Heads up, Pokémon Go, players: A new update is coming your way.
Niantic today released an update to Pokémon Go on Android (version 0.37.0) and iOS (version 1.7.0), and one of the major new additions is Buddy Pokémon. With this feature, you can select one of your Pokémon to be your “buddy,” which means that it’ll appear next to your trainer on the Profile screen and next to your face in the lower corner of the map display.
The benefit of selecting a Buddy Pokémon is that you can walk a certain distance and earn candy for that Pokémon. The distance that you need to go to earn a candy appears to vary based on the rarity of your Pokémon. Some only take 1km, while others will take 3km, and some even require you to walk 5km before you’ll earn a piece of candy.
Today’s update also adds support for the Pokémon Go Plus accessory that’s slated to launch on Sept. 16. The Pokémon Go Plus comes with a bracelet or can be clipped to your shirt, and when connected to your phone over Bluetooth, it’ll alert you to nearby Pokémon or PokéStop without forcing you to keep your phone out.
Rounding out this update include fixes for network reliability issues, a fix for an issue that’d cause eggs to hatch without the animation, and “minor text fixes.”
While Pokémon Go’s popularity doesn’t seem to be as high as it was earlier this summer, there are still lots of folks playing. This looks like a pretty nice update for those people, making it a bit easier for them to get candy for powering up and evolving their Pokémon.
You can get Pokémon Go for Android and iPhone at the links below.
