What you need to know
- Niantic announced on November 12, 2019 via its official support Twitter that it will be issuing detailed Release Notes with each update to Pokémon Go.
- While many of the issues addressed with updates are relatively minor fixes and enhancements, without an official statement, some updates have caused issues in the past.
- This most recent update includes a change to the times in which Team Go Rocket can be challenged and limits items received from those battles.
On November 12, 2019, Niantic announced via it's official support Twitter that going forward, it would issue detailed Release Notes with each update to Pokémon Go. Something that has long since been an issue for players, Pokémon Go updates often go live with little to no acknowledgement from the company. Although the numerous fan communities between Silph Road and Reddit typically datamine these updates, having official statements from Niantic can only help keep players more informed as to what exactly is being changed in the game. Most of the changes that come with each update are relativeley small. They're little bug fixes or optomizations to make the game run smoother but not something most players would take note of. On the other hand, these updates can have significant impact on some players, such as updates which have made most Pokémon Go Maps and Trackers obsolete.
The most recent update is outlined in Release Notes here and happens to contain a couple significant changes. In addition to expanding support for Pokéstop nominations and Wayfarer reviews, this update also brings "fixes" to the timing of Team Go Rocket battle availability and the ability to collect items after battling Team Go Rocket. Like Raids, Team Go Rocket Leader battles will no longer be available outside of specific times, although this issue seems to only have impacted the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to this update, when completing a Team Go Rocket battle, players would receive rewards even if their bag was full, but that too has been fixed. This came with an additional reminder to players to make sure there is space in their bag before battling Team Go Rocket.
While these fixes have always been happening in the background, this new method of communication with the players will hopefully improve some of the frustrations between the fanbase and Niantic going forward.
Casian Holly has been writing about gaming at iMore since 2019, but their real passion is Pokémon. From the games to the anime, cards and toys, they eat, sleep, and breathe all things Pokémon. You can check out their many Pokémon Go and Pokémon Sword and Shield guides and coverage here on iMore.
