One of the recent Pokemon GO updates launched by Niantic for the Galaxy Store version of the game has reportedly broken a feature on which many Galaxy smartphone owners were keen. Before update 0.157, the Galaxy Store and Google Play Store versions of Pokemon GO were technically viewed as separate apps by your phone. This allowed Galaxy smartphone users to log in with two Pokemon GO accounts simultaneously on the same device and play different instances of the game.
This wasn't quite an intended feature, as it turns out. Niantic has put a stop to this practice with a recent update, and some Galaxy smartphone owners are not happy. The dual-account functionality – as unintended as it may have been – provided real benefits. It allowed Galaxy phone users to share their phones with a family member and play the game on separate Pokemon GO accounts instead of sharing the same credentials. But while this is no longer possible using the old method, the good news is that Galaxy phone owners can still achieve similar results using Samsung's Secure Folder.
Secure Folder comes to the rescue, but Pokemon GO APK sideloading is required
In case you're unfamiliar with how Secure Folder works, you can check this guide on how to use it on the Galaxy Note 10 or virtually any other Galaxy phone that comes with the feature.
However, bypassing Niantic's new measures isn't as easy as installing an official second copy of your app inside Secure Folder via the Play Store or Galaxy Store. We've tried launching two separate versions of the game via the Game Launcher and Secure Folder and it didn't quite work as we've imagined. Two separate instances of the game were indeed running simultaneously but they still shared the same account and unlocks.
Thankfully, players have discovered a workaround and shared the solution via Reddit. As it turns out, you can regain the dual-account functionality for Pokemon GO on your Galaxy device by installing the app normally via the Play Store, and then sideloading a second Pokemon GO APK into your Secure Folder to install it manually.
Time will tell if Niantic will try to prevent this method as well, but for the time being it seems to be working. Do you play Pokemon GO on your Galaxy device and were you a dual-account user? Have you tried the Secure Folder and sideloading method? Feel free to leave a comment below.
