The most recent Pokémon GO update introduced catch bonuses and better gym training opportunities, but it appears to have introduced a less welcome alteration - the app is effectively useless when used in a moving vehicle.
Forbes has reported that when the app detects you're moving at driving speed all sightings and monster spawns stop, so you can't capture any 'mon or see what beasts are lurking nearby. We've verified this ourselves and can attest that the claims are indeed true - Pokémon GO is practically pointless in this state.
With reports of people causing accidents while playing the game at the wheel, this move - if it is indeed intentional - could be seen as a justified one. Playing the game whilst in control of a car travelling at high speed is the very height of stupidity, but previously the game allowed you to get around the speed warning by stating you were a passenger - so people riding on buses or sitting in the passenger seat could still play.
Seeing as Niantic didn't mention this change in the notes for the recent update, it could be that this is simply a bug which will be ironed out in the next update. We certainly hope so, because this change also impacts the Pokémon GO Plus - a safe way of playing the game when driving.
Have you noticed this change? Do you think it's intentional, or could it simply be a bug which has slipped through the net? Sound off in the comments section below.
[source forbes.com]
Comments 40
Is a shame as I like playing the game as a passenger, but certainly understandable given the safety concerns.
I doubt this is a bug. I think they just didn't mention it because I knew it would be causing a lot of people to be upset. This also effectively makes incense once again useless. Incense requires you to travel 200 meters per minute in order to get another spawn without having to wait 5 minutes.
they need to fix the speed detection first, before they restrict people based on speed.
quite often I've been accused of driving my couch too fast, or racing through the mall.
This sucks... It's fun catching things while traveling, it's not like your the one driving so it's not really a safety concern.
But hey I already deleted the app... Seems like they're killing interest in the game themselves
Also bg&e rumors nx exclusive, and date for the game... Or at least year.
http://letsplayvideogames.com/2016/10/report-new-beyond-good-evil-to-be-a-2018-semi-reboot-not-full-sequel/
I'm pretty sure there was a speed cutoff since the game was launched... the cutoff speed may have been lowered with the latest update, but I'm still able to catch Pokemon while on the bus without any problem... although that is with the PGO+, and the Pokemon I catch with that don't always appear on the map.
I have heard talk about the additional security they added a week or so ago having slowed the app down, so it could just be that the app is now too slow to keep up with faster movement.
@LordGeovanni: From what I understand it's every 200 meters with maximum being a spawn per minute. I've certainly caught more than 6 Pokémon with an incense by walking normally. And I've used them in an area where there are now spawns normally in 3 km radius so it's not like they were some other spawns.
@Lady_rosalina You do know you can scroll to the bottom of the home page (or any page for an article for that matter) and click "Contact" to send an email to the NL staff, right?
Is it Nintendo that has an aura of bad decisions these days? Niantic was "okay" with ingress, but this is ridiculous.
....It has been like this....
Played with this Sunday. It's the same as it has been. Get on the highway, nothing, stay around 35 mph or below, pokemon and landmarks and sightings still happen.
Get on that detailed catch rate guide. Stop procrastinating with made up stories.
@allav866 I did not and thank you so much. I was late by 58 seconds when he posted the article about the game
@thedicemaster Yep, I've had that happen where it seems there's GPS detection issues. I assume it will work the same, just you won't have a warning about speed.
@Mayoo All Nintendo did was force Niantic to release the app sooner than they otherwise would have done by announcing the release of the Pokemon GO Plus when they did (if they hadn't we'd probably still be waiting to get it... Niantic are fairly slow developers, with Ingress having been in beta for over a year before it was released).
Some of the problems are a result of Niantic rushing aspects of the game before they were ready (tracking), but the way in which they've handled those problems is just awful... they seem more interested in rushing out even more buggy features and blocking fan-made solutions than they are in actually fixing the problems they've already got.
@Lady_rosalina I could not agree more , Niantic is killing the game which is a shame and if you have any problems with the game like I did , a few times I lost items I purchased from their servers crashing I can tell you good luck getting ahold of them I never have been able to and now with each passing week they kill the game more and more .
@DragonEleven So basically, a bad decision from Nintendo to push Niantic hehe.
@Romeo-75 Their customer support is seriously backlogged... I contacted them with a problem I had just a day or two after release and it took them over two months to get back to me about it. (For the record, they did correct the problem, but it was no longer an issue by the time they did.)
@Mayoo I'd rather have a buggy game than no game at all... and they could easily have left the game as it was once the server issues were fixed and it would have been in a better situation than it is now.
The game has already been causing issues for my phone even when not running, so I've uninstalled it. With these updates, I'm less inclined to ever reinstall it.
Come on November I need a true Pokémon game to play and Sun and Moon look like a perfect remedy - can't wait.
I play as a passenger because it isn't safe to roam in the streets with my cellphone, now this was the ultimate reason to finally quit it. Thanks Niantic!
Hmm. Well there went my desire for a plus.
This ( player stupidity) is why Pokemon GO players can't have nice things (spawns).
That's unfortunate for me since I occasionally play while on the bus. However, there are a lot of stupid people so I can understand why they'd do this.
We need more ways to thin the gene pool, not less.
I can understand the concern of driving while playing, but in Texas where everything is so spread out that you can't possibly walk between them, not allowing a passenger to do what they want will end the game here.
So much QQ
You've stopped playing GO over 10.000 years ago? You stopped playing because Niantic gave you cancer and raped your pet hamster? Ok, we've got it. Now you can stop whining in every single GO-related article.
As for safety. We just need to take more driving license away. And add another idiot-tax for whoever has to retake driving lessons because of using a phone while driving. People will start to understand some day.
Oh well,long bus rides for me then!
I think it's fascinating how Niantic spends 90% of their development time on making this game worse instead of adding new and exciting features. So far they got rid of the trackers and are fighting with the development community over access of their database for the most part. Then they added free candies every few miles for a montype of your choice. Now they disable playing on the go. Fantastic job there, killing what could have been a decent game.
My family is having more fun with this again, we found some spots where it is heavy with other players milling about on nice days. 3 pokestop cluster near the water. Only problem is Valor is overtaking gyms around us constantly and we are team Valor so it's harder to get in on them.
I'm with others in that this seems to be how it was before. I haven't noticed a big change. It might be a lower speed in which it shuts off, though.
Having fun with it still.
@aaronsullivan It made me happy to read this. It's nice to see that beyond all the negativity towards the app there is still people like you having fun with it.
Makes sense. Wouldn't be an issue at all though if morons would keep their eyes on the road and the hands on the wheel.
My girlfriend usually plays whenever we drive around, so this might not go over so well.
I did not notice this, in fact, as the latest update also made the app not work on my phone. Now when I try and play it, it'll start losing, then say "This device, OS, or software is not compatible with Pokémon GO." Yaaaaay.
@pokedude583 loading, not losing. Gosh darn autocorrect.
That's a great idea, screw everyone in the car and not just the driver. I have not even opened this app in forever and with each update, it makes me not want to open it even more.
I haven't caught a Dingduck yet.
This game just keeps getting worse! I'm done with Pokémon Go. It's all about the main games anyways.
If this change is intentional then my kids' and I versions of Pokemon Go are buggy because we still can play the game going around 60 mph. They play it on their phones and I get notifications via Go Plus.
@gardevoir7 I was starting to believe the "no one plays anymore" thing and it is reduced, but the number of people at this location daily is pretty impressive. People are still playing and the demographics are all over the map. All ages, etc.
If the game can get a more solid foundation the potential is there for larger features to keep bringing people back for years probably. Integration with the main games has been mentioned by GameFreak, too, lately, right?
It's not real deep or amazing but it works as a mobile game and has the added interest of getting outside and visiting places and sharing with others publicly. Even if we all stopped playing tomorrow we'll all remember it fondly... and there will be a little Pokemon on the brain in a bunch of real world locations.
Let Natural Selection do its job.
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