OK. It’s turned into a dream for the PR company this one. Everybody seems to be talking about it, even here in the UK where you can’t actually download the thing just yet. Pokémon has returned and the ’90s have come back too (Robot Wars was on TV the other day, I still love it). Now Pokémon Go, with GPS tracking and augmented reality, brings the whole Pokémon world to your local surroundings.
However, in the UK it’s not on the store yet. Apparently the load on their servers is higher than expected following the US launch, so it’s a “phased roll-out”. However, if you want to get it on your Android now and you don’t mind turning your security settings down a bit (and side-loading an APK), there is a way.
First, head to this website (APKPure.com) to get the APK. Download it to your Android phone, allow the installation of non-Google Play stuff via your security settings (on most Android phones it’ll take you to the required section after you’ve downloaded this) and then install it.
Once done I had a couple of problems getting going, especially accepting the Terms and Conditions. After accepting several times and nothing happening, I closed and restarted the app and it got a bit further.
You can also get it for the iPhone by creating a new Apple ID and setting your location to the USA, but that’s a bit too much work for me.
The app will need to get a clear GPS signal, but then you can start walking around and catching Pokémon in your augmented reality surroundings.
Yes, you’ll have to send your kids out on the street. Yes, they might end up going quite far in the search of more Pokémon. Yes, it’s a side-loaded app and there’s all the usual warnings but …. Oh! I got another one!!
