NIANTIC
Pokemon GO APK News: Gen 4 release IMMINENT, Meltan, Incense, Shiny fix, 107 NEW Pokemon (Pic: NIANTIC)
Another Pokemon Go update been rolled out, and almost instantly the tenacious sleuths of The Silph Road have begun to extrapolate what data has been hidden inside the file.
A big new update has started being issued to Android users today, and dataminers have found a lot of information hidden in the game's files.
Included in the update are references to all new Generation 4 Pokemon in Pokemon Go, as well as fixes to how Shiny icons work, and references to the upcoming changes to the battle system. 17 new moves are coming to the game, too.
One of the most interesting bytes of information found in the files for us is the reinforcement of the idea that 'Fitness Goals' are coming to the game. These look like goals that will reward you with either Candy or Coins or Items for clearing certain distances in-game.
You can read everything we know about the v0.123.1 patch below.
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Taken from a post on the r/TheSilphRoad subreddit, composed by the ever-reliable and thorough Executive Dronpes. This is what we can look forward to in over the next few weeks in Pokemon Go.
1. Major AR Overhaul – And AR+ Comes to Android!
While the release notes boast AR+ on Android (a major deal!), it's not just Android getting an overhaul. But let's cover that first:
Android:
It's true! ARCore has been integrated into Pokemon GO, so now our Android travelers can join their iOS colleagues in zapping their battery while trying not too spook wild Pokemon back into the bushes. This will require Android users to download a standalone 'AR Core' app to provide support. The Pokemon GO app will check for your device's support and inform you what's up when you try to use the new feature! Not all Android devices can support AR Core, but an increasing number are joining the party.
iOS:
It appears that ARKit has been updated in this version of the app, which will allow it to take advantage of better tracking/stability and additional features, should Niantic elect to implement them. See if you can notice an difference in the feel of AR+ on iOS, travelers!
2. 'Mergeable' (Stacking) Notifications
Niantic has continued to improve the new notifications system that rolled out in recent versions. This time, these notifications apparently 'stack' if they are compatible, to declutter the experience. A welcome addition!
3. Anti-Cheat Tweaks
Nothing too noteworthy was changed on this front, but several tweaks appeared again to deal with improving the transparency and clarity of suspensions, bans, and their associated messages and users actions.
4. Networking Layer Changes
Remember 6 days ago when v0.119.5 brought a 'dark' test of a websocket layer? Well, the websocket networking code has already been removed! Whether this was simply a code branch issue, meaning it may return again, or if it was simply a short-term test project – we may never know!
But there were some significant additions to replace it. A new RPC library has appeared with seemingly simply method/payload and response/status components. Whether this is an evolution of the websocket library (which we wouldn't assume it to be) or another approach to networking is unclear. Regardless, we see continued effort to work on networking solutions for notoriously laggy mobile cell networks!
5. A New Telemetry (Analytics) Library
Not too much to say on this front, but a new telemetry library has been included which will presumably advance the efforts to monitor app crashes, glitches, and usage patterns. These have been in the app for a long while, and are helpful for understanding hardware and software incompatibilities, crashes, and more.
Bug Fixes & Quality of Life Upgrades
A few tweaks have appeared to look out for on the bugs & QoL front, travelers:
6. Interaction Radius (Ring) Changes
Oddities have long been reported about the interaction radius 'pulse' that emanates from your player avatar – particularly in latitudes farther from the equator! Two new metadata attributes have appeared that may show an effort to improve this:
PULSE_RING_BASE_SCALE_VALUEPULSE_RING_MAX_LATITUDE_CUTOFF
We're very curious to see how the interaction radius 'pulse' behaves on v0.123.1 in higher latitudes – report in, travelers!
7. Wild Encounter Shiny Icon Fix
A new attribute has appeared that we believe may help resolve the issue with the new 'shiny' label on wild Pokemon encounters being unreliable: IsEncounteredPokemonShiny
See if you can spot a wild shiny without the purported shiny label in v0.123.1 – or we might consider this bug squashed!
8. Multi-Select in Battle Parties!
The APK additions that appeared last week were officially announced in the patch notes this time, and a few trailing tweaks have appeared to support this in the APK. See if you can multi-select in your Battle Party screen, travelers!
9. Better Pokemon Form & Gender Support
We see a few tweaks that we believe may be designed to better handle the additional types of forums in Gen IV…
New & Upcoming Features
Ok. You made it through the nuts and bolts – now it's time to get HYPED!
10. ALL 107 GEN IV POKEMON ADDED!
That's right – all 107 Gen IV Pokemon (from Turtwig to Arceus!) have been added to the APK's dictionary, travelers! Along with this, has come the sound files for all 107, including 2 'cries' for Pokemon #492, Shaymin (the Gen IV mythical with a Land Forme & Sky Forme)!
Speaking of forms, 8 Pokemon had their forms formally added to the APK as well!
- Rotom:
NORMAL,FROST,FAN,MOW,WASH,HEAT - Wormadam:
PLANT,SANDY,TRASH - Giratina:
ALTERED,ORIGIN - Shaymin:
SKY,LAND - Cherrim:
OVERCAST,SUNNY - Shellos:
WEST_SEA,EAST_SEA - Gastradon:
WEST_SEA,EAST_SEA - Arceus: All 18 forms!
11. 17 New Moves Added!
The following new moves have been added after Meteor_Mash (which was the latest to be added to the APK officially):
V0302_MOVE_SKULL_BASHV0303_MOVE_ACID_SPRAYV0304_MOVE_EARTH_POWERV0305_MOVE_CRABHAMMERV0306_MOVE_LUNGEV0307_MOVE_CRUSH_CLAWV0308_MOVE_OCTAZOOKAV0309_MOVE_MIRROR_SHOTV0310_MOVE_SUPER_POWERV0311_MOVE_FELL_STINGERV0312_MOVE_LEAF_TORNADOV0313_MOVE_LEECH_LIFEV0314_MOVE_DRAIN_PUNCHV0315_MOVE_SHADOW_BONEV0316_MOVE_MUDDY_WATERV0317_MOVE_BLAZE_KICKV0318_MOVE_RAZOR_SHELL
Let the meta analysis begin!
12. Meltan's Cry … and Evolution?!
At the tail end of all these new species appears two additional audio files (but no official APK species dictionary entries):
- Pokemon Cry #891
- Pokemon Cry #892
Now, admittedly I'm getting pretty tired, but if I'm not mistaken I believe we may have just got confirmation of the National Dex # for Meltan – #891![Update: Yep. I was tired. While these asset #'s have matched up with National Pokedex #'s for all species in-game so far, future gen's diverge from this association. tl;dr – We aren't yet able to predict Meltan's National Pokedex #! We can predict it will likely be added to the tail end of Gen I (Kanto) however, and will likely be #152 in the Kanto Regional 'dex. For those really looking to dig into prediction territory, u/SerebiiNet had some solid deeper extrapolation here!
Now, curiously one additional Pokemon's cry came with it! It seems highly probable that this is an evolution of Meltan (hinted at in Pokemon's official video release earlier today) or another form.
Either way, we're loving the Meltan Mystery and how Pokemon GO gets to play a major role in the release of this friendly new solder-blot.
[Editor note: Also initially had a copy+paste error here! 890 ->891]
13. A New Box: The 'Local Box'
We're not sure what the plan is for this special box, but we're curious if it may have a Community Day tie in? Here's a peek at how it looks: https://i.imgur.com/pUbqb36.png
14. Gen IV Badge & Pokedex Tab
To complete the experience, the Gen IV badge is now ready to roll out when Niantic flips the switch, and a new tab has been added for the Sinnoh generation in the Pokedex!
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