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Niantic Labs has announced that popular mobile title Pokémon Go has been updated with new AR+ features on the iOS version of the game to take advantage of Apple’s own enhanced ARKit developer framework technology.
In laymen’s terms for Pokémon Go, this means Pokémon will now appear in a fixed point in the world, meaning you can now walk up to them and see the Pokémon represented in proportions that would mirror their actual size in the real world.
In addition, Pokémon in the game will now also be more aware of your presence, so if you get too close to them you risk spooking them and them running away. If you do manage to get close enough, there’s an Expert Handler bonus in it for you. To help determine how close you are, a new Awareness Meter will appear on screen to give you an indication of how close you are to spooking your quarry.
Be aware though, as this is using Apple exclusive technology, you’ll need a newer iOS device to take advantage, with Niantic saying you’ll need to be running iOS 11 on an iPhone 6s or newer, specifically. The developer plans to implement more advanced AR features going forward, saying ‘This is our first step toward making AR capabilities in Pokémon GO even more awesome, opening up the framework for greater AR experiences in the future.’
