UPDATE 7/18/2016 12:10 EDT: If you’re are still experiencing the dreaded Pokemon Go “Authentication Error” you may have become aware that the majority of people affected by this problem have Pokemon Trainer Club accounts. So, if you’re still looking for a solution, here’s a few that you can try right now.
1. Some users have suggested that when they first came across the issue, they thought that their accounts had somehow been banned. However, the problem is not that at all! It appears that due to the huge success of the game that servers in different countries around the world have not been able to cope with demand. And as such this server problem could be the reason for your authentication problem.
You can check to see if your local servers are up or down here, however from what we can tell this problem does not affect Pokemon Go users logged in via their Google accounts, so if you are effected keep checking and attempt to log on when they’re up again.
2. Another alternative is to download and install an app called “Fake Location Spoofer Free” from Google Play. When you’ve done that, you will need to set your location as somewhere in Austrailia, say Queensland and then click the play button in the bottom right-hand corner. You should now see an icon for the app in your notification centre at the top of your display.
Next, go into your apps menu and look for Pokemon Go, select it and then clear the data and the cache. Next, reopen the app and you will have to start the game again and create your character. I realise that this means that you will have lost all of your current progress, but at least (fingers crossed) you will be able to play the game. Please let us know in the comments below if you have any luck with these methods.
Previous Update
Pokemon Go remains hugely popular around the world despite the early problems with the server crashing because of the sheer number of players. Developer Niantic Labs tried to fix the crashing problems with its very first update to the smartphone app, but it seems the update has only brought a new error: “unable to authenticate.”
And so Niantic has discovered that with great popularity comes significant backlash when something you do to a favorite game just doesn’t work right.
Pokemon Go version 1.01 causes new problem
More and more Pokemon Go players on iOS devices are complaining on online forums that the update pushed out by Niantic Labs is causing them to receive a new error reading “unable to authenticate.” The issue appears to be affecting those who registered for a Pokemon Trainer Club account instead of just signing in with their Google accounts, according to Redmond Pie.
The website adds that it seems this “unable to authenticate” bug is a huge oversight made by engineers at Niantic Labs rather than any technical problem with the server or network. The reason is because Pokemon Go doesn’t even try to enter an HTTP request to validate the player’s attempt to log in.
What Reddit users discovered about the Pokemon Go update
Apparently several Reddit users, including Jackson Palmer, who founded Dogecoin, have debugged the network traffic inside the newest version of Pokemon Go. Upon debugging the traffic, they reportedly discovered that the app never even attempts to make the network call that’s necessary to allow a Pokemon Trainer Club account to log into the game.
Palmer advises that those who are still having this issue go back to the verification email they received upon registering for their Pokemon Trainer Club account and then click the link again to verify the account again. Those who don’t have the email could try to log in on a desktop browser instead of through the app on their smartphones.
Pokemon Go 1.01 was supposed to fix the stability problems the game has experienced over the last several days, but this issue with the Trainer Club accounts is huge, especially since a lot of people signed up for one because they didn’t like how the app was able to access their entire Google account. On the plus side though, this update is supposed to fix the privacy issues so that those who are signing in with a Google account won’t be granting the app blanket access to the entire thing.
