New Pokemon Go trick lets players double Gym distance

A new Pokemon Go trick lets players double their Gym distance, making it easier to fight battles and knock other teams off without having the Exploration Bonus enabled.

Niantic caused an uproar of controversy in early August of 2021 after the company reversed the Exploration Bonus that allowed Trainers to interact with Gyms and PokeStops from further away amid the global health crisis. Many argued that we’re not out of the woods yet, and even boycotted the game completely on August 5 – also known as Pokemon NO Day.

While it was recently enabled again in New Zealand due to a full lockdown, the rest of the world is still having to play normally. That said, a new trick is letting players double their Gym distance, just like it would be if the Bonus was in effect. Here’s everything you need to know.

How to double Gym distance in Pokemon Go

It needs to be said straight off the bat but this trick may not work for Android players. We’ve confirmed it works on iOS and iPhone, but some fans are reporting the method on Android to be unsuccessful.

To double your Gym distance in Pokemon Go, follow these steps:

1. If you have the app open, close it down completely.
2. Go to Location Services and turn it OFF. On iPhone, that’s through Settings > Privacy > Location Services.
3. Open up your game again and you should get a pop-up notification asking you to turn your location back on – do so. You should now have increased Gym distance.

Unfortunately, this method doesn’t work for spinning PokeStops – just Gyms only, we’re afraid. Still, if another team’s encroached on your territory and you want to win it back, you can do so a little bit closer than before.

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And as mentioned above, some Android players are reporting it unsuccessful, so it might not work for you on those devices. Let’s hope Niantic doesn’t patch this out.