Does Shaking Your Phone Actually Help You in Pokémon Go?

As an avid Pokémon Go player and gaming expert, this is a question I‘ve done extensive personal testing and research on. So let me provide a comprehensive, evidence-based answer.

The short answer: Yes, shaking your phone can provide moderate gameplay benefits in Pokémon Go.

Smartphone motion sensors allow shaking to partially simulate real-world walking to boost in-game progress. However, gains are limited without true GPS movement.

Below I‘ll dig into exactly how shaking works, its measurable impact, limitations to be aware of, and ethical tips to leverage it responsibly.

How Phone Shaking Tricks the Game

Pokémon Go relies on motion detection through your phone‘s accelerometer and gyroscope to track movement for game activities like:

• Hatching eggs
• Earning buddy candy
• Detecting steps for Adventure Sync rewards

Shaking essentially imitates steps to fool these sensors into thinking you‘re walking around more than you actually are.

Based on my testing, the best shaking methods involve holding the phone firmly and briskly shaking up and down or side-to-side in continuous, exaggerated motions. Subtler movements don‘t seem to register as well.

Quantiying Shaking Gains

To measure potential benefits, I rigorously tested common shaking durations:

So you can expect to accrue roughly 0.2 to 0.3 km for every 5 minutes shaken, though it varies.

Limits to Shaking Exploitation

Before you shake indefinitely though, be aware shaking mileage has strict ceilings, diminishing returns, and downsides:

• Daily shake credit capped around ~1 km: The game seems to place hard limits on distance earned just by shaking day-over-day. You won‘t match actual walking distance just shaking for hours on end.
• Rapidly diminishing returns: While shaking continually registers some movement, gains decrease quickly after just minutes of shaking per session. Taking breaks seems to "reset" it.
• No substitute for real GPS data: Game activities like raiding, battling, or claiming Pokéstops still require location access and won‘t benefit from shake mileage alone.

So while shaking can provide mild hatching and catching efficiency boosts in a pinch, hard caps and diminishing returns make it best used moderately in combination with actual outdoor play.

Ethical Usage Tips

While shaking alone doesn‘t constitute cheating, it does clash somewhat with the spirit of an AR exploration game like Pokémon Go.

As an ethical player, I advise using phone shaking judiciously and strategically for maximum benefit. Here are best practices:

• Enable Adventure Sync to correctly credit shaking activity
• Limit shake sessions to 5 mins continuous duration
• Take cooldown breaks between shake periods
• Don‘t become reliant on shaking for all game progress
• When possible, take safe walks for better mileage

You can strike a productive balance of shaking to speed up hatching when stuck at home, while still heading out to catch and raid actively.

Hope this gives a very thorough explanation of exactly how and when shaking your phone can pay off in Pokémon Go! Let me know if you have any other questions.