Niantic gives iPhone version Pokémon Go better ar mode with ARKit support

Niantic equips Pokémon Go with AR+. That’s an enhanced augmented reality mode in the iPhone version of the game, which works with ARKit. The mode is available on iPhone 6s and newer devices. With AR+, players can walk up to the monsters.

AR+ allows for custom ar display and gameplay changes. With the new ar mode, Pokémon are at a fixed point and players can walk towards it. The samples are therefore actually displayed larger. If players get too close to a Pokémon, it will startle and flee.

By sneaking up to a monster unnoticed and then throwing a ball, you can earn an Expert Handler bonus, which gives players more XP and stardust. An awareness meter shows whether a Pokémon is about to flee. If the monster runs away, there is still a chance that it will come back by tapping on the ‘tall grass’ in the area.

Niantic will likely add AR+ with the game’s next update for iOS. At the time of writing, it has not yet been released. An Android update was released for the game on Tuesday and that version also contains the assets that describe the tutorial for AR+, for example. However, the mode will not work on Android phones as they do not support ARKit.

Google has an alternative to Apple’s framework with its ARCore, but that only works on a few smartphones for the time being. Niantic has not yet said whether AR+ will also come to the Android version of Pokémon Go. Apple already showed Pokémon Go with ARKit support when it announced iOS 11 in June.

Soon, Niantic will also add Delibird and twenty new third-generation Pokémon to the smartphone game. This is evident from data mining of the latest update and logging network traffic of the app. The first fifty third-generation Pokémon were added early this month. In total, the third generation contains 135 monsters.