The noise that Pokemon GO brought with itself when it was released was incredible. This game was loved by many smartphone users especially those who were already Pokemon fans. Moving from a Nintendo Gameboy and DS, a smartphone was a step ahead but none of us imagined how fun a Pokemon game would be on your phone.
All that changed when Pokemon GO was released for smartphones back in 2016 where people began playing it and love for the game spread like wildfire. Not all went smoothly though as the game had a number of issues upon release. Patches and updates were released every now and then but once problem stuck by.
In Pokemon GO, the “failed to detect location” is an error which has annoyed a number of players. Failed to detect location is known as error 12 where the game cannot pinpoint your exact location in your real-life map. This error pops up on a number of different devices. Let us now look at the reasons why this happens and then we can move onto its solution.
Bugs like these are common and can disrupt your entire playing session.
Causes
The two main reasons why this issue comes about is when there are no signals on your device on which you’re playing the game. This is entirely because the location services aren’t available on your phone due to non-availability of GPS. So wherever you are, there are no signals.
The second reason why the failed to detect location message shows up is when the game is blocked by geo-restriction policies. This means that the game is banned in several countries which is why if you’re in any country where the game is banned then your location won’t be detected.
Now that we’ve discussed the causes for this problem, we shall move onto the solutions.
Solutions For Failed to Detect Location 12
Check Location Settings
First, go into the settings of your phone. Disable your location services first and then re-enable them. After this, enable a high accuracy mode for your location if there’s an option to do so because higher accuracy is going to result in better gameplay without the location error popping up.
When the location error is overcome, your application will automatically proceed forward after which you will be able to play the game. If this doesn’t work then you can try the next method which is enabling the expert mode on your phone.
Enabling Expert Mode
By any chance you installed mock apps on our phone, you will need to enable the expert mode on your app. A number of Pokemon Go players used this method and it worked for them like a charm so no reason why you shouldn’t try it.
Hey, whatever helps you play, right? Also, since this game isn’t made for a computer hence you can change specific settings according to your liking. That too for Android devices and not Apple integrated ones.
Enabling Mock Locations
Mock locations can be permitted by Android users because they usually end up solving the problem. To enable mock locations, follow these steps:
- Close the Pokemon Go app on your screen
- Go into your settings and search for Developer options
- Enable Developer options by selecting the build number
- Scroll further downwards and locate the option to Allow mock locations
- Tap Nothing, Now launch Pokemon GO again and check if you’re still getting the error
If you’re still managing to see the failed to detect location error then move to the next step.
Switch to Google Maps
When you switch immediately to Google maps while playing the game, this will allow your game to pinpoint your exact location to help fix the failed to detect location issue in Pokemon GO. If you manage to successfully sync your game with your accurate location settings then you’ll be able to get over this error.
Before this error shows up time and time again, make sure to switch to Google Maps so that you can enjoy your game better.
Update your Software
With the app available on both Apple and Android devices, you might need to update the software of your phone to run Pokemon GO better. Updating your software to the latest version improves your location sensitivity allowing your applications to scan your location better.
We all know how important location is in Pokemon GO which is why as long as your software is updated, there won’t be any issues in your location settings nor while playing the game.
Update your Game
At times you might not realize but if you’ve turned auto-updates off on your phone and your Pokemon GO app isn’t updated then that could be a real problem for you. This is because the latest build of the game is usually the most stable one and if you’re not having an updated version of the game on your phone, that could explain why you get the location error.
If you haven’t updated your game then go to the update menu in App Store for Apple devices and Play Store for Google devices respectively to update the game to its latest version. Updating your game is going to make sure you have lesser bugs.
Conclusion
To conclude things for today, Pokemon GO is a great click and play game to enjoy on your phone but when a minor inconvenience like this shows up then that can mess up your entire playing session.
This is why to avoid the failed to detect location error, we first discussed the causes of this problem after which we discussed their solutions to help you get rid of it. We hope you make your way around this problem soon with these solutions so you can roam around and catch your favorite Pokemon right in your smartphone!
