William Gallagher
Users of Niantic's Pokemon Go iPhone game were able to track their walking steps using an Apple Watch companion app, but the developer is discontinuing the feature from July 1.
Niantic, Inc, has announced that it is discontinuing support for Apple Watch in its Pokemon Go game. Currently, the Apple Watch companion app tracks your steps and sends that data to the game. However, after July 1, 2019, players will no longer be able to connect their Apple Watches to the iPhone Pokemon Go app.
The company says that the decision is because of the launch of Adventure Sync in October 2018. "Because Adventure Sync allows Trainers the option of tracking their steps... in one mobile device instead of two separate devices, we wanted to focus on building Adventure Sync," Niantic said in a statement on its website, "so that Trainers will no longer have to split their gameplay between two devices."
Pokemon Go with Adventure Sync will continue to track walking but will do so using solely the iPhone. "Trainers can use Adventure Sync to track their distance by syncing their fitness apps in their phones," continues the company, "which does not require devices such as Apple Watches."
Using the accompany Pokemon Go Apple Watch app, users were able to start a workout and sync that data back to the Health app. As you compete that workout, the app would tell you how close you were to hatching your incubating Pokemon egg.
The decision comes ahead of Apple's expected unveiling of both watchOS 6 and possibly an Apple Watch app store. It also comes after the Pokemon Company revealed a sleep-tracking version of the game which uses its own hardware instead of Apple Watch.
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
Christine McKee
AppleInsider Staff
9 Comments
They are making what is a definite loss sound like a good thing
Just wish adventure sync would start working again...
New to Pokémon Go. I’ve already deleted the watch app, but it’s still completely taken over Apple Workouts/Activity (no longer get heart rate readings while working out in Apple workout app, nor does it track them in Activity). Any tips on how to get PG working more cooperatively? Seems to me to be a poorly behaving app, including enabling Apple Watch on my wife’s setup even though she told it not to. Paid to expand storage, and it still says my bag is full. And does it really have to track me all the time (vs when I’m using the app) to work, as it claims?
I guess this sort of makes sense, given that you have to have the iPhone (rather than the Watch) with you in order to play the actual game, but there are times when an Apple Watch 4 owner would prefer to leave the iPhone at home (and they can) and still track activity for the benefit of hatching eggs ... I expect those people will have a lot of negative feedback on this move, and ditto for the Sleep app. There's little assurance that PG's activity or tracking is on the same level of medical-grade accuracy as Apple's hardware.