After the runaway success Pokemon GO enjoyed at launch, a slowdown was inevitable. The issues now facing developer Niantic, however, go way beyond a mere slowdown.
The chain of events began with a bug involving the game’s Pokemon tracking. When it was working, nearby Pokemon would be listed on screen with a series of one to three steps which would approximate how far away they were from the player. When a player selected a Pokemon and tapped the compass, the game would give them directions that would hopefully lead them to their target.
The bug caused all Pokemon to show three steps, signifying they were at the maximum distance from the player. This made tracking the Pokemon difficult. While Niantic worked on a fix, many players resorted to third-party tracking apps and sites like Pokevision, which would use Niantic’s API data to show what Pokemon were in a given area. Niantic blanched at the existence of the sites, but they remained operational.
That all changed with Niantic’s “fix”, update 0.31.0 (on Android; 1.1.0 on iOS). To remedy the three-step bug, Niantic simply removed the functionality altogether. Nearby Pokemon still show on screen, but players cannot see how far they are or track them. That in itself would not be too much of an issue for players who use the third-party apps…except they have all stopped working. Pokevision’s Twitter account has been doing its best to update users of the service’s status.
Hey guys. We wish we had some news for you
At this moment, we are respecting Niantic and Nintendo's wishes.
Will keep you guys posted
<3
— Pokevision (@PokeVisionGo) July 31, 2016
@Inmaniac I promise you 100% we kept it up as long as reasonably possible.
Maybe things will change in the next few days – let's hope.
— Pokevision (@PokeVisionGo) July 31, 2016
@scottcreley @Inmaniac Hey, we didn't quit! We really hoped that we'd be able to continue it at least up until the in-game tracker is fixed
— Pokevision (@PokeVisionGo) July 31, 2016
Pokevision has not stated whether the service was down due to the update or because of a threat from Niantic or Nintendo. They seem to be a bit vague when discussing the issues, but all signs point to Niantic dropping the hammer.
With both the game’s tracking and the third-party trackers all dark, Pokemon players now have to rely on blind luck to find Pokemon. Naturally, players who rely on tracking to find the Pokemon they want to catch are not happy. Some of them have retaliated the only way they know how: hitting Niantic in the wallet.
A Reddit thread was started earlier today and has been filling up with stories of players requesting refunds for in-game items they have purchased via iTunes or Google Play. They contend that Pokemon GO is now broken without the tracking ability, negating the in-app purchases they made specifically to capture tracked Pokemon. For the most part, these requests seem to be getting processed with no issue within iTunes. Google Play’s automated policy only allows for refunds on items purchased within 48 hours, but players are reporting success on refunds by using the option to have Google support call them.
As of this writing, Niantic has not responded regarding either a fix to the tracking in Pokemon GO or the fact that the third-party tracking apps are not working. Pokevision and all other third-party tracking apps seem to be down for the foreseeable future and though no one has mentioned it directly, it appears to be at Niantic and Nintendo’s request. We will keep you posted on any updates to this story.
