Newly-discovered bug in "Pokemon Go" which is similar to GPS spoof causes fear among users. False GPS location is among Pokemon Go's prohibited lists with possibility of lifetime ban.
Forget about "Pokemon Go" being a power hog when running in the background. After all, pay the price of augmented reality that needs lots of resources from smart devices. Think of a new bug discovered that might risk players getting banned from the game.
Reddit user Cameocoder found out inaccurate "Pokemon Go" GPS lock on Nexus 5 when used with other app that requires location. Cameocoder tested GPS' accuracy natively through the device and registered no problems.
He then immediately run "Pokemon Go" on the background afterwards and found out that it becomes hard to acquire GPS lock. Another result was the intermittent lock and off grid when other GPS-based apps are running.
This "Pokemon Go" bug is said to initially trying to mimic other GPS location like in Google Maps but diverts on its own later. If a player turns off Google Maps, "Pokemon Go" will run just fine but then fails again when Google Maps is on. Theoretically, this can make the "Pokemon Go" server think of GPS spoofing.
To put "GPS spoofing" in common perspective, it is trying to make any app believe you are somewhere else. This cheat is handy for "Pokemon Go" players in districts with handful of other players and few Pokemon spawn, Value Walk said.
Now for the worried players, Polygon reported that players who have first-hand experience about being caught GPS spoofing suffered severe penalties from "Pokemon Go" servers.
"Pokemon Go" will simply become impossible to catch, no more collecting items from "PokeStops" and no gym battles are but few of these. Soft ban is initially being implemented by developer Niantic but there is rumor that future updates will include the dreaded lifetime ban.
