If you don't have many Pokestops or Gyms nearby, Pokemon Go can be tough to play. But multiple player accounts confirm that trying to fool the game's GPS system into thinking you're in a more generously populated area will make it downright impossible, at least for a while.
A Reddit thread started by user ur_0 outlined what will happen if you use another app on your (probably rooted Android) phone to try and spoof an inaccurate GPS location. It may work for a bit, but soon you'll find that all the Pokemon you try to catch will run as soon as you toss a Pokeball, Pokestops will refuse to give you items, and you can't battle or reinforce any Gyms. In other words, the game will silently ban you from doing anything worthwhile.
Fortunately for desperate rural Pokemon Go players, it appears the ban will only last for an hour, but the app may punish repeat offenders more harshly. For now you can read more about why certain locations were chosen for Pokestops, and hope that Niantic adds the ability to submit new points of interest like it did with Ingress.
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