As we have said previously, Pokemon Go Hub does not endorse the use of any apps, websites or practices that break Pokemon Go’s Terms of Service. We are simply reporting this as news, particularly as it seems to also be affecting players who haven’t intentionally broken the ToS.
Following the world’s first capture of Mew in Pokémon Go by a player using location mocking tools, a large number players (almost exclusively iOS device users), have woken up today to an in-game warning message, popularly called “Third Party App” warning.
The warning was issued in a sweeping manner, primarily targeting players using location mocking tools, but other third party apps that access Niantic’s servers are also affected. If you are using an IV checker that requires you to login in, you could be also affected as those apps also break the Terms of Service.
Approximately 90% of iOS users that have GPS location spoofing apps installed have received this message. Legitimate players who have never spoofed their location, but may have used certain IV apps or used multiple devices simultaneously (or account sharing as it’s described in the ToS), are also receiving it — hence why you are reading this article on the Hub.
Many recipients of the warning are also being shadow banned, meaning that they can only encounter certain common (in some biomes) Pokémon:
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If they try to catch anything else, the Pokémon flees. They are however, still able to spin Pokéstops, complete research tasks, and take part in Raid battles.
There are also reports that attempting to catch Mew while under a shadow ban results in Mew’s 100% base capture rate being overridden and the impossibly rare Pokémon fleeing, despite it’s base flee rate being set to 0%!
As of the time of this writing, it is unknown whether Trainers will get another chance at catching Mew in future Special Research Quests, but the advice for now is to not complete Special Research task 7/8 until your ban has ended, as you automatically encounter Mew immediately after.
It has been noted that Pokémon caught from Research encounters do not currently have a location at the bottom of their info screen. Whether this has anything to do with the warning messages remains to be seen.
If you are not using location mocking apps and you have received a warning, please leave details in the comments so that we may better understand how and why this is affecting the community.
