your own risk! So far, I’ve caught many MagiKarp with this method so I can get that Gyrados!
Installing Xcode
If you don’t already have Xcode, you can install Xcode for free from the Apple Developer Portal.
Creating a dummy app
Open up Xcode and let’s create a dummy app. The idea is to simulate locations with this app which will change the location on your phone. Don’t worry this isn’t permanent.
First, open up Xcode and create a new Xcode project.
Next, pick the Game template.
Finally, pick a fun name. You can pick anything here. Then select a folder on your computer to save the project.
That’s it! If that was your first Xcode app, congrats!
Get a .GPX file
A .GPX file is a set of locations, even better if it contains time data. With time data, it’ll look like you’re actually walking. You can get a .GPX file from RunKeeper or Strava based on your runs or bike rides and probably a few other places. For now, I will use RunKeeper as an example.
If you don’t run or bike outside, I have a sample file you can download here. Save it to your computer.
from RunKeeper
You can find the export at the bottom right of an Activity page. Download the file.
Unfortunately, the .GPX file provided by RunKeeper doesn’t seem to work with Xcode. No worries, we can fix it. Btw, if you notice that some of these steps are not necessary please drop a comment.
Near the top of the file, remove:
<trk> <name><![CDATA[Running 6/17/16 4:41 pm]]></name> <time>2016-06-17T23:41:03Z</time>
and at the bottom, remove:
</trk>
Next, remove all lines that contain:
<trkseg>
and
</trkseg>
Finally, replace all instances of:
<trkpt
with
<wpt
and also replace all instances of:
</trkpt>
with
</wpt>
And that’s it! No need to adjust the time to be in the future or anything. Xcode will just start from the beginning and loop when it hits the end. If your .GPX start and end in the same location, you’ll be all set and minimize detection.
Run the dummy app
Connect your phone to your computer through USB. Now, select your phone in the top left corner like the diagram below. Press the Play button. Give it a few seconds to run the dummy app on your phone.
Next, load the .GPX file we just created by clicking on the blue arrow looking icon at the bottom.
Click on “Add GPX File to Project…” and choose your .GPX file. Now, click on the blue arrow again to select the file you just added.
Voila! You should now be simulating your location. You can verify this by going to Google Maps or of course Pokémon Go.
Happy hunting!