‘Pokémon GO’ finally releases Buddy feature on iOS and Android

The Buddy Pokémon feature is finally live for users on both Android and iOS. Niantic announced this latest addition to Pokémon GO last week. It lets your trainer have a buddy Pokémon tag along with you as you walk. Having your favorite Pokémon tag along will earn you candies for them and BGR even discovered that if you walk 10km with Pikachu, it’ll sit on your shoulder. Once you have the update installed, just tap on the trainer’s face in the bottom left corner of the screen and then tap the menu button at the bottom right beneath your trainer. From there, tap “Buddy” and select your favorite Pokémon.

Other features added to the app include support for the Pokémon GO Plus accessory and a few bug fixes.

Source: BGR

Niantic is reversing bans for mistakenly banned ‘Pokémon GO’ players

Niantic is letting some users back into the Pokémon GO fold after they’ve been dealt lifetime bans. The developer is taking back the bans for users who have been unknowingly using lesser known mapping tools that have been collecting data on the users and sending these to Niantic’s servers. Niantic CEO John Hanke says these tools resemble a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack. And since these look like DDoS attacks, Niantic acted somewhat indiscriminately to protect its servers. "Because of this we have had to ban some accounts associated with using these add-on map tools, leading to confusion by some users about why they were banned," Hanke writes.

But Hanke presses on to say that they won’t stop enforcing its rules going forward. It still plans to ban users who use add-on maps or third-party tools that violate the game’s terms of service.

Source: The Verge

Bangkok takes action against misbehaving ‘Pokémon Go’ players

There’s now a special police squad in Thailand that are specifically on the lookout for rule-breaking Pokémon Go players—and no we’re not talking about breaking the rules of the game, more like causing things like road accidents. And Bangkok Pokémon Go players are being blamed from an increase of these accidents. That’s why Thailand authorities are doing something about it. According to Bangkok’s police chief Sanit Mahathavorn says they have around 50 police officers described as “catchers of Pokémon catchers.” These officers will have smartphones with them and they’ll patrol 10 areas with busy traffic and are considered no-go zones for Pokémon Go players.

Those caught doing things like running while using a phone, hindering traffic while driving carelessly, and playing in an “inappropriate manner” will be fined up to 1,000 baht (about $30). The last one doesn’t point out what constitutes that kind of behaviour.

Source: CNET

Niantic brings down the hammer on ‘Pokémon Go’ cheaters, bans them permanently

Niantic hasn’t really taken kindly to cheaters and now they’re dishing out harsher punishments for those who use things like GPS spoofing, bots, and other software that’s allowing Pokémon Go players to game its system. Permanent bans are in the future of players who use GPS spoofing to catch Pokémon restricted to certain areas or regions, or those who use bots to automate certain parts of the game. What classifies for banning is: “This includes, but is not limited to: falsifying your location, using emulators, modified or unofficial software and/or accessing Pokémon Go clients or backends in an unauthorized manner including through the use of third party software.”

It isn’t exactly clear how Niantic will be able to detect these activities but the company says they want to “provide a fair, fun and legitimate game experience for everyone.” And if you’ve suddenly been banned from playing the game by mistake, you can appeal it through this form.

Source: The Verge