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Some Pokémon Go players are still waiting for the buddy system update

Players are beyond frustrated.

 

Dennis Scimeca

Internet Culture

Posted on Sep 13, 2016   Updated on May 26, 2021, 12:57 am CDT

Your Snorlax needs candy. There’s supposed to be a Pokémon Go update to help you out, but it’s nowhere to be found.

Developer Niantic on Sept. 10 posted a notice on the Pokémon Go blog about update 0.37.0 that adds, among other things, a buddy system that allows players to select one Pokémon to follow them around the game world. The player will then receive candies—the required resource to power up any Pokémon—as the player walks around in real life. iOS users are saying that they can’t find the update.

Niantic seems to roll Pokémon Go updates out in waves. The appraisal system, for example, did not land for all players on a uniform date. Some players waited days before finally getting the chance to use the new in-game appraisal tool (which shouldn’t be trusted on its own, anyway). Players had long since found workarounds to the lack of this functionality. In fact, Niantic arguably created the tool in response to all the third-party software developed by Pokémon Go players to fill the gap.

There’s no workaround for not being able to find super-rare Pokémon, however, not since Niantic effectively took down all the good tools for locating specific Pokémon. 

Now that some Pokémon Go players are stationing Pokémon with CPs of 3,000 or higher to defend gyms, not being able to power up a Snorlax or Lapras or other endgame Pokémon means you’re effectively locked out of the endgame. If this new buddy system update would actually land for Pokémon Go players on iOS they’d finally get some relief, but the game is not updating in the app store, and players are getting impatient. 

Reddit

Reddit

Some Pokémon Go players are trying to figure out tricks to force the App store to update the game, and other players are recommending Pokémon Go trainers on iOS just say screw it, and log into the game on someone’s Android device, because Android users are seeing the update at a faster rate than iOS users.

The good news about an update that’s rolling out this slowly? The update also purportedly locks users with rooted Android devices and jailbroken iOS devices out of Pokémon Go. So, anyone with a jailbroken iOS device still has a while to enjoy Pokémon Go before having to face the consequences of this update.

We reached out to Niantic for comment as to why iOS users are still waiting for update 0.37.0, and will update this story if we hear back.

If Pokémon Go has grabbed you for the long haul, check out our guides on the smart way to level up, and how to properly appraise your Pokémon, to become a Pokémon Go power player. 

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*First Published: Sep 13, 2016, 1:24 pm CDT