Pokemon Go’s latest update fixes several annoyances and introduces Pokemon Buddies, but it’s also ticked off hardcore phone users: Android and iPhone players who run a rooted/jailbroken device will have noticed that Niantic is now suddenly blocking them from playing the game, presumably because cheating is easier with root, and it’s not as if there are a million good reasons to root your device. Oh wait, yes there are.
“We continue to focus on eliminating bots and scrapers from Pokémon GO,” declare the patch notes. “Rooted or jailbroken devices are not supported by Pokémon GO. Remember to download Pokémon GO from the official Google Play Store or iTunes App Store only.”
Of course, the vast majority of people running rooted devices (like, for example, me) aren’t cheaters and still want to play with their pokeymans. If you’re on Android, there’s a fix for you: Android blog Android Police has a guide out to using a specific mod, Magisk, to get around the block, proving once again that legit users are harmed and inconvenienced far more than problem players when indiscriminate rule changes are deployed.
If you’re clever enough to root, you probably don’t need this warning, but just in case: Proceed with extreme caution if you decide to work around these blocks. You could also go sign the petition. But personally, if I played Pokemon, this would be the point when I deleted it from my device, told them to go to hell, and didn’t look back, but then I haven’t sunk any money into it as a lot of affected users have, so easier said than done.
