Pokémon GO may be one of the most-downloaded mobile games of all time, but the fact is that this Niantic Labs creation is dropping in users every day. The Pokémon GO team has seen this, and is adding a few features that were previously announced—Buddy Pokémon and Pokémon GO Plus support. However, it’s not all good news; rooted Android devices (and jailbroken iOS devices, for that matter) are now blocked from loading the game up.
Here’s a full changelog, straight from the Pokémon GO dev team:
Changelog
- Implemented Buddy Pokémon: Trainers will now be able to choose one of their Pokémon to be their buddy. A Trainer can earn Candy for their Buddy Pokémon by walking a certain distance.
- Made it easier to select smaller Pokémon on the screen.
- Fixed an issue where
Eggs would sometimes hatch without displaying the animation. - Improved performance
reliability when a device switches networks to no longer cause the application
to hang or stop updating. - Pokémon GO Plus support
- Minor text fixes.
Buddy Pokémon, a feature that was first announced a little over a week ago, are being added in this update. The name is pretty self-explanatory; Buddy Pokémon are Pokémon that you choose to be your buddy. You can choose any Pokémon to be your buddy and swap them at any time for another Pokémon. In addition, players will earn candy when they walk with their Buddy Pokémon.
Pokémon GO Plus support is being added in this update as well. This wearable accessory, which will assist players in finding Pokéstops and Pokémon, was revealed in June and will be available in most countries on September 16th. Other changes include an easier selection of more minute Pokémon, a fix for Eggs hatching without animations, and better performance when devices switch between Wi-Fi and mobile networks.