These are the biggest problems with Pokémon Go right now

Level 40 Pokemon Go
Reddit / "problemz"

Despite taking the world by storm since its launch earlier this month, "Pokémon GO" has some serious issues. You wouldn't be entirely wrong to call the game "broken" on several counts.

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It's a nod to how novel and fun the core premise of the game is that people are still obsessed with it despite these problems! But it won't be everybody's favorite game for much longer if these problems persist. I'm not even talking about the iffy server connection, which is to be expected with a game like this, even if it's disappointing.

Here are a few of the biggest issues with "Pokémon GO" that need to be fixed as soon as possible.

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Inaccurate GPS tracking

Pokemon GO screenshot
Niantic/The Pokémon Company

Obviously, a game that's based entirely on players walking around a GPS-enabled map of their surroundings needs to have accurate GPS tracking. "Pokémon GO" does not. 

If I'm walking on the sidewalk, it thinks I'm walking in a building. Sometimes I can access Pokéstops in the park across the street from my apartment while I'm sitting in my bedroom. Frankly, the game has an accurate idea of where I am less than half the time I'm playing it. 

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Egg hatching is nonsensical

Pokemon GO
The Pokemon Company

"Pokémon GO" is a game that doesn't explain itself to players, which isn't inherently a bad thing; discovery can be fun! However, the process of hatching eggs (which can contain rare, powerful Pokémon) should be self-explanatory, right? Just walk the distance under the egg and it'll hatch!

That's not entirely the case. Kotaku's Stephen Totilo ran well over 10 kilometers at a pace that he insists was slow enough for the game to count towards his egg distances and none of them hatched. The game measures distance using GPS rather than the motion of your phone like a pedometer, but with the GPS tracking being as poor as it is, the game short-changes you in the egg hatching process.

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Can't touch this

Pokemon Go Central Park45.JPG
Tech Insider

I can't have the app open on my phone for more than a few minutes at a time before the touchscreen becomes completely unresponsive. That means if I'm walking by a Pokéstop or I see a Pokémon I want to catch, I need to hard reset the app. 

My colleagues insist this is tied to the game's battery-saving mode that darkens the screen when your phone is upside down, but this happens to me seemingly at random. A game isn't much fun if you can't, you know, play it.

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Three small steps for man

clefairy pokemon go
Niantic/The Pokémon Company

The "Nearby" tab that shows you which wild Pokémon are creepin' around in your area uses a footprint system underneath each Pokémon to give you a rough idea of how far away they are from you. Unfortunately, the game has permanently displayed three steps (the maximum) for every Pokémon near me and many other players for a couple of weeks.

The "Nearby" system doesn't tell you much even when it does work, so it's been basically useless for multiple weeks now. Around here, we've resorted to using Pokévision to find pocket monsters near us instead.

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The devil's in the details

pokemon go map detail
alexodam/Reddit

Just recently, some players (myself included) have noticed that the in-game map screen is much less detailed than it was before, with no explanation why. As you can see in the image above, you used to see every path in a park, but now the park is just solid green. 

Perhaps this was changed so the game uses less data, but it's a mistake. The game hardly uses any data anyway, and the less detailed map could make it more difficult to navigate unfamiliar areas. I hope this is changed or at least adequately explained soon.

Gaming Nintendo Video Games
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