Update 6th August 2016: Pokémon GO has officially been launched in Vietnam and you can download the official app from the Play store here.

Pokémon GO has taken the mobile gaming world by storm by combining augmented reality with the GPS on gamers mobile devices. Made for both Android and iPhone, the game has been selectively released in 17 markets from Japan to USA. Attracting a large user base, making it at some times more popular in the USA then Facebook, Tinder or Twitter!

As the game is still in beta, not every region is able to play the game even after downloading APK from reputable sources like APK Mirror.

If you’re living in Vietnam, you like most are eagerly awaiting the release of the game here! The lucky guys and ladies in Indonesia manage to play the game there, even without being officially released there; what I think happens is the servers for Pokémon GO is open to all globally however regions are populated with the characters upon official released in that region.

So, there is a way to play the game even if you are living in Vietnam. Please note, doing this may lead towards your account being banned or receiving a penalty as the trick is against the terms and conditions of the makers of the game Niantic.

First you need to head over to APK Mirror to download the APK of Pokémon GO. Click this link or use the following url: http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/niantic-inc/pokemon-go/.

As of the 5th August 2016, the latest version of Pokémon GO was released 31st July 2016 and is version number 0.31.0 and can be download here or with this url: http://www.apkmirror.com/apk/niantic-inc/pokemon-go/pokemon-go-0-31-0-release/pokemon-go-0-31-0-android-apk-download/.

Once the download is complete, you need to make sure your phone allows for third party app installations which is done by going to Settings > Security and checking allowing installations from unknown sources.

Now that you’ve got the APK downloaded and you can install applications from Unknown sources, you can now install Pokemon Go on your phone by opening File Manager and heading over to the downloads folder.

If you’ve ever used a phone before, you should find the installation process fairly straightforward, as you just need to follow the onscreen instructions.

Now that you’ve installed Pokémon GO, you can go ahead and open it and follow the onscreen instructions. The issue will come after you’ve finished catching your first Pokémon because in Vietnam, there isn’t any. The first one’s you see are just populated for your device for the tutorial stage.

Now comes the part to how you can actually play Pokémon GO whilst in Vietnam.

Your going to need to download Fly GPS from the Google Play Store, so no risky APK’s to deal with here. Download it with this link or by using the following url: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.fly.gps.

What Fly GPS is an actually that spoofs your phone’s GPS location. After installing Fly GPS, your going to need to select mock locations which is found over in Settings > Developer Options.

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Now that you’ve got the required applications and changed the necessary android settings, here comes the part to playing the game.

Whenever playing Pokémon GO, you need to first open Fly GPS and your going to want to change your GPS location to a region that Pokémon GO is available in… so I’m going to select London UK as I’m familiar with the city.

And that’s it! Enjoy catching those Pokémons!

Personally after catching about 20 Pokémon’s I could see that the game is designed for not staying at home and faking your GPS, using some onscreen joystick to walk around! I finally saw what the game is about and looking forward to it’s official release in Vietnam.

Note that using Fly GPS is intensive on your phone, so don’t blame me if something happens to it. Neither blame me if your account gets banned from Niantic because it has been reported that Niantic is tracking difference in GPS locations. After all, the game is designed to go out and discover the real world but I think they are more against bot hackers and third party sites exposing the locations of Pokémon’s.