Pokémon GO Has Updated Its Tracking Feature
Pokémon GO has undergone update after update following its release. Features have been changed or stripped from the game completely. The most frustrating of these casualties for many players is the in-game tracking, which let players know how close they were to nearby Pokémon. Niantic said the feature was flawed and they were working diligently on a solution, and based on an update that rolled out to some users yesterday (via Kotaku), it looks like they’re at least closer to figuring it out.
The new variation of the “Nearby Pokemon” feature is a replacement for the 3-step feature that worked as the previous tracking method for Pokemon in the game. Gamers would see three sets of paws traveling in the direction where the Pokemon would be. Unfortunately, Pokemon Go‘s 3-step feature ended up glitching out and they had to remove it.
At the same time, there were third-party services offering tracking features as well, and Niantic Labs had them shut down because they felt as if they were both draining the server for the game and enabling people to cheat.
It appears there are now two types of tracking: Nearby and Sightings. Nearby seems to be based on PokéStops, as it shows the Pokémon’s avatar in front of an image of a nearby PokéStop if it can be found in that area.
According to NeoGAF user Toki767, “When you press a Pokémon and click view, it zooms out and takes you to this overview map now.” Doing this also puts an indicator of the Pokémon’s location on the map, and when the tracked Pokémon despawns, the game alerts you with a message saying that the Pokémon fled. PokéStops also emit a pulse like trainers do, so it seems like tracked Pokémon can be found in that area.
Sightings seem to be more general, which exists below Nearby and shows Pokémon in front of a patch of grass. There is no indicator of how far away the Pokémon is, and tapping on the icon prompts a message, “Find these Pokémon in the wild!”