‘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

There’s a Chinese clone of ‘Pokémon Go’… sort of

When Flappy Bird briefly burst into the scene, there were copycats of the game. And now it’s not surprising that the exceptionally popular Niantic game Pokémon Go has some kind of weird clone floating around in China. Looking at the screenshots above, you can see it looks like you’re trying to catch out of shape Pokémon. But it isn’t really about going out and catching the tiny creatures, it’s more for practicing how to throw Pokéballs. The developers have updated the app—it’s called Ball Practice for Pokémon Go, if you’re curious—to make the creatures look less like zombie versions of your beloved Pokémon. Reviews on the Google Play Store aren’t exactly kind with people complaining about too many ads on the game. If you still want to check it out of curiosity, you can download it here. (We tried downloading it but we can’t seem to get the app to boot.)

Source: Ubergizmo