| Cult of Mac

How to fake your GPS location for Pokémon Go and other fun stuff

By

Fake It Till You Make It
This free, open-source app makes it easy to fake your GPS location.
Image: D. Griffin Jones/Cult of Mac

You can use a free Mac app called LocationSimulator to spoof GPS in Pokémon Go or to hide your real location on your iPhone. After setting it up, you just plug your phone into a Mac and tell it where you want to “be.” You don’t need to jailbreak and you don’t need to install anything on your iPhone.

Every app on your phone will use it as your GPS location. It’s useful for maintaining privacy — for instance, if you’re posting screenshots online, it’ll mask your real home address. Developers can use it, too, for testing location features in their apps.

Best of all, you just need a Mac. LocationSimulator is free and open-source.

Pokémon Go turns 5, rakes in $5 billion in player spending

By

birthday
The world's most popular AR geolocation game turns five!
Photo: Niantic

Augmented-reality game Pokémon Go earned more than $5 billion from player spending in the five years it’s been around, says a new report from app analytics platform Sensor Tower Store Intelligence. Of this, App Store revenue from iOS users accounts for $2.4 billion — or approximately 47%.

Niantic launched Pokémon Go in July 2016. That means the game generated an average of $1 billion per year, making it by far the highest-earning geolocation AR app in the world. In the first half of 2021 alone, Pokémon Go raked in a massive $641.6 million across both Android and iOS.

Dr. Fone – Virtual Location (iOS) lets AR gamers and others ‘teleport’

By

Dr. Fone - Virtual Location (iOS) lets you easily spoof your iPhone GPS.
Dr. Fone - Virtual Location (iOS) lets you easily spoof your iPhone GPS location.
Photo: Wondershare

This iOS GPS spoofing post is presented by Wondershare, maker of Dr. Fone – Virtual Location (iOS).

People have been tricking their smartphone apps into thinking they’re somewhere else for a long time. That’s called global positioning system (GPS) spoofing. And while there are surely illegal reasons to do it, there are also plenty of legal ones.

Anyone addicted to Pokémon Go who just sprained their ankle or got snowed in knows what I’m talking about. You still gotta play. And when the game depends upon GPS — as a huge number of location-based augmented reality games do — you need your iPhone to indicate you actually got off the couch.

And the great thing is, whatever your reason for faking your GPS location with an iPhone, Dr. Fone – Virtual Location (iOS) now makes it easy to do, with no jailbreaking required. Alth0ugh Apple does not support GPS spoofing, location changing certainly isn’t just for Android smartphones anymore.

These 5 mobile games pulled in more than $1 billion each in 2020

By

Who needs ‘Fortnite’ when ‘PUBG Mobile’ is an out to get a significant upgrade?
PUBG Mobile was the year's big winner.
Photo: Tencent Mobile

The world may have struggled in 2020, but life’s been good on the App Store — and especially if you’re the makers of PUBG Mobile, Honor of Kings, Pokémon GO, Coin Master, and Roblox.

Those five mobile games all broke $1 billion in takings in 2020, across both iOS and Android. The first two, both made by Tencent, managed to break through the $2 billion barrier, claims a report from app analytics platform Sensor Tower.

These are Apple’s picks for the best apps of 2020

By

Best of 2020 app award
For the first time, Apple created a physical award to hand out to winners.
Photo: Apple

As 2020 thankfully sputters to its conclusion, Apple has released its list of the year’s best 15 apps and games “notable for their positive cultural impact, helpfulness, and importance.”

The App Store Best of 2020 winners cover a multitude of areas — from the Zoom app that more or less defined the year of lockdown to streaming service Disney+ to a nifty sleep app.

Evergreen smash hit Pokémon Go rakes in $1 billion this year alone

By

birthday
Still raking in the cash more than four years later.
Photo: Niantic

When it comes to people’s spare dollars, Pokémon Go really is taking that “gotta catch ’em all” mantra seriously!

According to a new report by app analytics firm Sensor Tower, Niantic’s still-ultra-popular AR game, which launched in July 2016, has raked in $1 billion in the first 10 months of 2020 alone. Lifetime spending, meanwhile, hit $4.2 billion globally.

Pokémon Go turns 4 today, passes $3.6 billion in player spending

By

birthday
Happy birthday, folks!
Photo: Niantic

Pokémon Go turns 4 today and, while it might not be the shiny new toy of the App Store anymore, it’s not showing signs of slowing down, either.

The AR Poké-spotting game just passed $3.6 billion in global player spending, according to leading app analytics platform Sensor Tower. Of that, almost $1.7 billion — or 46.4% of the total revenue — came from the App Store.

Pokémon Go‘s heartwarming Buddy feature will get even better with Reality Blending

By

Pokemon GO
This game is determined to be the very best. Like no game ever was.
Photo: Niantic

Pokémon Go‘s Buddy feature gives you a, well, Poké buddy to go on adventures with, much like Pikachu was to Ash in the animated series.

Now, thanks to a new feature called Reality Blending, the experience is going to get even better — and a lot more glitch-free. If you haven’t seen it, check out the (weirdly tear-jerking) ad for the Buddy Adventure feature below, as well as details about how it’s been improved.

Pokémon Go’s Remote Raid Pass lets you keep playing from home

By

Pokemon GO
Coming later this month.
Photo: Niantic

Pokémon Go developer Niantic has been making changes to its game in an effort to ensure fans can continue playing while they’re stuck at home. Its latest is a brand-new Remote Raid Pass that lets you raid without leaving the couch.

It’s one of the biggest changes to Pokémon Go that we’ve seen so far. Here’s how it works.

Pokémon Home for iPhone and iPad finally gets a release date

By

pokemon-home
Get ready to catch 'em all.
Photo: The Pokemon Company

Pokémon catching is about to go to an all-new level with the new Pokemon Home app that’s finally set to launch on iPhone and iPad in February 2020.

Fresh details about the Pokémon Home experience were revealed by the Pokémon Company this morning showing how players will soon be able to store and manage Pokémon from games on the Nintendo Switch and 3DS and transfer them to new games.