Pokemon Go Nearby Tracker Is Worse Than Sightings

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.