New Tracking System Introduced With Pokémon Go Update

[Maura]

Pokémon Go has just had a new update that has brought back the popular Battery Saver feature, which is now mended and working correctly, as well as various other improvements and alterations, such as giving Trainers the chance to change their nickname on one occasion; adding pictures of the Team leaders Candela, Blanche, and Spark; fixing incorrect Medal icons; improving curveball throw accuracy; and fixing the bug that stopped “Nice,” “Great,” and “Excellent” Poké Ball throws from rewarding players with XP bonuses.

Niantic also appears to have taken on board some of the horror stories in the press about people playing Pokémon Go when driving, as the app will now remind Trainers not to play when going above a certain speed, as well as asking you to confirm that you are not driving if you want to keep on playing.

The biggest change ushered in by the update is a new version of the “Nearby Pokémon” feature, which has not been working properly since the app launched. It seems to be in some sort of beta testing phase at the moment, with Niantic saying that it is testing a variation of the feature with “a subset of users.” Niantic adds in the update release notes “During this period you may see some variation in the nearby Pokémon UI.”

As Kotaku reports, there now seem to be two different types of tracking screens, with a “Sightings” list added underneath the Nearby list featuring Pokémon next to tufts of grass. Kotaku says that the Pokémon shown in the Sightings list are all in your immediate area, rather than the previous system that included Pokémon that were actually nowhere near your current location, leading to many fruitless hunts for Pokémon that erroneously appeared to tantalisingly close.

The returning Nearby list is a great improvement, at least visually, showing Pokémon next to pictures of the PokéStops near to where they can be found, making them much easier to trace. It looks as though the game actually points you in the direction of the Pokémon with an on-screen arrow as well.

Source: Niantic is Testing a New 'Nearby' System for Pokémon Go