Players Are Not Pleased With New Pokemon Go Nearby Tracker

Days ago, Pokemon Go creator Niantic Labs announced that the Nearby Pokemon feature is expanding to the rest of the continental United States and large parts of Europe. However, it's confirmed that a lot of users aren't pleased with how the new Pokemon GO Nearby tracker has turned out.

While Sightings showed you some of the Pokemon that were in your vicinity at any given time and the footstep tracker showed footstep icons next to the creatures to show you their proximity from your current location, the new tracker doesn't feature any of that.

Tapping on the Nearby tool will launch images of several Photo Discs corresponding to PokeStops, or the circular images that are spun when collecting resources from a PokeStop. On the lower right of these Photo Discs are Pokemon associated with the PokeStop in question, and you’ll also see some footstep icons to suggest the distance you need to walk in order to catch said Pokemon. But Mic notes that there are some problems with the Pokemon GO Nearby tracker, specifically its vagueness in terms of measuring distance.

"The Nearby tool appears to be just as arbitrary at measuring distances as the old Sightings tool," wrote Mic.

"As a result, some of the PokeStops you see in your Nearby menu might not actually be anything close to what you would consider 'nearby.' Some of those PokeStops could actually represent a meaningful jaunt from your current location."

Pokemon GO gamers have also taken to Reddit to register complaints about the new Nearby tool and how it apparently doesn’t make tracking Pokemon any easier. A Redditor with the handle SapphireSamurai was quoted by Mic as saying the tracker is even worse than Sightings ever was.

"When I’m at home I used to be able to see nine different Pokemon on my sightings list. Now I can only see what’s at the one stop that's a 15-minute walk away. One Pidgey. Woo."

A separate report from Forbes acknowledged another common complaint with the new Pokemon GO Nearby tracker – it’s all well and good if you’re living in the city and have a lot of PokeStops in your area, but useless for those who live in rural areas where the PokeStops are few and far in between. But Forbes gaming writer Paul Tassi believes Niantic might not have erred in releasing an unpopular and arguably ineffective tracker, but might have instead kept monetization and sponsorships in mind when making the tracker very PokeStop-centric.

“There are lots of ads that encourage you to buy things at stores or eat at restaurants, but how many actually encourage you to physically go there at that exact moment? Very few, and that’s why Pokemon GO has an incredibly unique marketing opportunity with this new tracking system.”

In a word, the new Pokemon GO Nearby tracker have got less-than-favorable reviews. It may be best for Niantic to keep both its new tracker and its old Sightings tool active.

Pokemon Go Nearby Tracker Is Spreading Out To More Regions

As the most popular game worldwide on Google Play, Pokemon Go stole the hearts of gamers when it first launched. After the tracking tool released, this new feature quickly attractted gamers' attentions.

The Nearby Tracking Feature Expanded Release

This new version of the feature debuted a while back and was only available in San Francisco, California. This was done to test the waters and make adjustments depending on the feedback the company received. Now that the feature is spreading out to more regions, Niantic will continue to listen to its users in a continued effort to improve the game.

Prior to this expanded release, the feature was rolling out only to states west of the Mississippi, as well as certain regions in Canada, and all of Australia. This push was followed by an update from Niantic on the current state of Pokemon Go, as well as what’s in store for its future.

"We will be expanding the Nearby Pokemon feature to the rest of the continental United States and large parts of Europe. We will continue to review the feedback submitted on our official social media accounts and in other channels and make changes if necessary."

The new tracker for Pokemon Go is slowly becoming available to all of the continental United States, which unfortunately doesn’t include Alaska and Hawaii, and “large parts” of Europe, according to developer Niantic. Officially referred to as the Nearby Pokemon feature, it will alert users to nearby points of interest, essentially revealing spots in which to catch Pokemon.

How To Use The New Nearby Tracker

Start by clicking on the tracker in the lower right: it should look like a couple small Pokemon images, if there are any nearby. You’ll see a list of creatures, each of them next to a small photo. That’s the photo associated with the Pokéstop that the Pokemon is near. If you recognize it, go find it. If you don’t, you can click the various Pokestops around you until you see the picture that matches the one in the tracker. At that point, you’ve just got to go to the stop. If you haven’t been there before, keep an eye out for the thing you saw in the picture. This game is all about exploration, after all.

When you click on a monster in the nearby page, it will bring up an enlargement of the Pokestop, with some footprints beneath. Click the footprints to start tracking the monster: the map will zoom out to show you precisely where to find it, and it will now be marked by a little pink icon on your map. And presto: there’s your Pokemon. It certainly takes the guesswork out of the system, and you can just walk over to go catch the thing. Go quick before it despawns.

For more information on the Nearby Pokemon feature, head on over to the PokemonGoBux site. More news about Pokemon Go should be made available very soon.