It’s been a point of constant frustration since Pokémon Go was first released last month, but it seems Niantic are finally addressing the issues with the mobile game’s ‘Nearby Pokémon’ feature head on.
Following the game’s most recent update on August 8th, Niantic have stated:
“We’re currently testing a variation of the “Nearby Pokémon” feature with a subset of users. During this period you may see some variation in the nearby Pokémon UI.”
Pokémon Go user JericGT is one of the players currently getting to test this new variation and took to the Neogaf forums (as user Toki767) soon after the update to share details of how it currently looks and works.
It seems the system Niantic are trialling uses nearby Pokéstops to help you locate Pokémon in the vicinity. The feature also contains two sections now: ‘Nearby’, which lists those Pokémon you can actually track, and ‘Sightings’, which appears to list Pokémon that are known to the region but not necessarily close enough for tracking.
Player JericGT explained: “Selecting the Pokémon to track will also put an actual marker on your live map.” He also shared a .GIF image (shown below) that illustrates a little of how the new feature currently works for those in the testing group.
It’s still early days for this new tracking feature, and Niantic haven’t provided a time frame for this current testing stage, so it could be a little while before we see it officially added into the game as a whole. It could of course also change yet again, depending on player feedback. But after so many issues, and particularly the many vocalised frustrations from players surrounding the initial non-functioning tracker, this move by Niantic can certainly be seen as a plus for the game.
