Is pgsharp legal when you are playing pokemon?

Alice MJ

Mar 18, 2025 • Filed to: Virtual Location Solutions • Proven solutions

Pokémon Go is the phenomenon that hit us in 2016 and made us obsessed with the AR game based on real-time location. If you are one of those players who have been to all the local PokeStops in hopes of finding your favorite rare Pokémon, then it might be time for you to consider spoofing your location while playing PoGo.

Pokémon Go relies on GPS coordinates and real-time tracking to let players catch Pokémon s in real locations. Hence, spoofing comes to the discussion of "catching them all."

'Spoofing' location makes your phone, and thereby the game thinks that you're in another location, which opens up the possibility to catch new and rare Pokémon s from gyms and PokeStops around the world.

Part 1: Is Pgsharp legal?
Part 2: Three ways to spoof on Android

Part 1: Is Pgsharp legal?

No game developer likes to see their game played in unfair ways. Thus, Niantic (PoGo's Dev) made some strict rules against exploiting their game, giving some players an unfair advantage over others.

So, is PGSharp legal? No, Spoofing location, in general, is illegal. Hence, any apps like PGSharp, or Fake GPS Go, used to disguise actual real-time location and fake it, will result in an account ban.

According to Niantic's terms and conditions:

"Using any techniques to alter or falsify a device's location (for example through GPS spoofing).
And "Accessing Services in an unauthorized manner (including using modified or unofficial third party software)."

If Niantic detects usage of a fake location or GPS spoofing app while playing Pokémon Go, they will impose a strike on your account.

The first strike would make rare Pokémon s not visible to you for seven days.
The second strike would temporarily ban you from playing the game for 30 Days.
The third strike will permanently ban your account.

You can appeal these strikes to Niantic if you think you've been banned without violation of any terms.

Part 2: Three ways to spoof on Android

PGSharp :

PGSharp is one of the most reliable ways to spoof your location while playing Pokémon Go. Niantic does not easily recognize its simple map-like UI as a fake location app.

Note: It is recommended not to use your main account while spoofing; rather, you should use your PTC (Pokémon Trainer Club) account.

To spoof the location with PGSharp, go to Google's "Play store," search "PGSharp," and install it.
After installation, there are two versions: Free and Paid. For trying the app with the free version, a beta key is not required anymore, while for the paid version, a key from the developer is required.
For the paid key, visit PGSharp's official website and generate a license key.

You must note that it may take two or more tries to generate a working key, and often it may show an "out of stock." message.

After opening the app and applying the key, you can spoof the location with ease.

Note: You may need to allow "Mock location" from debugging options. For this, go to "Settings," then to "About Phone," then you need to tap on "Build number" seven times to enable developer's mode, and finally go to "Debugging" to allow "Mock location."

Fake GPS Go:

Fake GPS Go is another location spoofer app for Android that is reliable and free. This app allows you to fake your real-time location and enables you to spoof it to any place in the world. This is one of the easiest solutions to playing Pokémon Go while spoofing location without getting detected with its real-map-like UI. Moreover, this app does not even require root access.

To install Fake GPS Go, go to Google's "Play store," search "Fake GPS Go," and install it.
Then, go to your phone's "Settings" and then "System" followed by "About Phone," and tap on the "Build Number" 7 times to enable the Developer Options.
Then you need to go to "Debugging" in "Developers Options" to allow "Mock location."
And then, you can use this app to not only spoof your location but virtually walk around a route at a designated pace to make it look as real as possible for being undetected by developers like Niantic.

VPN:

Using a Virtual Private Network (VPN) App is the safest option to spoof your location while playing PoGo, as it masks your IP address and uses a server in any other location.

Moreover, some VPNs would also encrypt your data, so it would not be easy for Game Devs to track it.

To install a VPN, go to Google's "Play store," search the VPN of your choice and install it.
Close the Pokémon Go app from running in the background to prevent detection of the VPN.
Now, select a location server to any place before opening the PoGo app again.

Note: Some Free VPNs only mask your IP address and do not spoof your location, nor do they encrypt your data. Hence, selecting a good VPN app is imperative, which will spoof GPS location and data encryption.

You can use both VPNs (which do not spoof GPS location themselves) and the Fake location app simultaneously for extra reliability.

Conclusion

Following these tips will help you to behave like an actual traveler who's on a Pokémon hunt. This will make it even harder for game devs to detect any discrepancies.
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