Canadians can finally officially download the mobile gaming sensation Pokemon Go, but before Sunday, Canadians had to find workarounds to play the game.
READ MORE: Pokémon Go officially launches in Canada, crashes app’s servers
From numerous reports of injuries plaguing trainers who are too focused on catching Pokémon to look where they are going, to bizarre reports of a 19-year-old girl coming across a dead body while playing, news of the game likely plagued your social media feeds over the week.
READ MORE: Pokemon Go users find everything from dates to dead bodies
The app, previously only released in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand, allows users to leave their homes and use their phone’s cameras to “catch ‘em all” in real spaces.
Are Canadians playing Pokémon Go?
While a search for “Pokémon Go” didn’t bring up any results in the Canadian App Store, iOS users downloaded the app by signing out of their Canadian iTunes account and switching their location to the United States.
READ MORE: Pokémon GO: What parents should know about playing safely
Canadian iPhone users have done this by going to the “Settings” menu, tapping on “General” and “Language and Region.” They then have to create a new iTunes account for the U.S. Store and select “none” under billing information.
WATCH: The Baltimore Police Department released video of a car crash that was the result of the driver being distracted while playing Pokemon Go.
However, if you choose to do this you won’t be able to make any in-app purchases and you won’t be able to see apps that you purchased from the Canadian store in your Purchased section.
Android users were also finding a way around their geographical limitations by downloading what is called an Android Application Package (APK) file and download another version of Pokémon Go.
However, downloading APK files can be dangerous as they can be infected with malware. According to reports, some eager Pokémon players were already tricked into downloading a malicious Pokémon APK file.
By Monday, Pokémon Go had already been installed on more Android smartphone in the U.S. than popular dating app Tinder and the app’s daily active users has already put it neck and neck with Twitter, according to data from SimilarWeb,
The app’s overnight success caused Nintendo shares to soar 25 per cent Monday and has added about US$9 billion in market value in just a few days, according to the Wall Street Journal.
What is Pokémon Go?
Pokémon Go combines geocaching and virtual reality to allow users to hunt for Pokémon in real-life environments like your bedroom, or the park down the street.
First, users are instructed to head to local landmarks – known as “Pokestops” – where they collect “Pokeballs” that help capture the Pokémon creatures. After that, you follow your virtual map hunting for Pokémon. Once you find them, you throw Pokeballs at them to capture them.
Once users train their Pokémon, they head to locations known as “gyms” to pit them against each other.
Of course, none of this will make sense unless you are already familiar with Pokémon – a popular Japanese anime and videogame series where trainers capture “pocket creatures” known as Pokémon and train them to fight each other.
Watch below: Normally, video games and physical activity don’t exactly go hand-in-hand. But fans of the new Pokemon Go app say they’re finding themselves getting fitter. Su-Ling Goh explains why.
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